Fatale #1 By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

oh hi! today we are taking a look at Fatale #1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

that's one smooth Lovecraftian gangster

I've never read anything by Ed Brubaker before, shocking I know! The guy in my local comic shop was slack jawed and bereft of words when I told him this as i forked over the hard earned cash for this, the first issue of Brubaker's new series.

Brubaker is responsible for the Criminal series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_(comics)] which is really highly regarded and loved by fans and critics alike. Truthfully I haven't considered this as A) I don't have a bottomless supply of money so I can't buy everything and B) crime oriented stories (in any medium) are never my first choice. Thats just my personal preference. 

Brubaker has also been writing Captain America for Marvel, which has also been given lots of positive praise.

So when I heard that Brubaker (and long term collaborator Sean Phillips) had a new series starting I was interested, especially when I found out it would be a horror series.......that is much more my cup of tea.

prolly oughta answer the tentacle guy....just sayin'

Fatale is a crime comic first and foremost, at least it is in this debut issue. Set (after a modern day prologue) in the 1950's, Fatale's world is a noir infused, pulpy world filled with crooked cops and mistresses, plucky reporters trying to expose said bent coppers, a grisly murder with occult leanings.....WAIT, WHAT?!

yeah, you heard me...occult murders! and the weirdness doesn't end there....but more on that shortly.

The title Fatale quite clearly (at this point) refers to the only female lead character we are introduced to; Josephine, a Femme Fatale if you will (boom!)

dude has a noir-boner

We meet Josephine (or Jo) in the modern day prologue to the main story. She seems to have some sort of hold over men (granted she is a looker) and bears a striking resemblance to a raven haired beauty we meet in the 1950s section of the first issue. Right out of the gate I love that there is a female lead that these dudes are all jelly-legged over.....this is in keeping with the noir feel.

But there is more going on here than just grisly murders and a sexy, mysterious woman. There is something positively Lovecraftian afoot. It is only hinted at at this stage but the discovery of a building full of slain cultists, complete with weird rune-esque shapes smeared on the walls and three scary almost identical bowler hat wearing stooges that accost the mean, cancer ridden bent copper really remind me of a classic Lovecraft short updated to a slightly more modern surrounding. 

What Brubaker does in Fatale is bring H.P Lovecraft's cosmic horror to a gritty street level with such subtlety that you hardly notice it. The eerie, gory horror aspects and creepy occult aspects are folded into the pulp infused, smoky crime drama like silky egg white into the yolk of the main body of the story. Its a noir/cosmic horror omelette.

There is a great essay about H.P Lovecraft and his unique brand of horror prose include as back matter in this comic. I'm a huge Lovecraft fan so this was a great read and features a gnarly illustration of Lovecraft with tentacles.

best scan i could find guys....

I have to mention Sean Phillips' pencils, his is a simple but never plain style reminding me alot of Eduardo Rissou.

especially here...

You can practically smell the smoke and whiskey oozing from the panels...and the blood too thanks to the moody colours of Dave Stewart. Dark blues, steely greys and inky blacks streaked with occasionally coppery red smears of blood bring this book to life. Its a sensory experience that melds perfectly with Brubakers slick, clipped delivery. For me this is like a perfect amalgamation of Howard Chaykin's  swagger and Alan Moore's grit. Yeah this comic is good, really fucking good. I'm eager to see how far Brubaker takes us into the world of crime and cosmic horror.  

I'm now a fan of Brubaker and Phillips on the strength of around thirty pages of story and art, this is classy, dark and moody stuff that begs to be read as it jumps off the page.

read it....