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Scarlet #5
Publisher: Marvel/Icon
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Cover: Alex Maleev

“Scarlet pt 5”: In my review of the first issue, I called Scarlet a “vigilante,” but she’s so far beyond such a simple category, as Bendis and Maleev have created a character much deeper than that. The last two issues have definitely illustrated this as things have become a lot more complicated in Scarlet’s life. In her attempts to address the crowd that had gathered at the end of last issue, her speech begins to piss off some of the cops gathered around. As she continues on about the police and political corruption, a flash grenade is tossed directly at her and all hell breaks loose. Detective Going is also asked by Agent Daemonakos to assist him on the Scarlet case after her humiliating experience last issue.

For the past five issues, Maleev has defined sequential art and made it look fantastic from page to page. Whether it’s depicting the chaos from an explosion to showing Scarlet pondering what the hell her next move is, you are getting one great looking series. Again, I feel this comes from the fact that he and Bendis have worked together before and know how to bring the best out of each other’s work.

The writing has been some of the best I’ve seen from Bendis, and even with hints of his signature style Scarlet has a flavor all its own. He’s giving us an unsure and scared revolutionary in Scarlet that has apparent flaws which make her that much more interesting. Scarlet could be me, you, or anyone you know given these circumstances, and Bendis masterfully shows this in his story. He’s also made the supporting characters quite interesting in the short time we’ve come to know them. Also the occasional break of the fourth wall has become a lot more entertaining than I expected.

This issue wraps up the first arc and is setting Scarlet up for something that has become much bigger than herself. So if you can still find the issues I’d suggest picking them up, or get them when they’re collected into a trade or hardcover. You’ll get a great read either way, because if you’re still complaining that there’s nothing new in comics, then you are NOT reading Scarlet.

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Infinite Speech
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