Scarlet #1

[stolisomancer]

Okay, so this is Bendis and Alex Maleev.

For those who aren't familiar with it, Bendis and Maleev's run on Daredevil is one of the best runs on a superhero comic in the last decade, and it probably deserves a spot on a few all-time lists. I'll be the first one to tell you that Bendis's superhero output at Marvel doesn't play to his strengths, but crime books really do.

Scarlet is an original crime book by the two of them, published through Marvel's Icon label, about a woman who sets out to start a second American Revolution.


Maleev is modeling Scarlet in this story off of a real woman, who's listed in the credits as "Iva." He's apparently doing the full run on art, up to and including color.

A year before the start of the comic, Scarlet is dating a guy named Gabriel, who she describes as the "perfect boy." They're in college.



The cop gets a little too grabby while frisking Scarlet, trying to find a stash she doesn't actually have, so Gabriel decks him. They run away, laughing like morons.





She wakes up weeks later in the hospital, to find the cop has become a local hero for shooting a "teenage druglord"... and she snaps.

Comments

Mod Note

[angelophile]

The posting rules state: "No one user can post more than 4 pages from any recent comic" with a recent comic defined as either a) The most recent issue of a comic or b) a comic that has come out in the last month.

Since issue #1 of Scarlet fits both these criteria, you're 1 page over the allowed post count.

Please trim 1 page from this post.

Many thanks.

Re: Mod Note

[stolisomancer]

Done.

[protogarrett]

Well, I'm hooked. Beautiful art. Is this just out? I'd like to pick it up.

[milleniumrex]

So...isn't this just Punk Rock Punisher Girl?

[stolisomancer]

It came out two weeks ago.

[espanolbot]

Didn't know that Spoony's girlfriend had a comic to herself. :)

[stolisomancer]

The Punisher, depending on who's writing him at the time, is either a vigilante or a serial killer masquerading as a vigilante. Either way, though, at the end of the day, he enforces existing societal rules.

Scarlet is deliberately attempting to reform society through violent action. It's not quite the same thing.

[milleniumrex]

One of the concepts I always found interesting about Punisher is the idea that really, he was just pointed in the right direction. The tragedy set him up in a way that aids societal order. If a different tragedy had happened, he would be out there killing superheroes, or cops, or whoever had taken his family from him.

Re: Mod Note

[angelophile]

Many thanks.

[darkknightjrk]

And that was one of the interesting thing about the whole "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe" thing--while a lot of it was just "hurrhurr let's have Punisher kill superheroes in any way we can!" there were some interesting ideas on revenge and how far one goes to get it, specifically with them having Frank and Matt Murdock be the same age and being semi-childhood friends.

[morgana006]

I like this. The art is very nice and it plays with storytelling.

[cyberghostface]

If I liked Bendis's Daredevil and Alias would I like this?

[thebigapricot]

I am a huge fan of Alias and I really liked this.

[stolisomancer]

You'd pretty much be its target audience.

[thehefner]

For once, I don't entirely dislike Maleev's rotoscope-worthy artwork.

Seriously, too often he looks like a grittier version of A SCANNER DARKLY, which makes for awesome covers but interiors that look like actors in stiff poses.

[psychopathicus_rex]

This whole scenario seems disturbingly possible. 'Millionaire's kid sole survivor of a mugging, grows up to dress like a bat and fight crime'? Mmmm, it COULD happen... 'Ex-Navy SEAL's family gets gunned down in a battle between rival gangsters, he snaps and goes around shooting crooks while wearing a huge skull on his chest'? Much MORE likely, but still a tad suspect. 'Pair of innocent kids get gunned down by a crazy cop who gets off scott-free, leading to the survivor having an immense grudge against society'? I have no doubt that such things are happening every day.

[stubbleupdate]

I've heard nothing but good things about this book.

Also, if you like Scarlet, you should probably know that Genius is coming out in trade form in October

[tzipwich]

I love this art.