Fatale (Image Comics)

Fatale is a supernatural noir comic book created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, which began publication through Image Comics in 2012. The series was initially announced as a twelve-issue maxi-series but was upgraded to an ongoing title in November 2012.

Publication history
The series was originally announced in the back of the final issue of Brubaker and Phillips' previous collaboration, Criminal: Last of the Innocent. Further details about the series, including its publisher, were revealed at the 2011 New York Comic Con. Brubaker also released a video teaser for the series.

The series began publishing monthly in January 2012.

Several issues featured an article written by Jess Nevins and others on the crime/noir characters, both fictional and real. #1 is an article on H.P. Lovecraft, #2 on Edgar Allan Poe, #3 on Dan J. Marlowe by Charles Kelley, #4 on Philip Marlowe by Stephen Blackmoore, #6 on Horror & Mystery Fiction Pt 1: Otranto to Jules de Grandin, #10 Devil Pulp, #12 Devil Doll by Megan Abbott, #13 Strange Stories by Jack Pendarvis, #15 Aleister Crowley.

Critical reception
The first issue sold well enough to return to press four times. Reviews for the series were mostly positive with comparisons to the creative team's previous work on Sleeper, Criminal, and Incognito.

Plot
Fatale tells the story of Josephine, an archetypal femme fatale who is seemingly immortal, having survived from the 1930s through to the modern day unaged. The narrative jumps back and forth between several different time periods and a number of different points of view, primarily Jo and the various men who encounter her over the years. The majority of the action in the first book takes place in the 1950s, and the second in the 1970s, as Jo seeks to escape the dark forces which have granted her her longevity.

Recent issues have been stand-alone stories focused on prior "fatales". #12 has the story of Mathilda in 13th century France. #13 has the story of Bonnie in the old west. #11 & 14 are stories of Jo before the prior storylines. #11 has her in the 1930s, and #14 is set in WWII.

Collected editions
The first five issues were collected into a trade paperback titled Death Chases Me, first published in June 2012. A second collection, The Devil's Business, included issues 6 to 10 and was released January 2, 2013. The third, West of Hell, came out in June, 2013.