Hey come on did you really think you would get out reading a review of Icon’s  Scarlet issue 2 by me (Sheldon) this week? As you know from issue one  I happened to fall in love with this book. Both the writing (Bendis) and the art (Maleev) are perfect in tone for this book! When last we left our heroine she was telling us of her stories of woe and had just informed us as to the how’s and whys that set her on this path.Does issue 2 live up to the incredible promise this book has? Well keep reading and you will find out!

Now as I was saying when we last left Scarlet she was explaining her sorted past and how she and her boyfriend had been accosted by some  crooked cops.These same crooked cops then came back and shot and killed her boyfriend while also shooting her in the head.This was all in issue 1 and I highly recommend you go back and read it if you have not already. While issue 1 was a great way to start off it also had a big big problem, Issue 2 had to be just as good if not better.Now with many acclaimed series this is a tough one because right off the bat you can tell this , in some ways, will be a story of revenge and it could potentially wind up being a very long road to a unsatisfying ending. In other words the book could have been at risk of stretching out a story line for no other reason then just to make there readers pay for it. I am happy to report however that this book does NOT do that….in fact it does not do that so well it is though Bendis is walking around in my mind………get out ,get out!!!!!! This issue starts off where issue 1 ended. Scarlet alone with nothing but her thoughts in a hospital bed in Portland. He goes through the thought process of the victim, allowing us to understand the whys of Scarlets actions. We find Scarlet getting better and deciding to look into this crooked cops past and planing on taking her next step, confrontation. Along the way she meets the crooked cops ex partner who was on the case with him when he busted both Scarlet and her boyfriend. Apparently the partner took the fall and left the police force not long after that incident. As Scarlet confronts him he tells her to let it go and that she has no idea how high the corruption goes.She of course does not listen and goes after her intended victim with full vigor. Having completely healed from the head wound inflicted by the Cop she follows her prey to a bar and spring her trap. Scarlet lures him away and then knocked him out. This is the point at which I was the happiest for as I said earlier Bendis could have really dragged out this whole scenario with the Cop but instead allowed Scarlet to do what she had to.I will not ruin this moment for you the reader as it is a nicely presented piece of work. Just know there is closer and it allowes both the reader and Scarlet to move forward with the storyline instead of wading around in the kiddie pool waiting for her to make choices.The art work is top notch as well as the writing and I can not wait to read issue 3!They made a promise that this book would start off small and get very big very quickly and it looks like they intend to keep that promise to us the readers Thank you Bendis and Maleev!

Final Verdict: Add this to what ever pull list you have! You won’t be sorry!

Sheldon Lee

Sheldon@comicimpact.com