Review by Frank Plowright
Although definitely a 21st century creation, Betty and the Yeti ticks a lot of tradition boxes for a UK funny strip aimed at children. There’s the rhyming title for a start, and the preposterous idea of a young girl hiding a yeti in the house prompting all sorts of mayhem. When published weekly in The Beano another box was ticked as readers had to accept the idea of a yeti in the household without explanation, but for this collection Hugh Raine supplies an origin of sorts. The yeti’s own Himalayan habitat is becoming over-run with humans, and if that’s the case it might as well explore the world. It settles on Beanotown as an ideal new home, allowing for cameos from other Beano greats unable to offer accommodation before Betty steps up.
As the Friends at First Fart subtitle indicates, most humour sparking these one and two page strips is on the coarse side, of course aimed at delighting young readers and many adults who find unfortunate bodily functions funny. In addition to flatulence, the yeti has a strong smell, causing perpetual parental befuddlement in searching for the source, and an insatiable appetite for crisps, so jokes on those topics recur. As Raine becomes more confident with the concept he hits on the idea of the yeti being able to wander around town without anyone ever considering it strange, with Betty able to pass him off as her uncle in one strip and Santa Claus in another.
There’s a cover quote from Jamie Smart, but Raine doesn’t quite approach the manic intensity of Smart’s best work. The cartooning is cheery and always expressive, but it’s the better part of the equation as too many strips are admirably silly without always being greatly funny. Such standbys as the yeti having to wear a disguise and misunderstanding words result in great illustrations, though.
Readers of the books have found the strips as funny as Beano readers, and two further collections have quickly followed, starting with A Monstrous Mess.
