Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips, Elizabeth Breitweiser
Release Date: 24th September 2014

With their noir-styled takes on conventional tropes of the comic medium, Brubaker and Phillips have carved out quite the niche for themselves. In Fatale, we have them take on the Cthulhu Mythos through an immortal, and quite literal, Femme Fatale. Pursued by an unnamed, unnameable across the course of the 20th Century, our heroine (if you can call her that) watches lives unravel whilst we the men who collide with her life obsess to the point of destruction.

I’m going to leave aside the masterful story writing – this is the man who gave us the Winter Soldier, Incognito, Sleeper and Criminal after all – and the sensual, sinister art that goes from intimate to apocalyptic with elegance and grace. Because that’s something you need to experience for yourself, frankly.

The triumph of Fatale is two-fold but stems from the same thing. This is the closing section of a story-arc: you would expect it to be impenetrable to a newcomer, or challenging if you’ve not picked up an issue or a trade in a while. Far from it. It stands alone beautifully, reading like a completely individual volume – and yet is utterly satisfying for the returning reader. But there’s something even more impressive about this, and that’s the ending. Brubaker manages to give us a believable, poignant resolution that satisfies his audience, both in terms of the narrative but also for a savvy, even cynical reader. It’s strangely uplifting, even.

Go and buy this book. I’m going to stop myself from an impossible score, because that’d be meaningless. But buy it for yourself, buy it for a film-fan friend, buy it for a comic lover, buy it for a comic hater. Well worth every penny – or cent.

Rating: 5/5

The Writer of this piece was: Sam De Smith
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