Scarlett #5 Review

 

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Marco Ferrari

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Editor: Ben Abernathy

Logo & Publication Design: Andres Juarez

Production: Jillian Crab

Cover Artists: Marco Ferrari & Lee Loughridge; Siya Oum; Gleb Melnikov; Vasco Georgiev; Taurin Clarke

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 9, 2024

 

Scarlett helped Jinx find the Soul Of The Arashnikage. But capturing the weapon proved difficult, so Jinx requested Storm Shadow’s help. Storm Shadow arrived, but not before Cobra aided the Mugenonami. Who will claim the ancient weapon? And which American soldiers will return to the United States? Let’s grab our crossbows, leap into Scarlett #5, and find out!

 

Story

Scarlett may have found the weapon, but Storm Shadow claims it. Storm Shadow names it the Sword Of Life. He believes it is his destiny to wield it. Like Brock Pike in the A-Team movie, a Cobra soldier puts a new face on the situation. Storm Shadow doesn’t flinch as Scarlett and Jinx flee. When the smoke clears, Storm Shadow protects her from Cobra troops and leads her to Jinx. Then Cobra Commander arrives. He leads the attack on the Arashnikage survivors. The best means of escape is leaping off the building. But the mission team only brought two parachutes in Scarlett #5. And Storm Shadow claims one of them.

 

In Kelly Thompson’s story, Scarlett must answer The Clash’s immortal question. Snowjob is waiting nearby. She can return with him to the United States and hand Striker the burn bag. Even if he wants the weapon, Striker will welcome Jinx’s intel. But returning home means leaving Jinx behind. And what does Scarlett have to return to? Her commander fired Scarlett for disobeying orders. Perhaps Striker would hire her for other missions. Still, she would always return to an empty house. And if Scarlett leaves, the Arashnikage will never welcome her back, leaving Jinx friendless among the ninja clan.

 

Scarlett #5 raises some intriguing possibilities. In the Arashnikage compound, Storm Shadow claimed she wouldn’t fit in. Yet when Jinx feigned disbelief in Scarlett’s abilities, Storm Shadow took offense. After the rocket blast separates them, Storm Shadow covers Scarlett's mouth. Then he clasps Scarlett's hand and leads her to Jinx. So perhaps Scarlett has more than one friend in the ninja clan. And while the United States disdains her abilities, the Arashnikage needs her assistance. Cobra Commander has them in his sites. And he won’t rest until he captures the Soul Of The Arashnikage.

 

Art

Clad in a white ninja uniform, Storm Shadow clasps the white blade. Panels hint at Storm Shadow’s swiftness. After Storm Shadow attacks, his opponent and sword fall apart. A slashed pillar frames Storm Shadow with his glowing sword. Lines beside a profile shot suggest Scarlett is appalled by the violent encounter. As they regard each other, a starburst divides Jinx and Scarlett into separate panels. After a page showing the hurtling rocket, inset panels of Scarlett and Jinx evoke glass shards amid another explosive page.

 

Lee Loughridge lavishes a changing color palette on Marco Ferrari’s scenes in Scarlett #5. While pink welcomes Storm Shadow's date with destiny, orange and yellow accompany the rocket explosion. As Storm Shadow finds Scarlett and leads her toward Jinx, blue, white, and gray evoke the remote Arashnikage compound. Yellow and pink circles brighten the night and tinge Tokyo streets green, while orange and tan dominate a reunion between redheads.

 

Rus Wooton fills white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with uppercase black letters. The font shrinks for lowered voices, grows bold for intonation, and swells for raised voices. Colorful dialogue threatens to burst dialogue balloons, while sound effects relate clashing swords, gunfire, exploding rockets, a desperate escape, and soldiers declaring their dominance. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Scarlett #5 ponders why people sometimes embrace causes they disagree with. Affiliations change amid a new world order as powerful forces vie to control an otherworldly energy source.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

To preview interior art see the First Look at Skybound.com.

Scarlett #4 Review

 

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Marco Ferrari

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Editor: Ben Abernathy

Logo & Publication Design: Andres Juarez

Production: Jillian Crab

Cover Artists: Marco Ferrari & Lee Loughridge; Yasmine Putri; Gleb Melnikov; Vasco Georgiev; Chuma Hill

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 4, 2024

 

Scarlett parachuted onto the Mugenonami’s Sato II Tiger skyscraper, blew a rooftop door, dived into an eight-story shark tank, and destroyed the generator protecting the Soul Of The Arashnikage. Then she fired a cable to the top of Sato III Sakura, swung through the evening sky to the adjacent tower, and crashed through plate glass into Floor 47. Jinx greets her, and Scarlett is glad she can finally talk with her friend. Will Jinx and Scarlett help Storm Shadow steal the Soul Of The Arashnikage? Or should they escape and return to the United States? Let’s grab our crossbows, leap into Scarlett #4, and find out!

 

Story

Jinx greets Scarlett in whispers. Then, Jinx signals the presence of cameras and microphones. Jinx tells Scarlett to follow her, and they join Storm Shadow in the room where the Mugenonami keeps the Arashnikagi’s ancient weapon. Scarlett is overjoyed to be with Jinx. Yet her suicide mission exhausted her. She stumbles over her tongue. Storm Shadow catches her out. But he's more worried about the Soul Of The Arashnikage. The weapon slipped beneath the floor when the energy shield died. And when Scarlett gazes through the hole, she knows it didn't drop into Floor 46.

 

Storm Shadow tells her the Mugenonami are massing on Floor 44 and charges off to investigate. Jinx leads Scarlett outside the room and detonates an EMP. Now, they have two minutes to catch up before the building's security system reboots. It's not much after years of separation, but it's all they've got.

 

Stalker sent Jinx to infiltrate the Arashnikage. He sent Scarlett to find out why Jinx hasn't returned. Jinx wastes no time giving Scarlett the intel she has gathered on the Arashnikage’s organization and activities. Scarlett tells Jinx that Snowjob is waiting nearby. They can leave together with the intel and return to the United States. Instead, Scarlett’s worst fears come true. Jinx won’t leave the Arashnikage and feels dutybound to reclaim the Soul Of The Arashnikage. Jinx asserts that the Arashnikage might even become allies of the United States.

 

Jinx mentions an emerging world power named COBRA. Jinx fears the rival organization gaining control of the Soul Of The Arashnikage. But Scarlett must decide. Should she take Jinx's intel back to Stalker? Or should Scarlett help Jinx and Storm Shadow fulfill their mission and bring the Soul Of The Arashnikage back to Hard Master?

 

In Scarlett #4, Scarlett faces many difficult choices. Her training gives her an edge over Storm Shadow. If Scarlett helps secure the ancient weapon, she can join the clan and remain with her beloved Jinx. But why does everyone want the Soul Of The Arashnikage?

 

Art

Jinx lifts two fingers, shakes her hand, and runs away. Scarlett follows into a circular room. Semicircular couches surround a bullseye on the floor. Scarlett kneels beside a man’s severed hips and legs and stares into the sparking hole. When Storm Shadow runs away, Scarlett follows Jinx back into the hallway. Jinx raises a finger to her lips, presses a hand to her collarbone, and squeezes the button of a sparking device with her other hand.

 

Storm Shadow pins a man to the floor with two swords. Lee Loughridge bathes Marco Ferrari's martial arts symphony in red. As Storm Shadow kicks, slices, and stabs amid the red haze, a red emergency light likewise colors the hall where Jinx confers with Scarlett in her sleeveless red tunic. While the red lighting tinges Storm Shadow's white outfit with brown and turns his blue utility belt red, it gives Scarlett's hair an orange hue and turns Scarlett's white and blue outfit light and dark gray. Later in Scarlett #4, the girls gaze out windows at a purple sky and fight amid beige and orange panels until armored figures with a familiar red symbol emblazoned on their shoulders and chests enter the room.

 

Rus Wooton lavishes white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes filled with large uppercase black and colored letters on Marco Ferrari’s art and Lee Loughridge’s colors in Scarlett #4. Sound effects help us hear Storm Shadow slice his way across Floor 44 and COBRA fire on our heroines. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

The US military kept holding Scarlett back. Arashnikage could give Scarlett everything she wants. But staying with Jinx and living her life on the edge means letting the clan use the ancient weapon Stalker wants. In Scarlett #4, she must decide if she can trust Jinx and who should wield the Soul Of The Arashnikage.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Scarlett #3 Review

 

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Marco Ferrari

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Editor: Ben Abernathy

Cover Artists: Marco Ferrari & Lee Loughridge; Marcio Takara; Gleb Melnikov; Jeff Spokes; Eric Canete; Marco Turini

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 7, 2024

 

Scarlett escaped her bonds and killed some of Clan Arashikage’s best ninjas. Hard Master and Storm Shadow were impressed. Still, why should they accept her? They value loyalty, and she's given the US military the boot. Scarlett undertook a suicide mission to change their minds. She parachuted onto a Yakuza-held skyscraper, blew a rooftop door, and gazed down the tower’s central atrium to the distant lobby. Can Scarlett survive the fall, deactivate the Yakuza’s defense system, and help Storm Shadow and Jinx win back the Soul Of The Arashikage? Let’s grab our crossbows, leap into Scarlett #3, and find out!

 

Story

Clan Arashikage lost their ancient weapon. After a tireless search, Hard Master and Storm Shadow found it. But a rival clan possesses it and plans to sell it to a third party. If the Arashikage don’t capture it soon, who knows how long until they find it again?

 

As Scarlett hurtles toward the lobby and plunges into Sato II's eight-story water tank, she knows she's a decoy. While swimming with sharks, Scarlett also knows she's crucial to the mission's success. As she opens an access hatch on the bottom of the tank and activates the airlock, she doubtless wonders how the assault is going in Sato III. But Scarlett doesn't have time to think about the battle in the adjacent skyscraper. As she tranquilizes guards and battles Yakusa, death awaits her with every sword thrust, gunshot, and spinning Shuriken in Scarlett #3.

 

Scarlett found Storm Shadow's hospitality lacking. She has less cause for complaint in Kelly Thompson’s latest hanashi. As in the Arashikage compound, Scarlett made her luck. She studied Hard Shadow's architectural drawings to learn the buildings' secrets. While the Mugenonami guards rush toward the top of the tank, Scarlett heads for the control room and hacks into their communication system. She may not avoid conflict and injury, but her plans help her access the defense system in the heavily defended Yakusa stronghold.

 

Scarlett must knock out the machinery to help Storm Shadow, Jinx, and the ninja clan reclaim the Soul Of The Arashikage. She may not know Storm Shadow or the other ninjas well, but she traveled to the Arashikage compound and undertook this mission to reunite with Jinx. Her friend's life is on the line in Scarlett #3. She must succeed, or Jinx is as good as dead.

 

Art

A storm cloud rises from the middle of the water tank. Scarlett swims down through the page while silhouettes in a panel gaze up. She passes fish, rays, and sharks to reach the access panel. Straight lines suggest shadowed and corrugated surfaces. Crosshatching and autofill dots darken her body and mask.

 

A light drenches Scarlett in red as the water level falls. She trades the airlock for blue and green corridors and rooms. The feathers of a tranquilizer dart match her hair, while violence fills the air with yellow and orange. Intense fighting yields gouts of dark blood. As her adversaries fall, Scarlett removes her hand from her side. Her fingers glisten red.

 

Rus Wooton lavishes white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes filled with large uppercase black and colored letters on Marco Ferrari’s art and Lee Loughridge’s colors in Scarlett #3. Sound effects help us hear weapons fire, water systems cycle, throwing stars slice into walls, and the Mugenonami defense system bisect a ninja in Sato III. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As Scarlett and Jinx lead simultaneous attacks on two Mugenonami strongholds, Scarlett holds her friend's fate in her hands. She must succeed, or her friend dies. Scarlett doesn’t question her orders or debate the most ethical choice with her handler as she races to save Clan Arashikage’s ancient and powerful weapon in Scarlett #3. She was born for this. If only she could do it for the US military instead of a Japanese ninja clan!

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Scarlett #2 Review

 

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Marco Ferrari

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Cover Artists: Marco Ferrari; Karl Kerschl; Gleb Melnikov; Paolo Rivera; Annie Wu

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: July 3, 2024

 

Snowjob dropped Scarlett on a remote mountain and bugged out. Scarlett watched the chopper leave and skied ten miles to the Clan Arashikage compound. She fought her way through ninjas to kneel before the Hard Master. Will the head of Clan Arashikage allow Scarlett to fight alongside her friend Jinx in his service? Or will he kill the G I Joe agent who ignored her orders and rescued twelve Americans from a sex trafficker’s auction in Monaco? Let’s grab our crossbows, leap into Scarlett #2, and find out!

 

Story

Scarlett wakes. She's tied to a chair. She notices a collection of weapons in a locked glass cabinet. Scarlett reminds herself of Stalker's orders as she pulls out a blade the Clan Arashikage soldiers missed. She slices through her bonds and spies another code from Jinx on a wall. A warrior in the hallway notices her, leaving Scarlett no time to muse about her friend.

 

Scarlett drops the razor blade and fights hand-to-hand. An Arashikagi soldier shoots at her. He misses Scarlett but hits the glass cabinet. Locks don’t bar her anymore. She leaps and slices through the room, her katana leaving a trail of blood in her wake. When a masked man halts the attack, the surviving soldiers disperse.

 

Storm Shadow conducts her entry interview in Scarlett #2. She explains that the US military is changing, leaving her without a place to call home. She believes she brings a unique skill set to Clan Arashikage. Storm Shadow agrees about her talents but wonders how Scarlett will fit into the clan. But Hard Master is impressed. He proposes a solo field mission. If Scarlet completes her assignment and demonstrates the qualities he values, she’s in.

 

Becoming a member of Clan Arashikage means she can be close to Jinx again. Striker orchestrated this mission. But Major Gorman kicked Scarlett off his team after the Monaco fiasco, and she only met Striker once. Scarlett hasn't seen Jinx for two years, but her relationship with her friend extends further. If Scarlett secures the weapon Striker wants for Clan Arashikage, she may find it difficult to sneak it out of the remote mountain compound. Jinx was a deep cover agent, but she’s gone silent. If Jinx doesn't want to leave, will Scarlett stay with her friend? Kelly Thompson poises Scarlett on a knife edge in Scarlett #2. Scarlett can dance on the sharpened steel for a short time before she falls back with the Joes, dives into the ninja clan, or becomes one more casualty, disavowed, forgotten, and unmourned.

 

Art

Green symbols lurk in a fog of black ink behind Scarlett's bowed head. She opens her eyes to see a glass-fronted display of weapons. Glass doors replace traditional Japanese paper walls, allowing Scarlett to see a courtyard garden and people passing in the corridor. Light streaks diagonally across the room from a skylight. The abundance of light in the room casts dramatic shadows and makes the wall and floor panels shine, yet diminishes the blue water and green plants outside.  

 

Lee Loughridge lavishes a limited palette on Marco Ferrari’s art in Scarlett #2. While green, tan, brown, blue, and orange dominate, there's always room for a splash of yellow or red. Black and red blood spills, splashes, and sprays amid Scarlett's fight with the soldiers. Black and red footprints on a glass wall frame Storm Shadow's white balaclava-covered face. Gunfire forms a yellow streak over a crouching black silhouette. Yellow electrifies the Tokyo skyline as Scarlett undertakes her trial for Clan Arashikage. Splashes of orange and blue skyscraper windows accompany the bright blue helicopter speeding toward Scarlett’s chosen target.

 

Rus Wooton fires large uppercase black and red lettering into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. Sound effects help us hear Scarlett dropkick a chair, Throwing Stars knock out ninjas, and explosives demolish a door. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Scarlett delights Storm Shadow and Hard Master by hacking through their loyal troops, then undertakes a suicide mission to prove her worth to the ninja clan leaders. She does all this to resume her friendship with Jinx in Scarlett #2. But didn't Jinx tell her to stay away?

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.