Fatale #4

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips

Things in this series are really starting to heat up, as many of the different threads of Brubaker's story begin to tangle up in this issue.  Hank has been accused of viciously murdering his wife and his unborn son, but the reader knows he's innocent, because he was with the mysterious, ageless Jo, murdering a cultist at the time.  Also under suspicion are the two cops whose mob connections Hank revealed in his newspaper.

Brubaker has been rather slow in setting up the more supernatural aspects of this story, aside from the fact that Jo doesn't age (we've seen her in a parallel plot, set in modern days).  This issue, though, we learn that Jo's previous companion and police detective Booker has always been able to see the supernatural world out of the corner of his eyes, including the squid-like creature that graced the variant cover of the first issue of this series.

Fatale has been an interesting read from the beginning, but I really feel that it's found its stride over the last two issues.  I'm always going to be happy buying a comic with Sean Phillips's art in it, but with each new issue, this series is becoming a more essential read.