Fatale: Death Chases Me, written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, is a mash-up of noir and the supernatural. Think True Detective or Twin Peaks, although Fatale takes place in San Francisco and not the boonies. When I read this years ago, I didn’t like it quite as much as I did this time around. I didn’t understand that Jo is the main character, while also being the monster.
Let’s talk about Jo/Josephine, shall we? She doesn’t age and can enslave men to her will. She’s beautiful, sure, but there’s more to it than that. When she tells a man to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger, he does it without blinking. Jo doesn’t want this ability, nor can she control it. She thinks eye contact might be part of it, which makes sense. Jo can literally ruin lives at a glance.
Fatale takes place in the 1950’s in San Francisco, where Jo is being pursued by a group of cultists wearing red pjs. They are led by – I don’t know what it is. It seems urbane, if you can call a creature from Hell urbane. Whatever it is, it wants Jo. The cop she counted on for protection is now hopelessly corrupt, dying of cancer, and desperate enough to use her as a bargaining chip.
Many of the things Jo does are dicey. Witness the reporter who leaves his pregnant wife to do her bidding. When they have sex, she’s on top – this is a great character moment because the creators don’t make a big deal about it. He is her slave, and will do whatever she wants. There are consequences, because with Jo there are always consequences. The reporter’s pregnant wife is slain by the cult, and what happens to their unborn baby is even worse.
Jo isn’t a good person or a bad person. She is a survivor. She does what she has to, and leaves behind a trail of shattered men and broken marriages in her wake. Her so-called powers are a curse. She has transcended morality. She is what she is, the most beautiful monster you will ever see.
There are a lot of characters in Fatale. At first, I got a few of them confused. That is this graphic novel’s only weakness, if you can call it that – this is a series that rewards multiple reads. The ending leaves behind a few unresolved plot threads, but that’s okay as this is only the first arc of the series.
IMO, Fatale is the best thing Ed Brubaker has ever written. It is complemented by Sean Phillips’s gritty artwork, which features muted colors, lots of shadows, and eye-gouging monstrosities. Recommended for lovers of noir, supernatural comics, and monsters.
Abandoned Places 