SCARLET #1

This is writer Brian Bendis and artist Alex Maleev's newest series. They both had a famous run on Daredevil (I wasn't reading too many comics at the time, so I missed it) and last year they had a short stint on the epic failure Spider Woman (yes, it was terrible). You would think that everything these two touch will turn into gold because Bendis is an often great writer and Maleev is a spectacular, unique artist. This new series, though, while in its infancy, is awful, awful stuff. It does look good; it's gritty, stylish, and kinetic. There are some amusing parts of the issue: the series of “firsts” (first kiss, first orgasm, first A, first F, etc.) is cute. The story, though, has ambition, but hasn't presented itself as anything entertaining or profound (I think it's supposed to be profound, anyway). The premise is that a really pretty hippie girl in Portland decides to take on the establishment. It's basically the tale of a modern Anarchist. Eventually people will join her cause and it will be like the French cutting off Marie Antoinette's head (you get the premise, right?). Who is she after? Well...the government, The Man, the cops, society. It's a little sketchy, although in the first issue it's her vs. the Portland P.D. (a corrupt cop kills her boyfriend). This could possibly become awesome stuff. I envision mass carnage, bombings, epic riots, looting, chaos. But so far it's deadly dull. The other problem is that Scarlet talks to the reader. It's lame. It's only the first issue, sure, but it's a really terrible first issue. 1/2*