ONE WOMAN'S CURSE A BOON FOR COMICS READERS

FATALE by Brubaker and Phillips now ongoing

The curse of the femme fatale has taken readers of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' horror noir series FATALE from Medieval France to present day, with stops in the Wild West, post-World War II San Francisco, and 1970s Los Angeles. Now, in June, FATALE returns to the present in the pages of FATALE #15, as Nicholas Lash desperately tries to find out the truth behind the mysterious Jo, a beautiful woman who is seemingly immortal.

As the fourth arc gets underway, FATALE's third arc — a series of standalone stories about the history of the curse that makes Jo both irresistible and isolated — will be collected into the trade paperback FATALE VOLUME THREE: WEST OF HELL.

Launched in January 2012 and originally planned as a 12-issue maxiseries, FATALE's unique mixture of noir and supernatural horror, as well as its compelling heroine Jo, whose history continues to unfold, engaged readers and its creators alike, prompting Brubaker to continually expand the series.

"I kept saying how many issues the story would take to complete and then having more ideas I wanted to explore in Josephine's world," said Brubaker. "So the endpoint kept changing, and I realized this is something we do in comics a lot, decide ahead of time how long a story will take to tell. One of the advantages of publishing with Image is the total freedom we have to do it our way, so I decided the series just goes until it's over, and not to say exactly what issue that will be. To just let the story take as long as it needs to, like a good novel. And thanks to the support of our retailers and readers, we're able to do that."

FATALE VOLUME THREE (APR130422) and FATALE #15 (APR130421) will both be in stores on JUNE 12th and can be pre-ordered now from the April issue of Previews.
PRAISE FOR FATALE VOLUME ONE: DEATH CHASES ME:

"Graced with a suspenseful plot that has more twists and turns than an alpine road, and deliberately understated artwork, Fatale boasts both intrigue and an atmosphere that feels as densely bleak as a San Francisco mist at the tip of Fisherman's Wharf at dawn. Colorist Dave Stewart deserves special mention for his subtle, highly evocative use of neutral tones and earthy shades. This is a universe of darkness and gray shadows, and the palette perfectly fits the angst-ridden, desolate, catch-22 world of supernatural horror the protagonists must face-off against. Immortality may be a double-edged sword, but it's one the intoxicating Jo wields with a boundless grace in this addictive page-turner.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The top-notch team of Brubaker and Phillips (known for their collaborations on Criminal and Sleeper) launch[es] another series that gives familiar tropes an entertaining tweak... as the creators mix in magic, cults, human sacrifice, and the possibility of eternal life to create a potent cocktail with any number of twists. Brubaker doesn't write a word more than necessary, and Phillips' scenery has all the right angles, evoking a film-noir feel without slavish imitation. If the words 'last call' make you think of 'The Call of Cthulhu,' this is your kind of hard-boiled tale.”
– Booklist

"This collection is brilliantly done, but will leave you hungry for more. The brooding noir, the inscrutable femme fatale and the glimmers of horror merely begin to tell a story.”
– Crime Fiction Lover

PRAISE FOR FATALE VOLUME TWO: THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS:

"This collection hits just the right combination of horror and intrigue to keep readers turning the pages—though with no small amount of trepidation.... Brubaker and Phillips (Criminal, Incognito, Sleeper) do so many things right here, but perhaps most impressive are the subtle changes to the book's color schemes that can sometimes provide a brief respite from the horror without ever allowing the readers to forget just how dark the story is. As much as this book may disturb some readers, it ultimately belongs in any respectable horror-noir collection. Josephine, after all, would want it that way.”
– Publishers Weekly