Scarlet Traces: The Great Game
| Scarlet Traces | |||
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The cover of the hardcover
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| Created by | Ian Edginton D'Israeli |
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| Publication information | |||
| Publisher |
Rebellion Developments Dark Horse Comics |
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| Schedule | Monthly | ||
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| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) Judge Dredd Megazine and a set of limited series. | ||
| Genre | |||
| Publication date | October–December 2002 July–October 2006 |
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| Number of issues | 3 4 |
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| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Ian Edginton | ||
| Artist(s) | D'Israeli | ||
| Letterer(s) | D'Israeli | ||
| Colourist(s) | D'Israeli | ||
| Creator(s) | Ian Edginton D'Israeli |
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| Editor(s) |
Alan Barnes David Land/Katie Moody |
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| Reprints | |||
| Collected editions | |||
| Scarlet Traces | ISBN | ||
| The Great Game | ISBN | ||
Scarlet Traces is a comics story of the Steampunk genre, written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by D'Israeli. It was originally published online before being serialised in 2002, in the British anthology Judge Dredd Megazine. A sequel, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, followed in 2006.
Edginton and D'Israeli's 2006 adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is effectively a prequel to Scarlet Traces, as key characters of Scarlet Traces can be glimpsed therein and the same designs for the Martians and their technology are used.
A fourth series, Scarlet Traces: Cold War, appeared in 2000 AD in 2016. As of April 2017 a fifth series, Cold War book 2, is ongoing.
Scarlet Traces is based on the premise that Britain was able to reverse engineer alien technology, abandoned after the abortive Martian invasion of The War of the Worlds, to establish economic and political dominance over the remainder of the world.
The artwork shows an imposition of futuristic devices on early 20th century society. In the first series, set in 1908, London cabbies and the Household Cavalry have swapped their horses for mechanical devices with spiderlike legs; homes are heated and lit by modified versions of the Martian heat ray; the pigeons of Trafalgar Square are thinned out by miniature Martian war machines. In the sequel, Britain of the late 1930s is recreated along fairly recognisable lines but with an additional layer of alien derived technology.
The story begins ten years after the abortive Martian invasion of Earth, with bodies being washed up on the banks of the river Thames. The bodies are all female and drained of blood, prompting a local drunk who discovers them to think that a vampire is on the loose. Emerging from comfortable retirement in fashionable Bedford Square, Major Robert Autumn DSO and his trusty manservant Colour Sergeant Arthur Currie search for the culprits after being informed that Currie's niece is most likely one of the missing girls.
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Wikipedia