"Scarlet Book One" definitely could have been better. The characters were okay but the plot was a little too cliche for my tastes. There are also parts of the plot I just didn't enjoy.

Let me begin by saying that reading comics on an eReader is not my favorite, but man, this was good comic. I had a difficult time holding off and continuing this story. Scarlet is a heck of a character, and she had good reasons as to why she was against authority. I won’t spoil the why, but man, trust me: you won’t blame her in the end. Scarlet kicks butt and she rallies people to her side in order to speak up against the injustices others face.

Scarlet’s story is reminiscent of what is going on with authority and the general public nowadays: people senselessly murdered and the people speaking up, and out, against it. The tale and news are hard to watch, let alone read. But it is powerful and makes you think twice about what is going on in the world if you weren’t already!

For anyone who enjoys a story reminiscent of today’s news and the struggle against corruption, I highly suggest looking at Scarlet. I can't wait to see what happens next.


Thank you to Net Galley for a review copy of this comic!

I absolutely loved it. I need more. And luckily there's another galley that just came up as available that reminded me I'd read this and put the name fresh in my mind because I definitely want more.

Felt little empathy for the characters, and the white protagonist/anarchist vs. dirty cops plot wasn't revelatory.

One Sentence Synopsis: Striking political revenge story about a woman who is done.

Why You Should Be Reading: Let me just clarify the level of done that this woman is in right now. She’s the spark, the beginning of the next American revolution, and she’s got nothing to lose because it’s all been taken away.

That means that the risks she takes are bigger, the targets she’s after are grander, and that the effect of her efforts will be felt far and wide.

I personally love how gritty Scarlet is in this book. Women are often never portrayed like this. Bendis is taking that risk and going for something we want to see more of in the female characters we consume in comics.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Crime, Revolution, Feminism

Other Books by Brian Michael Bendis: Avengers: Heroes Welcome #1, Powers Vol. 1, House of M

Learn more about the author HERE.

Buy Scarlet Book One HERE.

Add Scarlet Book One to your Goodreads HERE.

Scarlet Rue lost her friend to a corrupt cop. After she recovered being shot by the same cop, she tracked him down, found out what he was and killed him along with a couple of other corrupt cops. She then took out the police of chief while filming the event. She called out corrupt cops by publishing the video. And when a flash mob of her supports gathers, she shows up. But when the mayor calls the police to back off, a police officer causes a riot. The question on people's mind is what next? What will Scarlet do now?

Bendis always brings us characters in unreal situations with more than real emotions and thoughts, he creates the most well-developed people for his stories. In this one he taps into the theme of police corruption to tell a story that is at once ripped from the pages while maintaining a satisfying grip on fantasy. Scarlet invites us into her life and world in a way we cannot help but find charming, despite the violence of that world.

Loved the drawing style. I was little let down with the story tho. I would love to read more if I’m truthful about the comic.

An amazing and timely book. Set right in the violent present with similar tensions to reality. Might be okay in YA public library collections and colleges

Scarlett is an interesting read. The art style was sparse, which fit in with the themes and message of the comic. I enjoyed Scarlett as a character and I'm interested to see where her story goes.

Originally written in 2010-11 around the time of the Occupy Wallstreet movement. DC is re-releasing all of Bendis's Jinxworld books as part of his move over to DC.

Scarlet is the story of a young woman who goes on a revenge spree after a corrupt cop kills her boyfriend and shoots her and then frames him as a drug dealer. The message being sold is that she's tired of a system that overlooks crooked cops and takes vengeance into her own hands murdering shady police officers which sparks a movement in Portland, OR. It's all told directly to us by Scarlet as she breaks the fourth wall talking directly to the reader like John Cusack in High Fidelity. The problem is that Alex Maleev's art may have been too good. He has this gritty, photo-realism that left me felling greasy and disturbed inside upon seeing Scarlet snipe police officers who we never see being corrupt. It's only inferred by Scarlet. That kind of violence towards police officers, corrupt or not, is just something I don't need to see, especially in that kind of detail. After seeing the mass shooting in a California bar this week, it's just something I wasn't prepared for. It left me with this feeling of "Will this give nut jobs ideas and justifications for their atrocities when we've just seen a former marine kill 12 people because he was bored with life?" It was just a little too true to life for me in our current times. I'll stick with my escapist comic books.

A lovely political indictment, both timeless and ripe and pertinent. Scarlet represents so many of us, frustrated, angry and feeling powerless. Scarlet risks everything to make sure no one else feels that way. I thought there could have been more diversity of character but overall it was a fun read and I can't wait for Vol. 2

'Scarlet Book One' by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Alex Maleev was an interesting story and not one I expected to see coming from DC.

I'm familiar with Brian Michael Bendis' work at Marvel on titles like Daredevil, The Avengers and others. This time around the character is an original creation, and one who seems to push at boundaries of the comic panels.

When we first meet redheaded Scarlet, she is standing over a corpse and seeming to talk directly to us. Who this woman is and the events that brought her here will be revealed, but she is the victim of a seemingly corrupt system, and she wants our help to do something about it.

It's a striking call for help. Made moreso by Alex Maleev's photorealistic art style. The characters look like they were shot on film, then colored over. As a style here, it's impressive. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Jinxworld, DC Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The aspect of the modern revenge thriller whether it be through the Tarantino lens or even within the Liam Neeson “Taken” construct has to have a reason for being but also not take the idea too close to the bone. Tone is an interesting texture as is perspective. In “Scarlet – Book One” [Brian Michael Bendis/DC/184pgs], the protagonist herself starts off in bad ass mode simply because that is her nature. The difference here is that this 20-year-old as a character begins by talking to her audience and explaining the who, what and why even if she doesn’t quite fully understand it. This graphic novel definitely shows the approach with the texture of cause and effect which is made more undeniable by the actual element of the script and early sketches with the words included at the end of the volume. It shows the exercise and the discussion that took place to accomplish the flow of the art and story. The idea at the center is one a little of cliche: of semi innocent love lost. The difference here is that it is fueled by police corruption whom Scarlet wants to expose. Using her actual weapon of violence and using it as a pedestal for change does not make it right but does offer an interesting conundrum. Her ideas are specific and logical and she is level headed….but she is a killer who cannot turn back. This of course makes her the balance of both a pariah and a martyr which is the trajectory she is on at the end of this volume. Memories keep flashing in her head in what could have been done differently. The artist dictates that many of the frames were designed to be anti-cinematic to specifically focus the viewer on Scarlet’s words. That said there is still a sense of lurid color that sweeps through the art specifically in a sequence where Scarlet gives a corrupt officer his comeuppance. “Scarlet Book One” is a slightly different take on the vigilante but with an identity that is its own.

B-

By Tim Wassberg

I was initially a little leery of this title as the description didn't overwhelm me, but I'm very glad I read it as it's a solid story and an unusual approach. Brian Michael Bendis has some good ideas and an interesting story to tell. He employs a narrative device where Scarlet talks right to the reader, but not in a funny way, like Deadpool might. It's earnest, sincere. I read in the special edition notes from the author and he compared it to the way John Cusak talks to the audience in the movie High Fidelity, which works well here. It pulls you into the story early and indicates that this won't be business as usual.
Alex Maleev is in fine form here. Something about his work feels both lived in and frenetic at the same time. Like there is a lot going on in the world, even if there is real weight there. Glad I was surprised by this and looking forward to Vol 2!

This is a story about how a revolution gets started. In typical Bendis style, it's gritty and very real world. It's an interesting take on what happens when a woman has been pushed too far and wants to end the corruption she has been victimized by. It's an interesting statement on society and hits pretty close these days.

Scarlet is a vigilante who is determined to fight back against a corrupt system and she uses violence for change. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, who is known for his skill in writing character’s dialogue, Scarlet is a deliberately provocative story meant to push boundaries. Originally released in 2010, it is being re-released for it’s timely story line during this #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and Women’s March era, and I obtained a copy through NetGalley.

Scarlet is living life as a typical Portland teen when she and her boyfriend get targeted by a dirty cop’s drug pat down. When her boyfriend punches the officer and they make a run for it, they are followed and shot at. Her boyfriend dies, and Scarlet is sent to the hospital in a coma. The police cover themselves by painting the couple as drug dealers and the officers are hailed as heroes who saved the community from a drug cartel. When Scarlet awakens, she is furious and decides she wants revenge.

The gimmick is that Scarlet breaks the fourth wall and talks to the reader. Thus, the narrative is from her perspective and she is sharing what she wants you to know, so you get her spin on the action. This mostly works, but at times it’s a bit pretentious. Scarlet isn’t always likable, and can definitely be perceived as an anti-hero. Her unsavory ‘violence is the answer’ motto is tempered by the realization that some big changes in our world have only come to fruition through violence. Martin Luther King Jr was able to further the Civil Rights Movement through love and non-violent means, but he was counterbalanced (and helped) by Malcolm X’s methods, as Gandhi was also helped by radicals. This is an uncomfortable truth that should be further delved into.

The artwork is stylized with an edgy noir vibe. Mostly drawn in black and white or with a muted earthen color palette, some splashes of color include Scarlet’s red hair, blood and occasional details such as a pride flag. The art is sketchy at times, but also includes photographic type detail. Artist Alex Maleev is fond of closeups of people’s faces, which can be hit or miss at times, but his unique style is a good match to the story.

This series is worth looking into further to see if Bendis finesses this culturally relevant story and develops Scarlet into more than a gun-toting cop killing hottie. I look forward to Scarlet moving from vigilante to true revolutionary.

My thanks to NetGalley and DC Entertainment/Jinxworld for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

The concept of this sounded interesting, but the reality of it was just no.

Premise: Dirty, drug addicted cop shakes down teens for their drugs/money so he can feed his habit. His uncle is the police chief and protects him, rather than turn the guy in and get him help for his addiction. This dirty cop ends up shooting Scarlet's BF dead and despite shooting her point blank in the head, she somehow survives to enact revenge. Timeline is wonky, but when she wakes, all she has is a shaved head, no scars, nothing. And dirty cop has gotten promoted for killing the "horrible drug dealer", aka the innocent teen that was the BF.

So she kills him, the uncle who is the chief and some other cop who grabbed her @ss and indicated that she was going to pleasure him to get out of some minor crime. She posted her convo with the uncle before she killed him, basically saying that she and the innocent people being hurt by the corrupt cops weren't going to take it anymore. And she starts violent civil disobedience. And since the cops are ALL corrupt, as is the mayor, no one is actually finding her, because they don't know what she knows and they don't want her tattling and they don't want her dead, cuz martyr.

Basically, this book is saying that all cops are dirty and out to hurt and use and abuse innocent people and the only way to fight back is through violence.

This is SO DANGEROUS to say, ESPECIALLY nowadays when all cops basically have a target on their backs. Yes, some cops are bad, they are humans and some humans are bad. Yes, they need to police their own better, BUT they are the minority. And it is very dangerous to claim the opposite is true.

This book is not balanced. It shows one decent cop who wants to do what is right, so she is going to be the sacrificial goat when someone has to take the fall, because everyone else is dirty. Yes, we have had legit bad policing and shootings in real life. I am sure that the families and friends of the victims from encounters with bad police officers feel as Scarlet does in this book. I am not trying to downplay when bad cops happen to good people. But how about showing healthy and legal ways to deal with it, rather than just more violence? What this book needs is balance, on both sides. How about showing some good cops doing good policing? Show more than just one cop and FBI guy trying to make things right. Show those hurting from actions by bad cops dealing with it in non-violent ways and succeeding.

You couldn't pay me enough to be a cop. It's such a thankless job right now. This book is not helping the already thick tension between the police and the public at large. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

1, horrified and deeply sad star.

Scarlet Rue is the rebel we all wish existed today. She fights corruption and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes down to the details. This is a great intro to a modern day superhero: one without superpowers or massive amounts of family money. She instills in her followers the belief that we shouldn't accept the status quo if it is based on a history of wrongdoing and I think this message is one that speaks volumes--especially in today's political climate. I loved reading her intro and can't wait to read the rest as it comes.

Scarlet reminds me alot of Punisher. Shes a vigilante going against a corrupt system whos "enslaved" the people it was sworn to protect. The artwork is fantastic, very gritty and dark. I found the storyline to very relatable to todays police drama, very insightful. Looking forward to reading more.