Scarlet Veronica #1 (of 4) (Ape Entertainment – Moody / Ruggles / Barry / Greathouse)
When Veronica Gainsburrow died, all hell broke loose. Literally. Now her undead alter ego is all that stands between the forces of evil and the end of the world. Can she harness her new powers in time to stop this army of darkness? Horror has a Hero—SCARLET VERONICA.
Isn’t it interesting that whenever there is some supernatural guardian who going to protect the world from zombies and the evil undead… it usually involves a barely dressed goth hottie. Well, I suppose that sells better than an un-athletic chubby
guy in sweats fighting possessed skeletons. 🙂
Scarlet Veronica is exactly what you think it would be. A disenfranchised teenage girl who is new to town, she is shy, a little off-beat and is getting picked on by the cheerleaders and the popular crowd. When she encounters a reaper and should be dead, ancient powers brought forth by a supernatural war give her a shadowy alter ego that is more bad-goth-girl than any fanboy could handle.
The story is part Buffy, part Twilight and part Evil Dead. So, a whole lot of fun – great action and beautiful one-liners – but also very predictable. While the bad guys are all demonic living dead and the “good guy” is pretty dark, it’s light enough that I would not consider this horror, it’s more action-filled than “scare”-driven. The art adds to the sense that this book is more of an edgy pre-teen book and less of a Spawn clone. The art is gorgeous and very fun (a Scarlet Veronica pin-up books must be in the works), but it is blocky and has a cartoon feeling to it. Check out a cover to issue #2 to the left. It’s due out in a few weeks, review coming soon!
Issue Grade: B
