Fatale #1 – Review

by Ed Brubaker (writing), Sean Phillips (art), and Dave Stewart (colors)

The Story: Mysterious assassins in bowler hats!  Exploding airplanes!  Cultists!  Nazis!

The Review: Breathe a sigh of relief:  Fatale is just as good as you were hoping it might be and only further substantiates the fact that the team of Brubaker and Phillips can do no wrong.

However, Fatale is a very different beast from Criminal, Incognito, or Sleeper.  While, by Brubaker’s own admission, all of these series were meant to be distillations of everything he and Phillips love about comics, nowhere does this feel truer than Fatale.  This is clearly a book where Brubaker and Phillips have thrown together all the stuff they enjoy and the result is a book that feels exciting.

This is particularly the case when it comes to the books genre.  At different points, it’s a noir/crime comic, a mystery, a horror, and a pulpy action/spy comic.  Really, in one issue, Brubaker touch upon so many different sorts of pulp fiction that it’s actually mind-boggling that this actually coheres.  But cohere it does, and what we get is one very unique and compelling kind of beast.  It’s a hybrid of all these genres with all of their various strengths.  The horror elements are gruesome, the action/spy stuff is exciting, and the crime/mystery elements tantalize.

And really, what all this leads to is a comic where you never know what to expect.  You’re never sure when and where the high-spots will come.  As such, Fatale is a book that keeps you riveted and keeps you reading.  On one page, you get a thrilling car chase reminiscent of the famous airplane sequence in North by Northwest, at other points you get that psychological, moody narration fans of Criminal will be familiar with, and then, flip the page, and you’ve got gruesome Satanic rituals and hints of the paranormal, and mysterious Nazi flashbacks.  Fatale is truly a book that is full of turbulence, constantly throwing you for a loop yet always keeping you anchored to its world and it’s developing story.  Not only do you not know what to expect, but Brubaker leaves us with so many fascinating questions.  In many ways, it’s a crime and noir comic where the presence of the paranormal makes anything possible.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Witch Doctor: Resurrection One-Shot – It’s such a shame that the 4-issue Witch Doctor miniseries debuted right as DC was relaunching their whole universe because DC kinda sucked all the air out of the room and it’s allowed the OUTSTANDING new comic series to fly under the radar.  Witch Doctor is fun, well-written, humorous, witty and features all kinds of paranormal themes.  Plus, it has spectacular art that is very Wrightson-esque.  You really cannot go wrong with this comic and this one-shot was a perfect “try it out” issue.

Most Anticipated: Fatale #1 – Sean Phillips plus Ed Brubaker = Gold.  Have these two every collaborated on a mediocre comic?  I can’t think of one as every issue of Criminal and Incognito (and Sleeper before that) has been great.  So, I can’t wait to see how they handle a more paranomal story.

Other Picks: Sweet Tooth #29, Vescell #5, Rachel Rising #4, GI Joe #9, Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #1

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Warlord of Mars #14 – No surprise here. Nelson and Salazar totally wowed be with Warlord of Mars #14, their take on the scenes of rising action in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Gods of Mars. Lush, evocative art. Tight, action-filled adventure. Swash-buckling pulp under a hot Martian sun!

Most Anticipated: This week, it’s a toss-up. Ahhh! Flash Gordon or Dejah Thoris? I don’t know! The first issue of Flash Gordon was so cool! And yet we’re right in the middle of the Pirate Queen of Mars! Gaaah! Can I pick two? Flash Gordon – Zeitgeist #2 and Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #9. It’s going to be a pulpy week.

Other Picks: Defenders #3, Avengers: X-Sanction #2, Thunderbolts #168, Uncanny X-Men #4, X-Men #23

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire #22 – Another installment of Scott Snyder’s always excellent series.  We get a new decade (1950s) and a completely new protagonist of the non-vampiric sort.  It’s amazing how Snyder’s series manages to have a different feel that accords with each new time period it sets itself in.  The new lead is also a really good idea all around, a grittier and more grassroots approach to the kind of perspective Snyder explored in the excellent Survival of the Fittest miniseries.

Most Anticipated:  Fatale #1 – This is an absolute no-brainer.  Any comic-related collaboration between Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is a guarantee of a very particular sort of excellence.  Throw in that this one’s got a paranormal/Lovecraftian slant, a female lead, and the fact that it’s the longest miniseries the two have ever tackled together (12 issues), and this is an absolute must-have.

Other Picks: Animal Man #5, Swamp Thing #5, The Punisher #7, Uncanny X-Men #4, Action Comics #5, Stormwatch #5, Detective Comics #5, Defenders #2, Sweet Tooth #29