Scarlet #4 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (art & colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Scarlet’s video of her assassinating the police chief goes viral, causing a flash mob of Scarlet supporters to rally.

What’s Good: For all the critical buzz it’s been getting, I’ve still been a bit on the fence about Scarlet, and I’m a huge fan of Brian Bendis.  The potential is definitely there and the art is great, but something wasn’t fully clicking for me.  That changed this month, in a big way.

I think my issue has been that the comic has been in intro mode for the last three issues in that we weren’t getting a firm enough idea of what this comic was going to be like in the long run.  With Scarlet #4, the picture is suddenly clear and much more developed, and I like what I’m seeing.

Scarlet #4 makes it clear that this comic, or at least a big part of it, is going to be about the intersection of myth and personhood.  In other words, it’s about the relationship between Scarlet the public persona and Scarlet the actual human being.  This is far, far more compelling, and not to mention smarter, than a comic that’s simply about revolution and saying no to the Man.  In putting herself out there, Scarlet has made herself into myth and legend, a person that is more idea than person, an idea that Alan Moore touched upon so well in V for Vendetta.  What Bendis does wonderfully, however, is also show how this myth coincides with Scarlet Rue the person; for all the signs, slogans, and rallies, Scarlet is still shown to be very human.  We get scenes of her getting out of bed, chatting with her friend, and trying to rationalize her actions.

More than that though, Bendis also shows the toll the myth takes on the person.  In becoming legend, Scarlet runs afoul of her family, leading to an encounter with her mother that makes clear the price of what she’s done, suggesting perhaps that being both person and legend may not be entirely possible.

With this issue, Scarlet becomes a phenomenon.  Her presence resounds throughout the world of the comic.  The public myth of Scarlet is less a person and more a symbol and idea, and that makes for engaging and exciting reading.  The world in the comic has gone topsy-turvy and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

In presenting two very different sorts of Scarlet, Bendis ends up almost telling two stories that bounce off of one another: there’s the story of Scarlet getting out of bed and dealing with her mother, and there’s the story of protesters carrying signs bearing her name in front of police fearing a riot.  Both stories are about Scarlet, both are related, but both are also very different.  It’s really fun stuff.

Alex Maleev’s artwork is brilliant, as expected.  He does an absolutely fantastic job of highlighting Scarlet’s humanity (that last splash in particular will stick with you) while also illustrating the brazen mayhem of the rally.  He strikes the exact same balance regarding Scarlet as Bendis strives to in his script and so, as such, you couldn’t hope for much better compatibility between writer and artist.

Scarlet #3 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (art & colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Scarlet finds a new ally and declares war on Portland’s police department, taking on its chief.

What’s Good: I really feel as though the ball got rolling with this issue.  The story moves at a decent pace and, finally, I’ve gotten an overall impression of what this series is going to end up feeling like and what the overall concept is.  It’s great to get an understanding of the series as a whole and the type of story it’ll be pursuing.

More than anything, we get a little bit more of Scarlet as a central character and protagonist in action, an actual character, as opposed to someone relegated to flashbacks, or someone attempting to sell us on the comic in the present.  She truly feels like an action hero this month, and that makes the comic feel more solid in its being anchored around her.  There’s a mix of insanity, vulnerability, gleefulness, and sadness to the character, but unlike past issues, all of this is shown as opposed to simply told to us by Scarlet herself.  We’re able to observe a little more.

Much of this is due to Bendis’ reigning in the breaking of the fourth wall a bit.  While the narration still often speaks to the reader, we don’t get anywhere near as many panels of Scarlet staring at the reader and talking to him/her.  While it’s a cool concept, it took up valuable page-space and slowed the comic down far too much.  I’m glad to see it under control.

This also means fewer panels of Scarlet talking against a bare background, which allows Alex Maleev to do some solid work here.  Great scenery, a fun sniper sequence, and another of those great montages spice up the goodness we’ve come to expect from Maleev.

All told, the comic got across its “one against many” theme and feel a bit more than it has in previous months, mostly because there was less talking and more doing.  I’ve always been a sucker for that old story, and thanks to that, this issue gave me something good to grab a hold of.