Sean the Barbarian!

In stores today you'll find Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #4, which features "White Death," a nine-page story written by Pete Doree with moody, monochromatic art by our own Sean Phillips, who has been showing us preview art since October. (Search his blog for "Conan".)

Like the previous issues, the book reaches beyond the sword-and-sorcery genre to feature a wide range of the famed writer's pulp characters in new stories and classic reprints. The Dark Horse title includes sketches, the occasional illustrated prose story, and not too many ads. Published every five months, the 80-page anthology really is worth the eight-buck cover price, even for those who are, like me, only passing tourists in Howard's world.

Fatale #3, In Stores Today.

Since Image Comics' May solicitations [Comic Book Resources] points to issue #5 as the "crushing end" of the series' first arc, "Death Chases Me," we can look to Fatale #3 as the arc's midpoint.

This third issue is in stores today, and from his Twitter page, Ed Brubaker points to a some advance press.

There's an early, very positive review from Comics Bulletin, a review I'd actually recommend avoiding until after you read the issue, at least if you don't want to know too much about the plot.

The review link includes a few preview pages, and the book's five-page preview was officially released at Multiversity Comics.

With the first two issues both in multiple printings, and with Brubaker and Phillips putting their moody noir spin on supernatural horror in a tale story that isn't giving up its secrets easily, it should go without saying that you should pick up a copy (or two!) while you can.

Back to the Presses, In More Ways than One.

Just found out from my local comics shop, Great Escape in Marietta, Georgia, that a couple new printings of Fatale are on their way to the shop. A January 31st press release from Image Comics confirms that a second printing of issue #2 and a third printing of issue #1 had been ordered even before the initial release of issue #2.

Both new printings were scheduled to reach stores last week. Check with your local retailer to confirm their schedule.

Looking even further ahead, Sean Phillips has published cover art for the trade collection...



...or rather, the first trade collection. The first trade, which has yet to be formally announced or solicited, is Fatale Book One: Death Chases Me. This first "book" was referenced in the first page of the debut issue, and this confirms that the series of approximately sixteen issues is being broken into several "books."

I was wondering how the title was going to be collected. Trade collections of recent work tends not to cost significantly less than the monthly issues, and sixteen issues of Fatale works out to $56, probably far too much for impulse purchases.

There is something to be said for a complete story in a single trade collection, like with the 12-issue collections for Watchmen and Batman: The Long Halloween. I wonder if the prominence of a work like Batman: Hush suffered because it took about five years to see an inexpensive single-volume paperback collection, and there are other self-contained stories that are still inexplicably split among several volumes.

But fifty bucks would be just about the right price for a "deluxe" hardcover edition of Fatale...

...and there may already be a different deluxe edition on its way. Just a few days ago, Sean Phillips posted, without comment, an image for Incognito: The Classified Edition.



The filename for the cover image is incognitodeluxecover.jpg.

Fatale #2 -- and the Reprint of #1 -- In Stores Now.

I picked a really interesting day to try to post a massive set of updates to the blog. More's coming, but it suffices to remind readers that Fatale is in stores today. We have second printing of last month's debut, and we have the second issue, complete with a back-up essay on Edgar Allen Poe by Jess Nevins.

Get it while it's hot.

Fatale #1 an Immediate Sell Out and a USA Today Feature.

Image Comics announced today that Fatale #1 has already sold out.

This much-anticipated new series has already sold out at distribution level, despite a generous overprinting. A second printing is now underway and will arrive back on shelves next month, appearing alongside the second issue.

"The overwhelming positive response to FATALE from retailers and fans has been a bit shocking, but a great way to start the new year," said Brubaker. "Keep it up, and we'll keep putting out the best book we can."

Readers should note that the press release is only about the distribution level. Well-stocked retailers may yet have copies available for a little while longer.

The second printing of issue #1 will be out on February 1st, along with the second issue. This is the first time a Brubaker/Phillips collaboration has required a second printing since Incognito #1, first published three years ago this month.

At Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston reports that the "Beast" variant cover (Cover B) is about half as common as the "Beauty" cover, for those interested in rarity.

On Twitter, Brubaker writes, "If you're already planning to get Fatale, please don't read the reviews or interviews. It's best if you encounter it blind."

But there is a new interview worth reading, a quick profile of Fatale at USA Today, with a few words from Brubaker and Phillips -- and a link to a short preview that includes the cover art to issue #3, from sketches to pencils to the final artwork.

Edited January 6, to include Incognito reference and a reminder that Fatale #1 may still be in retailers.

Fatale #1: In Stores Tomorrow, Seven-Page Preview Available Now.

The gripping debut of Brubaker and Phillips' Fatale is out tomorrow, and yesterday Comic Book Resources released an exclusive seven-page preview of the eerie first issue.

On Twitter, Brubaker teases, "they don't even get to the good parts of the issue. We saved it for you."

Indeed they have. While retaining the classic tropes like the reckless reporter and the crooked cop, the issue plunges ever deeper into a sinister world that we've only begun to glimpse.



Apart from the Image Comics logo, the book is consistent with the Icon works of Criminal and Incognito: no apparent outside editorial influence with credits just for three people -- Dave Stewart providing colors, as he did halfway into "Last of the Innocent" -- an extra-long story uninterrupted by ads, Brubaker's personal communication to the readers, and another guest essay.

(There's also a great ad pulling together the collections of Brubaker and Phillips' collaborative work, which we'll reprint later.)

In the issue, Brubaker reveals these essays "aren't reprinted in our trades or in the digital versions of the comics, they're a bonus for you, the people who make our books possible by supporting the single issues as they come out. A thanks for not waiting on the trade."

As with Incognito, Jess Nevins provides the essay, this time looking at (as Brubaker put it) "the dark dark world of H.P. Lovecraft, godfather of pretty much all modern horror in one way or another."

Lovecraft's influence is all over this first issue, and accompanying the essay is a suitably creepy piece of art that Sean Phillips featured at his blog and which we reprint above.

In late November, Phillips responded to popular demand and began offering poster reproductions of the work at his Cafe Press store.

(Direct link here as the website's been flaky.)

Best as I can tell, it's the first poster of any of his "essay art," and it's the first poster reproduction since the cover art for Criminal: The Sinners.

All around, if the first issue is any indication, we're in for a dark ride.

ADD Reviews Fatale #1 by Brubaler and Phillips

"And just like that, we’re immersed in a new world of darkness and wonder."

Click over to our sister blog Trouble With Comics to read Alan David Doane's review of Fatale #1, created by Criminal's Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.