Miss Fury #1 Review

A popular pulp-era femme fatale is resurrected in Miss Fury #1, which sees the eponymous heroine transported from the year 1943 to the present day. Writer Rob Williams opens the issue on a high note, as a ferocious Miss Fury deals a brutal beatdown while asking the reader "What are you angry about?" The last page restates the question and it's as powerful as it was at the beginning of the book. It's a strong opening and a clever end, but unfortunately, much of the middle is a bit of a mess.

Williams' Miss Fury is tough and capable throughout the book, but her persona does seem like an awkwardly stitched together pastiche of various femme fatale archetypes rather than a character that can stand on her own. A significant portion of the book is devoted to a lengthy narration of Miss Fury's origin story that does little to illuminate her motivations as a person beyond loosely applied cliches. It's almost impossible to get to know her as the reader gets the sense that, in this first issue at least, Williams is still trying to figure her out.

Artist Jack Herbert manages to walk the tightrope between sexy and vulgar relatively well, even if Marla Drake's cleavage-baring formal wear is more than a little anachronistic. Herbert blends a vintage feel with a modern aesthetic to great effect and the visuals strike the chord missed by Williams' narrative. Hopefully, now that the troublesome origin story has been shoehorned in, Williams and Herbert can operate in harmony in coming issues. The new and temporally displaced Miss Fury has so much potential, it would be a shame to see it squandered.

Melissa Grey is a lover of all things cats, comics, and outer space. She can be found on MyIGN at MelissaGrey or lurking on Twitter @meligrey.

Source : ign[dot]com