One of the first female super heroes (she predates even Wonder Woman), Miss Fury returns in the Dynamite fashion, in a gritty series that attempts to bridge the character’s original time period with the present.

Miss Fury is bored socialite Marla Drake, who journeys to Africa on a safari, but after a mystic ritual, she awakens the animal inside.  She kills and skins a panther (well, that’s not all she kills…) and uses its skin to create her black costume. Once she returns home to New York, she sets about committing robberies as a way to fight the ennui of her life of leisure.  (The origin is very similar to one used at times for Catwoman.)  Her spiritual metamorphosis makes it difficult for her to blend in with polite society.  Her other “interest” brings her into conflict with some time traveling Nazis.

So how was it?  I’ll start with the art.  It’s above average, borderline great, but a bit inconsistent.  Some pages were gorgeous, but others were rougher.  But overall still very good!

The story is similar.  It’s better than average, but once again, a little inconsistent.  And my biggest complaint is that not enough is done to differentiate her from Catwoman.  The bored socialite committing robberies for fun, the brazen personality, even the cat theme… they may be faithful to the original idea of Miss Fury, but the creators have to know that Catwoman is one of the best known characters in comics and that they needed to avoid too many similarities.  They don’t so unfortunately, this felt too much like an imitation.

But the story has potential.  The flashback sequence in Africa was the best part, but the Nazi plot could be interesting.  The pacing of the book worked well.  It opened with her committing a robbery and fighting some thugs, then we get a quieter scene of her at home, followed by her origin in Africa, then another scene in the present.  It’s very well thought out and crafted to maximize reader interest.  (For instance, starting with the Africa scene might have been too slow to kick things off.)

So while neither the story nor the art were perfect, they were both overall better than average.  And both showed glimpses of potential greatness.

 

MISS FURY #1
Written by Rob Williams
Art by Jack Herbert
Cover A by Alex Ross
Cover B by J. Scott Campbell