Cover Of Darkness: Femme Fatales (Advanced Spoiler-free Review)

Source Point Press continues to publish great imaginative, clever, and bold stories by some of the industry’s most exciting talent. One such talent is writer George Michail. I’ve reviewed his Cover of Darkness stories before, so when he reached out to see if I wanted to do an advanced review of his latest installment, I “jumped” at the opportunity like Van Halen did in 1984! 

Dad jokes aside, Cover of Darkness: Femme Fatales comic anthology brilliance! Four classic stories (Bloody Mary, The Invisible Woman, The Bride, and The Phantom of the Opera) are retold with the same horrific fervor as their predecessors. The creative team at the helm has produced a beautiful book with art by Vinz El Tabanas, Ty Peterson, Colin Turnbull, Nat Jones, and Chris Cam, sharing writing duties with George Michail. 

Phantom Forever is a modern take on the classic Phantom of the Opera; I’m not sure of anyone who doesn’t enjoy this story in some form or another. The book opens up with the superb offering of Bloody Mary, which I need to see adapted to the big screen! Nat Jones steals the show with his gritty and grotesque art that sets the tone for the whole book, wrapping up the first installment with a stellar last page of pure poster quality. ”One of my favorite things about this story is the emotion that George Michail gives these characters. Phantom of the Opera is a powerful story that has been told many times over, so when it gets retooled/retold, the spotlight tends to be hyper-fixated on all involved. But fear not, George and Company know how to spin a creepy and chilling yarn. 

Madame Mysterieux and The Bride round out the book. Madame Mysterieux is a take on the brilliant and timeless classic The Invisible Man, and Chris Cam sticks the landing with a freshly gruesome take on this classic. However, Vinz El Tabanas (art) and Nikki Powers (letters) steal the show with their work on Madame Mysterieux! They both worked on Resilient, which I adored, and to see them team up again…great stuff! Wrapping up this magnificent anthology is The Bride. Easily the most brutal offering of this collection and a great way to wrap up another great offering under the cover of Darkness mantle.