Review - Scarlet Traces

October 16th, 2007 John Posted in Comic Books, Reviews |

In “Scarlet Traces,” writer Ian Edginton and artist D’Israeli presented a tale that was both clever and perfectly simple — following the events of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” (the actual book, not the cool ‘50s update or the shallow Speilberg trifle), the British government procures the technological secrets of the dead Martians and acts exactly as any government bent on controlling the world would. Only old-style adventurer Captain Robert Autumn and his manservant Archie dare traverse the conspiracies presented by the set-up.

The book treads in steam punk territory in that we get to see turn of the century England with all sorts of technological gadgets — the difference is, while the design styles are keeping in the spirit of the times, the actual technology is entirely of the future. No plodding-but-visionary machinery for this alternate history.

The world of “Scarlet Traces” is a bleak one where the clichés of old-style British adventure — that is, ripping yarns, a world of Biggles and Sherlock Holmes — are slowly being eroded by a decaying society being victimized by the very technology its leaders have pirated from dead invaders. In fact, certain power brokers within the government are literally using the citizens as fodder to propel their quest for alien conquest.

The recently-released sequel, “Scarlet Traces: The Great Game“ takes up years later, bringing the reader up to date with the direction the United Kingdom has taken — not good, not good at all — and with the fate of Captain Autumn. It also riffs on Wells’ story one further by taking the action to Mars itself, broadening the horizons of the adventure and upping the political allegory — one can’t help but make a mental checklist of the connections between the war on Mars and the situation in Iraq.

This is not political commentary of the highest order, but it certainly is exciting and the subtext doesn’t hurt. The messages that lie behind the adventure wouldn’t matter, though, if the work itself was merely mediocre — Edginton and D’Israeli have devised a work that is quite the opposite. Edginton writes engaging characters and drama, giving you just enough to interest you as he throws it all into action. D’Israeli, meanwhile, gives precise and exciting visuals that resemble the meticulous wonder of old Supermarionation shows like “Thunderbirds” — he obviously loves his crafts and procedures and architecture and the world of “Scarlet Traces” is richer for it.

“The Great Game” also shifts the focus of the male-dominated original to women — the hero of the piece, Charlotte Hemming, is a little bit Lady Penelope, a little bit Lois Lane, and a lot of Mrs. Peel. A photojournalist with natural hesitation, Hemming is a perfect focus for the piece, especially in light of the changing times that even a prematurely futuristic England cannot escape. In the original, women were largely victims — victims of the times, victims of attitude, victims of the repressive English society at the turn of the century — but times change.

Most important are the sorts of revelations that unfold during the adventure. The political backdrop isn’t cut and dry, rather a series of schemes and blunders, villainy and bungles. Like the current war, surprise and miscalculation serve as the primary motors in battle planning — something that started out on the offensive turns backwards on itself and a war becomes a mere reaction to a much wider picture of the universe.

It’s so wonderful to encounter straightforward action science fiction done with a twist of creativity that you have to wonder how people so capable of this rarely seem to end up in Hollywood — perhaps the sophisticated science fiction storytellers rarely go to film school these days. If graphic novels like the “Scarlet Traces” series are the price we pay for that, it works for me.