Corset #1

Corset #1

Scout Comics 2021

Written & Lettered by Jurii Kirnev

Illustrated by Elina Klyushnikova

Master Gregoire d'Alpen is a world-famous fashion designer and inventor. His groundbreaking corsets fascinate and inspire millions of people around the world. It's been years since he showed his face in public, living in seclusion in his mysterious clock tower high above the gothic city. One night, a young and naive girl named Elize ruins the master's grand fashion show. D'Alpen invites her to his tower, where he plans to reveal his dark secrets to her-but first, she must give him something in return.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but it certainly wasn’t this, and yes I love when I am surprised like this it just means the story is so much more than i could have dared to dream. This has so many familiar elements and every time you think you know the direction that this is going to go it says hold the phone and suddenly it’s something completely different. How all these aspects are melded into this story and how it is being told is so amazing to see. I’m truly incredibly impressed with this story and how it conveys the feelings and emotions to the reader.

I am enchanted with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a marvellous job bringing their personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the story, the characters and the world that they live in leaves us feeling with that familiar comfortable feeling.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow is fantastic. The layers open up some interesting avenues to be explored and while some are and others aren’t they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. I’m particularly fond of the relationship between Elize and Ronald and what this brings to the table. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is extremely well achieved.

The interiors here are really well done. The creativity and imagination that we see throughout, particularly in Ronald and the designs he does are beautifully rendered. The linework is strong, crisp and clean and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work is exceptional. The fact that there’s a tinge of manga influence in the work interests me with how we see this as well. I do wish we’d see more backgrounds in use for when we do they enhance and expand the moments nicely. How we see the composition of the panels brings out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. This is a version of a black & white coloured book, the base colour changes but it’s the various hues and tones within the base colour that are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work and it’s extremely well achieved. I’m impressed with how we see the various sections and how they are brought to life.

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I really am impressed with this book as it is nothing like I was expecting it to be. Though through the title I should have had an inkling but honestly I was expecting something totally opposite of what we got. I love being surprised by how pleasant this one is. It is really sensationally well written with some lovely characterisation and some beautiful interiors that take us through the story. This is a hidden gem for sure.