There are far fewer racist caricatures incorporated in the faked newspaper strips in this volume, but the American troops still refer to Japanese with the racial epithets of the time, which some may consider offensive. Yet the theme of the story is clear from the title, so reflecting that there are scenes of naked women, always elegantly drawn, but strangely unerotic, which may be the purpose. Philippe Berthet, however, is once again impeccable, giving a warm and homely feeling to the cast while vividly recreating their conditions without stepping over a decency line. Despite the improvement, late in the book there are still some scenes that just ring completely false, one being Joe’s complete failure to recognise a voice he should be very familiar with. There’s a great scene featuring a movie reel showing injured troops, and elements from the first volume’s jumpy plot provide some nice moments here, one being Dottie’s familiarity with warplane fittings.

Joe, unaware of Dottie’s life back home, is one of them. In her Poison Ivy identity Dottie has become very famous, encouraging thousands of admirers. We meet Irving Klaw, photographer of bondage scenarios, British cartoonist Ronald Searle, and Dottie comes to resemble 1950s model Bettie Page as he cranks up the emotional tension extremely well, far better than in the first book. Yann (Le Pennetier) gives Pin-Up a verisimilitude by surrounding the cast with known names and faces from the era.

That’s because Milton, the strip’s creator, has become obsessed with Dottie and doesn’t take it well that she remains loyal to Joe, even after he’s all too easily manipulated into sending a letter breaking off their relationship. Joe doesn’t know why he’s so obsessed with the girl in the strip, but by the end of the book it’s taken a strange and personal turn. The opening Pin-Up album introduced Joe, sent away to fight for the USA in the Pacific during World War II, and his girlfriend Dottie, who becomes the model for the Poison Ivy newspaper strip circulated to troops.

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