‘Scarlett Couture #2’ Review
Written and Drawn by Des Taylor | Published by Titan Comics | Format: Paperback, 32pp
After reading issue 1 of Des Taylor’s new title, Scarlett Couture, my opinion had been that while his artwork had been outstanding, his shortcomings as a new kid on the block writer had been a little bit obvious. So, picking up the notoriously difficult (in comics publishing terms) second issue I was interested to see if he has conquered those early nerves.
Issue 2 picks up right where the first finished, but Taylor skillfully manages to juggle his plots well; one or two plot strands from the first issue are not progressed at all, showing Taylor is confident enough in his plotting that when he does pick them up again in a future issue he is confident he can run with them. The main plot IS progressed, as Scarlett tries to discover more about the people behind the kidnap and murders of seemingly innocent models.
To help flesh out this world a little more, Des Taylor also throws in a little more back story and background, and some more new faces to the mix. It all works very well, a female James Bond in jeopardy, shady organisations scheming behind the scenes, and gorgeous people being gorgeous, all in extremely glamorous settings. The pace of the issue as a whole was very good, with only one or two scenes that felt a little out of synch with the rest.
Des Taylor’s art remains the big draw though. Ever so slightly cartoonish/ animation-style, it is beautifully rendered, well composed, and just a joy to look at, let alone read. No other artist could probably do justice to the people and settings in this world he has created. My only slight niggle, as with his first issue, is that his art is sometimes TOO attractive. To make a world believable it needs to be bright and dark, beautiful and ugly, perfect and imperfect. Still, we could all do a lot worse than live in Scarlett’s world.
Des Taylor was clearly having fun with his creation right from the start, though with Issue 1 that enthusiasm lead to some writing that was a little rough around the edges. Issue 2 of Scarlett Couture does away with that, with the script and art coming together very well into a fun, sexy polished piece of escapism it is almost impossible to dislike.
Issue 1 made me want to return to this world for the next issue purely to appreciate the art; Issue 2 has made me want to keep coming back to see where the storylines and characters are going next.
Scarlett Couture: Issue 2 is out now from Titan Comics.
