Customer Reviews

Scarlet Traces

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Martians have always had a thing for attacking the Earth. But in this case, jolly old England has saved the day and procured powerful alien technology to secure its position as the globe's preeminent superpower. But in the detective tradition of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, ex-soldiers Robert Autumn and his Scottish butler Archie Currie follow a bloody trail that leads to unraveling an awful conspiracy behind their county's new found military-industrial might.

When an old codger discovers blood-drained corpses of women and Archie's brother laments the disappearance of his grown daughter, the two Brits start snooping. As the powers that be start covering their tracks, with explosive results, the saying of "old soldiers never die, they just fade away" may unfortunately prove too true in this case.

Reminiscent of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this story successfully evokes the rich detail of the Victorian era, from the distinctive architecture to the lively period patois. Originally conceived as a web-comic, the meticulous preparation in script, design, and plotting results in a thrilling if not unsettling story. In an era where governments delude its citizens with justifications for ill-conceived wars, the rallying cry end should be less "God Save the Queen" but "Heaven help us."

SCARLET TRACES is one of the many stories that follows up on H.G. Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, imagining what happened in Britain a decade or so after the failure of the Martian invasion of Earth, with Martian-derived technologies much in evidence.

This is an interesting premise for a story, but alas SCARLET TRACES fails to either explore the idea very thoroughly or construct a good story out of it, building the plot around an "evil conspiracy" that the reader easily spots as silly: "You can't use animals? Bollochs!" One might be happier with SCARLET TRACES if the artwork was interesting, but alas it's just second-rate. Readable in an automatic sort of way, but not memorable.

The concept, art and basics of the storyline are good, but like volume two of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it doesn't quite deliver on its HG Wells-ian promise. It is evocative but it lacks the detail one would want in a stand-alone graphic novel that wants to deliver a fully realized alternative history world.

But even though it felt like the plot wrapped up a bit too fast, for the price it is hard to beat this little harcover volume.

The idea of what happens after Britain wins The War of the Worlds is well conceived and executed. They obtain technivcal knowledge decades, perhaps centuries, ahead, but at a dreadful price. The basic plot is also good. However, the book is simply way too short for the story being told. Wham, bam, it's over. While the characters and plot are promising, their development is minimal. Still, I liked it enough to get the next book in the series.

The Martian invasion ended a decade ago and left the British Empire in a very interesting position. Martian technology has allowed them to take over most of the Earth with Heat-Rays and advanced machinery that allows a 100 men to do the work of a 1000. The British Empire runs on the oil from red weeds and the red blood of the lower class.
Yet when dead women, their blood drained from their bodies, are found washed up on the Thames certain questions are asked and some people wonder what is going on? Is it a vampire? Or something more dangerous...
Follow Captain Robert Autumn and his servant Archie Currie as they follow the clues, from the East End to the grinding poverty of the North.
Hansom cabs with limbs, flying aircraft and lots of green smoke.