Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Arted by: Alex MaleevHere it is!! The latest chapter in the best reviewed, creator-owned comics sensation of the year! Scarlet has had enough and has planted her flag. The world is broken and she’s going to fix it. But there are those who will not let this stand. In this issue you meet them. The sides are being drawn. The first issue sold out the same week it shipped! Are you going to let that happen to you again? Hop on the Scarlet train for a comic book experience unlike anything else out there! From the Eisner award-winning team behind Daredevil, Spider-Woman, the Avengers and Halo.
Scarlet is back! Bendis and Maleev continue their creator-owned crime book, and the revolution starts here! This is a big book, but how did it do? Let’s find out!
Wow. Just. Wow. When Bendis said this book was going to go for the jugular, he wasn’t kidding. This book is one of the most violent books that came out this week, but it’s also brilliant. Scarlet is not a sympathetic character, and she’s not meant to be. You can love her or hate her all you want, but she does this for herself, and to avenge the death of her true love. She flat out doesn’t care.
But that’s what I love about her to be honest. Her clarity of motive, her singularity of thought; everything she is goes into taking down the corrupt policemen who wronged her, her boyfriend, her friends, and the world at large. Scarlet is a machine of revenge, and she’s set to take on the Portland Police Department.
Bendis’ home is crime books, and this book is a continuing example of why it’s his field. Everything from the plot to the characters feels like a modern pulp comic, with beautiful femme fatales and cops on the take; and more importantly he knows how to use them in a way that feels fresh. The femme fatale isn’t the foil or the villain; she’s the hero of the story. The cops aren’t just on the take; they’re complicit in the deaths of innocent people.
I didn’t know Portland (or ‘Stumptown’) was such an awful place to live.
The revolution began in this issue, and it’s a graphic read. There is blood galore, especially in the latter half of the book, and in the first half, we’re introduced to a new supporting character and accomplice, Brandon Pacific. Brandon Pacific was Gabriel’s best friend, and there’s a rather poignant montage of sorts chronicling their lives as best friends with one another. There is even a tragic bit of symmetry in the montage, with Brandon feeling just as alone before they were friends (being the new kid) to Gabriel’s untimely death. I would be lying if I said this wasn’t one of the most beautifully laid out set of pages I’ve seen in a long time, and while it was Bendis who wrote the words, Alex Maleev’s work was absolutely stunning (although, their first rated R sneak-in was Matrix Revolutions? You know everything was going downhill after that…).
Yes Alex Maleev’s work is beautiful to look at. It’s dark yet conversely brilliantly illuminated in some spots, and even though it’s gritty rough, everyone has a distinct look to them. The pain in Scarlet and Brandon’s eyes cuts to the core, and the fear in the police’s eyes is palpable as the revolution begins, when they can do nothing. The layouts, from the aforementioned montage to the final panel (which I will not spoil) are haunting and grisly. This is probably some of his best work yet.
This book is really ramping up after a couple issues of already great storytelling and art, it’s getting a definite buy, and one of the highest ratings I’ve given a book in a long time. Kudos guys, you deserve it.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – Buy
