Comic Review: Scarlet (2018-) #5

Scarlet (2018-) #5

DC Comics

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Alex Maleev

Scarlet, one of many Bendis-penned books being printed under DC’s Jinxworld imprint, is a revolution-based thriller drawn by Alex Maleev, Bendis’ artist partner on his Daredevil series.

The writing for this issue is nothing remarkable, certainly not Bendis’ best, but it’s still overall an enjoyable read. The plot for this issue is relatively simple, largely consisting of the retrieval of Scarlet after the end of the last issue, with her being smuggled through military patrol checkpoints. In comparison to previous issues, Scarlet #5 is somewhat uneventful and really acts as a break from the hectic feel of the previous four issues. Bendis still makes sure to inject a decent level of tension into the affair, so I still felt reasonably engaged by the book and makes sure to include a little levity in a few humorous cutaways to the White House. The book also uses this lull in urgency to establish a key new character and a very important detail about the setting is revealed at the end.

There’s not such a strong character focus here, even on Scarlet herself, but for the most part, the characters involved are likable enough, with some fun snippets of dialogue. However, as is often expected with something written by Bendis (That Bendis? Yes, that Bendis), the dialogue between characters does sometimes feel stilted and overly wordy. It’s far from dreadful, but it’s still there enough that you notice it and your brain just kind of goes “Ah, yes, it’s easy to tell who wrote this issue.”

Something that the Jinxworld books share in common besides being written by Bendis is that each one has talented, distinctive artists. Alex Maleev’s painting-style illustrations are practically relaxing to look at in a book that holds no real action sequences. The book has a nice variation of cold and warm colour palettes depending on the page in question that adds to this effect. One particular image of the White House is very well rendered, and could probably pass as a stand-alone painting if you showed it to someone who didn’t know it came from a comic book. Toward the end of the book, without wanting to spoil, there is a very lovely sequence involving postcards that are beautifully illustrated and is a good example of how to be creative with your storytelling via the use of art, which is something you can only really achieve in a comic.

Scarlet #5 is a decently written book that carries tension when required, but is largely oddly relaxing thanks to Maleev’s illustration, and helps creatively provide some exposition for the series going forward.