Review - Scarlet #3 and #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

A double dose of review for this post as I've been slack on the Scarlet front. Issue three has been sitting on my desk just pleading to be reviewed but over Christmas, well, y'know... before you know it issue four has hit the stands. So here's a recap of the events in the last two issues.

Scarlet #3
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Issue three sees Scarlet set out her philosophy (more on that in a bit) and recruit Brandon, her killed boyfriend's best friend, into her vigilante web. Brandon is reluctant at first but what can he do? Once Scarlet confesses what she's done he's basically in. Introduced into the story is the female police officer, Detective Going, who discovers Dunes' body (whom Scarlet killed in issue two and stole - or 'took' as she explains - his $700, 000 in dirty money).

Rather than hide from the responsibility of the murder, Scarlet confesses directly to the chief of police who also happens to be Dunes's uncle. The Chief is incredulous and skeptical but it matters not. Scarlet knocks him off too.

With Brandon's help she's videoed the whole killing and confession of the police chief with the intention of releasing it to the general public so they know she's not some crazed sniper/lunatic and there's something they can do put a stop to police corruption. Thus Scarlet's grass roots revolution begins. It also sees Scarlet enter the FBI's most wanted list.

Scarlet  #4
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In issue four Detective Going returns as the head of the investigation into Scarlet's exploits finding that she's being stymied at every turn to try and bring Scarlet in. And it's not like Scarlet is really hiding out. Hey, even her mother finds her and she's not too pleased. Going's explanation can only be that "the powers that be" don't want Scarlet caught; they want her killed because she knows too much about the city's corruption. Interestingly Going also breaks the fourth wall in this issue, talking directly to us. Is there something in that only women are speaking to us readers?

Scarlet's life becomes much more dangerous but she doesn't shirk the responsibility and as her supporters gather in protest she ventures out to join them.

Now let's quickly investigate Scarlet's philosophy behind her actions. In issue three she says -

'Everyone in this world should have what's coming to them by the natural order of things. And the natural order of things does not include corrupt fucks destroying your life! And other fucks letting them get away with it. Everyone deserves their life to unfold uninterrupted by greed and and and just... selfishness.'

But in invoking the 'natural order' we have to remember that not long ago the 'natural order of things' saw racial and sexual minorities deemed inferior and deficient, and women not as capable as men. This natural order is one which Scarlet has created. It includes - 'Happiness. Love. That's it. That's everything... Everyone in the world should have the possibility for this. Everyone. Shouldn't they?' 'Everyone' should be able to live uninterrupted by greed and selfishness, but does this include 'corrupt fucks'? No. Scarlet's natural order of things excludes 'corrupt fucks' because by definition they're not part of her natural order and therefore unnatural. Her view of the natural order is influenced by her uninterrupted life, basically her world, before Gabriel's death. An uninterrupted life and a natural order of things imply the concept of determinism - 'that all events including human actions are predetermined' (Flew 125).

To illustrate how Scarlet experiences her life, her "world" is shown in the series of life event "snapshots" of  Scarlet's life (issue one) and Gabriel and Brandon's friendship (issue3). We're positioned to accept these experiences as ones that everyone has or at least can relate to (even would like to experience). They're expected, in a sense inevitable, and thus predetermined. Scarlet has experienced these events unfolding in a logical manner and thus would expect future events to also 'unfold' in a logical manner. Gabriel's murder is an unpredictable event defying the deterministic causal chain which had characterised Scarlet's life. She is thrust into, or made aware of, another reality, another world, one that she deems 'broken'. In fact, it is Scarlet's world that has been broken. 

It's hard to argue against wanting a world where everyone has the possibility of love. It's a utopic vision and altruistic but somewhat selfish. People should live according to her 'natural order'. And there's no compromise. If you don't believe in Scarlet's natural order then you're 'trapped in this world of compromise for so long you can't even tell how much you're being taken advantage of'. Thus if you're not with her, you're against her. Indeed as Guzman (Dunes's ex-partner) pointed out, Scarlet nor himself didn't know of this unjust sphere. They were both unaware of the 'broken' world until their predictable lives, their knowledge of their worlds was changed.

The 'world' of  'everyone' and 'everything', (which really are only limited to Portland) is Scarlet's world - the one which included Gabriel before he was killed; of simple, uncomplicated love where they had lived together for a whole year and 'never left each other's sight'.

Scarlet doesn't accept entry into a broken world instead trying to recreate her world  To do this she has to eliminate  unnatural elements and also make people aware of the broken world they're living in. In Plato's The Republic he writes that just actions produce justice, and unjust actions injustice. Injustice is produced by establishing an unnatural relation of control and subordination among its constituents. Scarlet simply positions her actions as justice. Eliminating the unnatural injustice "cures" society.

In Scarlet's moral world of natural law - 'a basic system of moral norms, the necessity of obedience being moral' (Himma) - the two worlds of justice and injustice should never meet.

Scarlet #1
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This divisive moral quandary of not just vigilantism but what constitutes the toleration of injustice is what elevates Scarlet as a narrative. Scarlet's actions question what we as readers will tolerate. If we're against her, we stop reading and the story finishes. We continue to read and we are interested in seeing her revolution succeed; we're "with her".

I can see how a proportion of readers may well be lost, and/or confused by now. The cover of issue one isn't really indicative of how the story is panning out - less sexy vigilante vs. more social revolutionary. In fact, apart from that first cover there's really no sexy, tough talking, "bad girl" vigilante action to be found. Those who've stayed so far, will I think like me, be in it for the long haul.

Bendis is a great writer and Scarlet is indicative that comics right now are the richest source of ideas going around. This is storytelling with depth and once the whole thing plays out, I believe Scarlet will be regarded as a classic.

This: Two months is a decent time between comics but Scarlet is worth the wait.
Forthcoming: Got a time machine? I'd like to jump two months into the future to see the next issue now.


Reference

Flew, Antony. (ed). A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Macmillan Press, 1984.

Himma, Kenneth Einar. 'Natural Law' Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. A Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource. May 2005.

Plato. The Republic. London: Penguin Books, 1987.

Review: Scarlet #2 by Brian Michael Bendis (writer) and Alex Maleev (artist)

  
Bendis reveals more about his red-headed vigilante and her mission to purge Portland of crime in Scarlet #2.  

Physically, but not emotionally, recovered from her shooting in issue one, Scarlet determines to find out the circumstances which led to her boyfriend Gabriel's death and thus try and make some sense of what happened. Over ten weeks she follows Officer Dunes, the cop who was responsible, and finds out he's subsequently been promoted.

Scarlet then confronts Guzman, Dunes' former partner, questioning him about his involvement in the shooting. The answers aren't what she expected, finding that apart from saving his own skin, there was little he could've done. Corruption in the Portland police force is extensive.

Far from being intimidated by the magnitude of her task, Scarlet's decision to fight back is reinforced. And the first person on her list to feel her wrath is the smug and reprehensible Officer Dunes.

Bendis and Maleev are really pulling the emotional strings on this one, asking a fundamental question - how can justice be done when the good guys are all bad? Scarlet's answer is to administer justice herself. Brutal justice. Her question is - are we with her or against her?

Again Bendis makes us involved in the story by having Scarlett address us directly as readers, making us complicit in her actions. By simply being readers we push the story along.

Maleev's artwork is as good as ever and the fact that he's using a model for the Scarlet character makes her depiction very realistic. Indeed Maleev captures Scarlet's expressions and depth of emotion in each illustration brilliantly.

This comic is characterised by Scarlet looking at us. On almost every page Scarlet checks if we're still with her, making sure that were coming along, and virtually asking for our approval and consent. When she says 'See? I'm trying desperately to find someone who would miss him enough to make it worth me not killing him', she's really asking us if we're that someone. The only way to avert his death is to stop reading. But are we going to do that?

Bendis goes to great lengths in both issues to show that Scarlet is just an ordinary girl. In issue one Scarlet says 'I'm not Miss America super hottie' and all her actions before her vigilantism are characterised by normality - normal upbringing and life experiences. Does Bendis have a twist in store for us about Scarlet? She seems to handle weapons quite well... Or are we set to see a tragedy? The degeneration of a typical, ordinary, girl into the corruption of the soul that ultra-violence brings.

Everyone wants to see corruption and purveyors of injustice punished. Vigilantism is appealing because it asks few questions and offers quick results. Bad guys are immediately erased. But what punishment fits the crime? The broad strokes with which villains and heroes are painted in pop culture are rarely mirrored in reality. That's why we have a justice system. 

Scarlet's story is intriguing and the artwork lush. I flew through this really quickly. There's many a page with no writing at all leaving me thinking - where's the rest? But no matter. It's good enough for multiple readings.

This: More brilliance.  Forthcoming: Yes, please! We want more brilliance.

Review: Scarlet #1, by Brian Michael Bendis (writer) and Alex Maleev (art), Icon (Marvel) Comics

Hot off the presses from Marvel's burgeoning Icon line of creator-owned comics comes Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's Scarlet. 

Bendis again joins with his Daredevil artist to produce a character that he says will 'spark a modern day American Revolution'.

Scarlet is a twentysomething redhead who's decided to fight back. and do something about corruption and criminals. If she sees something wrong, she intervenes. Usually with brute force.

At base Scarlet #1 is basically an origin story. Like most origins it's based on loss, this one specifically building on the pure senselessness of an individual's actions. The incident, which is both poignant and heartbreaking, propels Scarlet into her new life as a vigilante.

While Scarlet may move a bit slow for some, if you're familiar with Bendis' work (if you aren't go out and do so now... No, really, I'm serious... NOW!) then you've come to expect that something big is going to happen later on in the series. Bendis weaves small stories into great interlocking narratives which build into something big and then rushes into something bigger.

Bendis' forte (for me) is his dialogue and he again produces true to life conversations. That's not to say he can't tell one hell of a story. When the first thing you see in a comic is a full page illustration of a woman garotting a man you know this story isn't going to pull any punches.

The most interesting part though is Scarlet 'breaking the fourth wall'. She talks directly to us. The way Bendis does it is something which I haven't come across in comics. The closest would be Grant Morrison when for example his characters in Seven Soldiers of Victory (and to some extent in Animal Man) look out at the reader. Morrison is more about a comic characters recognising themsleves as characters; that they're trapped inside a story. Scarlet addresses the reader directly and therefore  situates both as existing in the same world. But Bendis is also doing more. He (via Scarlet) is asking us to be involved in the story, a collaborator, an accomplice. A difficult task, but if anybody can pull it off, it's Bendis.

Maleev's art is I think, an acquired taste. Like many of my favourite artists he has an individual style that's recognisable as Maleev and that's what you want. Not surprisingly Maleev's art strikes me as a cross-between two other Bendis collaborators - Michael Gaydos (Alias) and David Mack (Kabuki, Daredevil, Alias covers).

Scarlet looks like Bendis has got another hit on his hands and should propel him further into the comic writing stratosphere.

This: Highly Recommended. Forthcoming: Can't Wait.