No framing this issue–and no immediate resolution to the previous cliffhanger. Instead, Brubaker does what he can to keep the reader on unsteady ground. The titular fatale, Josephine, opens the issue (I think) and Brubaker sticks close to her in terms of third person narration.

Everyone gets close third person, actually. Brubaker follows four characters around, the same number as last time, though the final one this issue is just for effect. He’s got to make the reader immediately sympathetic, since he’s got to do harm to the character.

Phillip’s artwork is outstanding. It’s a brighter issue, even though the supernatural elements become fully visible here.

Fatale isn’t exactly predictable, but it’s familiar. Brubaker and Phillips are cutting a new path through traditional terrain, regardless of how they accessorize.

That observation isn’t a slight. The comic’s an abject success, with Brubaker expertly pacing out the issue’s plot once again.

CREDITS

Death Chases Me, Chapter Two; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Dave Stewart; publisher, Image Comics.