The tentacles of mystery wrap themselves around Marla even further!
Creative Staff:
Story: Corinna Bechko
Art: Jonathan Lau
Colors: Vinicius Andrade
What They Say:
Marla is drawn deeper into the mystery surrounding the missing ship plans even as she comes to grips with her own troubled past. But who – or what – is stalking her through the snowy streets of New York? As friends are unmasked, enemies circle… leaving Marla’s alter ego Miss Fury all alone to fight a foe she can barely comprehend!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Miss Fury definitely captured my attention during some recent miniseries material that Dynamite produced and the opening installment of her new ongoing series was definitely enjoyable. Bechko has captured the appeal of the era and the problems that Marla faces in it as a woman while also digging into the action side in a way that’s grounded and appealing without all the over the top elements that populates a lot of other books. What sold it all the more was Lau’s artwork as there’s a really great sense of style and design about it, something that Andrade brings out even more. A book like this could end up so murky with the dark colors so there’s a lot to like in seeing it avoid going that route. The detail Lau puts into these panels makes me really, really, glad at how well Andrade’s color design works.
While the first installment set the first round stage for what’s going on with stolen plans and a mysterious group at play, this issue has the harder job of delving into things more. It’s not exactly flashy or splashy but it does the important work of expanding things and bringing more of the past into play. The flashback side to her time in Brazil previously is certainly interesting with what she does here in trying to work the business, but it takes a darker turn this time around. We’ve seen the problems she’s faced as a woman down there but now she ends up kidnapped and forced into drinking something that causes her to hallucinate. This group, not local to be sure, is looking for money for her freedom but it feels like it’s all part of something larger but indistinct at the moment.
A bit more engaging is the material in the present as she discovered the version of her ship having been built in the warehouse. Seeing her skulk around is a lot of fun with how Lau presents it, giving it an old school Batman feel from the actual time period, especially when she has to hide when those involved with the ship arrive. This speaks to something bigger but uncertain again as the trio are all done up in costumes themselves, though more like ancient pagan ritual costumes. The book works some good action with the escape here and later on when Marla is attacked outside her office, again making it clear that powerful interests are afoot but are working in a very standard kind of way. There’s a lot going on here but it’s uncertain where it’s going to go outside some of the general paths that you can get an idea of what’s to come.
In Summary:
Miss Fury doesn’t exactly have a sophomore slump here with its second issue but it’s working through the story beats it needs to in order to expand the mystery. The series feels very similar in some ways to what Matt Wagner is doing over in The Spirit and there’s a lot of appeal in seeing what Bechko is doing. But it’s something that requires that bigger view instead of an issue by issue critique to some degree. I can imagine that once this arc is done that it’ll be very solid and rate higher as a whole. I like what she’s doing in setting the mystery, the time period, and slowly but surely introducing more of the characters that make up Marla’s life. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Jonathan Lau really makes this a fantastic looking book with a lot to offer with some great detail, backgrounds, and exciting action set pieces with the way Miss Fury moves throughout it all. Good stuff that is full of potential that I can see being worked with intent.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 4th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
