Review- FATALE: BOOK TWO- THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS

FATALE: BOOK TWO- THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS (Image, 2012; Softcover)

Note: Book actually released in 2013.

Collects Fatale Nos. 6-10 (cover dates June- November, 2012)

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artist: Sean Phillips

There are a few titles that are so compelling that I am this close to breaking my “wait for the trade” policy because it is sheer agony to wait for the next collection. Fatale is one such title. The setting for this arc is Hollywood in the summer of 1978. The excesses of Hollywood and the holdover of 1960s drug culture hang over the proceedings like a dark storm cloud. A B-movie actor named Miles, looking to make the big time, gets invited to a party thrown by the cult Method Church, replete with a Charles Manson-like leader. He stumbles upon cult member, friend, and fellow junkie Suzy while some 8mm film is playing. Suzy has accidentally killed someone.

You never find out exactly what is on this film, suffice it to say that it is “sick shit”. Snuff, porn, scat...who knows. It doesn't matter what is on the film as much as the Method Church will do anything to get it back. The pair make a run for it and stumble upon a Hollywood mansion owned by Josephine, who is now a recluse some 20-odd years after the events in the first trade paperback. Everything goes off of the rails whenever Josephine is involved. Just ask Nicolas Lash, the son of one her former lovers. Lash is shown in the present day trying to piece together the whys and wherefores of this mysterious woman who was his father's muse. 

For my money, you can't do any better than Fatale. Anything that gives you more questions than answers is all right in my book.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Image makes nice, solid trade paperbacks.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. The paper grade used in this book is a reasonably thick coated stock, more matte than glossy but with a slight sheen. I like it. It also smells nice.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Nice glued binding.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Image trades have the same thick laminated coating that Marvel and recent DC books have. Durable enough to survive repeated handling and shelfwear.