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Red - The Scarlet Cantos
Durham
Red - The Scarlet Cantos
by Dan
Abnett and Mark Harrison
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What to Expect:
Spectacular space battles, a scantily clad heroine and a story that is part
po-faced sci-fi epic and part constant stream of sarcasm.
Review by Alex
Frith
27th September 06
Durham Red: the reboot has virtually nothing to do with the 'Strontium Dog'
world created by Wagner and Grant back in the 70s, into which Durham Red the
mutant vampire was introduced. The character of Durham Red is largely the same
in the reboot, but clearly Tharg felt that something wasn't working about her
setting. Enter Mark Harrison, with a radical art overhaul. And then enter Dan
Abnett with the ideal plot device - send Durham to sleep for 1,000 years. By
the time she wakes up, there ought to be room for an entirely new story setting.
Except it is not entirely new. And I think this was my one big stumbling block
with the series when I first read it. In this future galaxy, humans and mutants
still co-exist, and still hate each other. The problem is that I don't quite
see the rationale for this, especially since there seems to be no difference
between the two except in the DNA. I don't know if it was Harrison or Abnett
who decided it, but the mutants don't look any different from the humans. Some
of them have telepathy, but it's a minor feature. The issue I have is not that
I can't tell them apart, as Abnett's dialogue is as always very professional,
but that it kind of misses the point of the original Strontium Dog idea - namely
that mutants are shunned mostly because they look sneckin' ugly. It also means
we lose one of the charms of the glory days of Johnny Alpha - interesting designs
for mutants that defy the rules of biology.
Of course, Durham Red (Harrison version) is meant to be enjoyed as a self-contained
unit; her past history occasionally referenced, but familiarity with it is not
relevant to one's enjoyment of Durham's adventures in 'the Scarlet Cantos' and
beyond. So maybe it's just as well that the mutation thing is kind of ignored
in favour of a more classic take on racial divide, disharmony, and war. What
is necessary for one's enjoyment of this new series, however, is a liking of
space opera trappings, a little patience with art, and a quick ear for sardonic
dialogue. Mark Harrison brings an undoubted wow-factor to Durham Red, but from
time to time I found it a bit confusing. And it doesn't help that Dan Abnett
is really going for it with the far-future setting. Using words like Iconoclasts,
Tenebrae, Het this and Het that is all very evocative, but personally I needed
a couple of reads to get into it. He also earns points for hot shoe-horning in
the exposition, but loses a few for having such rapid fire putdowns and conversation
that it's not always clear what the hell everyone is talking about.
On the plus side, the three main characters are very well realised and I fell
in love with them pretty quickly. Durham Red is in many ways her old self, if
a bit more indestructible, and is full of one-liners and exactly the right tone
of cynicism to counter balance the 'Warhammer 40K'ness of the setting. Judas
Harrow is our way into the story. A mutant scholar, who turns out to be reasonably
handy in a fight (but not that handy), and who is enraptured with Red. Matteus
Godolkin is a human champion, although in a turn of irony he has been mutilated
by the military to look the least human of anyone in the story. He's been made
into some kind of dehumanized cyborg who exists only to hunt and kill mutants.
For comical and yet sensible reasons, he is soon in Red's thrall. Usually not
seen outside of his extensive body armour and headgear, he is also fearsome to
behold, and is hard as funt. Abnett successfully gives all three very different
voices and motivations for being together and doing what they do. If it wasn't
for the larger story getting in the way, this could be the best series ever...
The story isn't bad, it's just a bit too high-minded for my
tastes. In her absence, Red has been worshipped by generation upon generation
as 'Saint Scarlet', saviour of all mutants. To humans, she is the devil incarnate.
So far, so much scope for religious parallels. Upon her awakening, a new mutant-human
war soon starts. So there's much scope for Harrison to draw lots of intricate
space battles. Abnett keeps the whole thing logical and even fun, but the overall
plot feels a little sci-fi by-the-numbers.
As a coda to 'the Scarlet Cantos', we are given 'Mask of the
Red Death', a single episode fight sequence between Red and her future self.
Very anime in style, and no worse for that. It also adds to my suspicions that
the new Durham Red is Harrison's toy to play with; Abnett is just along for the
ride. Of course, he's a good enough writer that his presence is felt, but really
the story ticks along to get from mind-blowing scene to mind-blowing scene with
a bunch of confusing fights and funny dialogue in between.
Mark Harrison is an innovative artist - at least to my experience. He stuck
out a mile when I first saw him in 2000 AD, for good and bad reasons, but more
often than not I find his art frustrating. He's fantastically good, in that each
panel is amazingly detailed and impressively three-dimensional. The computer
generated spaceships and backgrounds can be extraordinary. He's exciting, in
his use of sound effects for relevant background noises. The constant chanting
that underpins the Scarlet Cantos adds to the whole thing brilliantly, reminding
the reader that this is all about religious fanaticism. And it makes the whole
thing feels like a James Cameron Sci-Fi movie, which is a good thing.
But the
storytelling and figurework can be quite bad: parts of it are too obviously photo-referenced
and stilted, and much of the computer generated bits sit ill alongside the traditionally
rendered parts. I don't mind that certain characters are clearly based on actors
(I recognise Julian Sands as Judas Harrow; Tom Berenger as Matteus Godolkin;
Peter Cushing as Cultmaster Lammergeyr. Red herself seems to be based on a variety
of models, including Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock and Shirley Manson - good
choices all), but it's annoying when he has to change the faces a lot to give
them the right expression. It saddens me more when I actually prefer his pencilled
art to his photo-manipulated stuff, but he uses it less. Luckily, Harrison gets
better at overcoming this problem (as Davis and Langley have also managed), but
it makes the action hard to follow at times. There's definitely a sense of Red
being indestructible in the many gun battles, when really it should be more obvious
that she's moving fast and/or hiding more effectively.
Enough quibbling. It's important to remember that this is art you can lose
yourself in. The set designs, costume designs and atmosphere are astonishingly
well realised. And there are a lot of different sets, costumes, and planetary
atmospheres here. So much effort has gone into the book that it can be overwhelming
at times.
Now, the copy I have is the 'rainbow spine' paperback edition.
The pages have been slightly reduced in size. However, the reproduction is pretty
good. I guess hardcore fans of the art might prefer to get the hardback edition
(presumably still easy enough to find), but I think the paperback is a pretty
neat package all around. Three spectacular and eye-catching covers are reproduced
in the back, but sadly there are no extras - these have been held back for 'the
Vermin Stars' collection. And if you enjoy Harrison's art or Durham Red's far
future saga, you're going to want that book, too.
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