I rarely pick up small-press comics. Mainly, because there are so many and my partner-in-crime has already spent my pennies on them! However, there is one I’ve discovered that I have to share with you. Creepy Scarlett looks to be heavily influenced by Monster High and Manga, but that is only because they are the only reference points that we have to consider it by.
Scarlett is a girl who was brought up by a priest, Father Calvin, who took her in as a foundling at the turn of the 20th Century. She is portrayed as innocent with a sideways slant on life. His best friend is her teddy bear, Mr Ted and they live outside of a small town with all of the usual parochial beliefs and attitudes that we expect of small towns everywhere.
It all sounds very Blyton-esque, doesn’t it? But this is where Graeme Buchan works his magic.
The priest teaches his adopted daughter sword play, and we discover he turned to the cloth after rejecting his brother Vincent and the Order of the Red Sun, a dark version of the Knights Templar.
Taking on a self-appointed role to guard the treasures of humanity, the priest is then killed, beheaded by his brother. Scarlett is taken prisoner – but she escapes them in the one way you can always escape your captors.
Want to know how she escapes? Buy the book.
Some highlights? A training sequence that is a loving homage of all those training sequences from the movies and comics that you can recall. In fact, I definitely saw a strong resemblance to the training undertaken by Kristy Swanson in the Buffy movie, which is lifted by some deft touches of humour. The fight scene where she and the Samurai defend the church. And the sequence where Scarlett swallows the Emerald of Lucifer and decides to give some payback.
Not my usual fare, but definitely a bargain. If you would like to buy the book, we still await an update from Graeme, but if you want to download it, then it is free until 1st December 2014 at http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/4668/Last-Sunset-Comics
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
A life-long comic fan, specialising mainly in UK adventure comics, Colin did his very best to support his passion for the comics of his youth, Commandos (still going!) and any small press that interested him. Sadly, Colin passed in March 2021, an invaluable downthetubes team member, much missed by us all
Categories: British Comics, Features, Reviews