Reviews
That’s some wild shit there, bub.
Brubaker is perhaps best known for his work for Daredevil and Captain America (in the fact the current Cap A film is based on his graphic novel) and while his quality of work has always been high, this is something else all together. Set between the 1930s, 1950s and now Fatale is a modern noir tale, except without technically being a noir story. There is no gruff detective but there is a mystery, and that mystery surrounds the beautiful Jo, Fatale's fatale, capable of ensnaring men and wholly incapable of aging. There's an element of fantasy to the story and a huge heap of horror, but the balance between them has been perfected so carefully that it seems absolutely natural that Lovecraftian horror should co-exist alongside James Cainesque noir and it's almost shocking to think it hasn't been done more often. The way the story progresses makes me think this will eventually tip more towards Lovecraft than Cain in influence, but for now even people wary of horror-lite should find themselves utterly entangled in the gorgeous writing and even gorgeouser* art. *totally a word, just trust me.
You would think that Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips + Noir + Horror = AWESOME, right? Wrong. Because in this case, Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips + Noir + Horror = Sigh. I've been trying to think of what I liked about Fatale and since I couldn't come up with anything, I decided to downgrade my original rating from 2.5 to 2 stars. Sigh. I don't know why this didn't work for me. I guess it all just felt flat. The characters are one-dimensional and archetypical. The plot is based on your typical, very clichéd love triangle: a girl, a soon-to-be-dad/married guy and a corrupt cop. The fact that some paranormal elements were thrown in didn't make this any better for me. If your basic plot is weak, no immortal character or tentacled monster will make it more interesting. Especially when there is nothing horrific about the supposedly horrifying parts of the story. I mean, look at this guy here: I'm sorry but he looks more ridiculous than terrifying. Well to me, anyway. I don't know if it's the whole "tentacled demon in a suit" thing that doesn't work for me, or just the fact that it looks like his head is disconnected from the rest of his body. I definitely think Phillips should forget about monsters and stick to human beings instead. Then again this didn't work out that well for him here either, but more on that later. The main problem with Fatale is that the story seems completely disjointed. It feels like Brubaker and Phillips decided to throw a bunch of themes and concepts together but never managed to piece them together coherently. You get the stupid love triangle, a mysterious woman, a murder investigation, corrupt cops, the Noir setting, a little bit of gore, an evil cult, violence, demons, an inheritance… You can shake it and stir it as much as you want, you'll go nowhere without a solid storyline. Now, for the art. I usually like Phillips' work. I think he did a fantastic job in The Fade Out and was looking forward to see him teamed up with Brubaker again. The art as a whole isn't bad and it actually has a pulpy feel that perfectly fits the mood of the story. Plus I really liked the gory bits. Because gore is fun. That being said, there is a huge problem with Phillips' work here. Because most of the characters' faces look the same. Apart from the female lead, this is basically an all-guy cast with several changes of POV. Now how the hell are you supposed to understand what is going on if you can't tell the freaking characters apart?! The funny thing is, we get the opposite problem with Josephine's character. The girl never looks the same, it's ridiculous. ►► And the moral of this story is: messy, uninteresting plot + confusing art = real winner. ►► Bye bye Fatale, next time I need a Brubaker/Phillips fix I'll either read a new Fade Out volume or give Criminal a try.
