3 out of 5

I’ll admit I’m probably giving this some leniency after really enjoying Jurii Kirnev’s Vanity, but I do think the strong ideas backing this tale up (and the general structure of it) are notable without that bias. That said, this is a book with a very narrow scope – meaning it’s a big concept, but we’re only talking about one piece of it and kind of ignoring the rest – which can denote the developing voice of its creator, and Kirnev also flits between character and concept loosely, relying on some fairy tale-esque tropes to flesh out a kernel into a fully popped story. Artist Elina Klyushnikova was also probably not the best match for what this story needed, but all of these criticisms are again countered by the “strong ideas,” as well as clear passion in the execution. All that stuff truly does help.

Corset somewhat reminds me, loosely, of Fashion Beast, but only at a high level: Schwarzburg looks like a Victorian-era town, and we’re centered around the “Eyesore,” a showhouse dedicated to fashion, and run by the reclusive Gregoire D’Alpen, whose works seem to be immediately acclaimed by all, in a society (within the scope of the tale) exclusively dictated by fashion.

Servant Elize is brought to the most recent show by her Aunt – D’Alpen has been making waves with his latest “ugly” couture – and is shushed out of the way as a lower class, poorly dressed citizen. An accident during a runway walk puts the spotlight on her, and though seemingly disgracing herself and her Aunt, she’s called to meet D’Alpen in person, who refuses to be seen, but asks her to teach him the ways of the world to which he’s oblivious.

Corset here plays out like a Beauty and the Beast variant, with vague steampunk underpinnings and an interestingly cynical ending. I think English is not Jurii’s native language, so whether this is translated or written in the language by Jurii, some of the simplicity of the dialogue may be owed to that, but it also plays with the fairy tale vibes. Still, where the book could reach for some depth, it’s unable to in this regard, relying instead on the Beauty and the Beast structure to carry our story along, making it unclear if we’re seeing commentary, nuance that’s lost in the language, or truly just overlooked aspects of the tale.

On the art front, Elina’s figures remind me somewhat of Marvel’s more YA books, or a lot of Boom! – moderately anime influenced, with personality in their faces, but otherwise somewhat simplified and stiff. It’s not a bad match for the tone of the tale, but where it doesn’t quite assist is in the detail: we’re meant to see the brutality of D’Alpen’s designs, and you simply can’t tell at all; the dresses / corsets on display don’t have much personality (which is a shame, because the design on the front cover suggests some wild stuff we don’t see in the book). The single setting of the fashion house is also not varied whatsoever, so Elina relies on palette washes on each page to liven things up. Thankfully, for a dialogue-reliant tale, the artist has a good sense of spacing out the acting and arranging the characters to keep the flow moving, so the book reads cleanly, it’s just not as immersive as a tale like this demands.

Corset is very promising, and certainly shows hints of the strengths I found in Vanity, though admittedly reads more like an early effort from both of its creatives.