Noir #4 Solicitation

The bulk of Dynamite's February solicitations were revealed about two weeks ago but the fourth issue of the Noir mini series, which features Miss Fury, did not appear among them.

This surprised me a bit, but the Black Bat book did skip a month recently.  Dynamite has a history of falling behind with books, so I assumed that they were trying to avoid to promote a book they knew full well they would not be able to produce on time, for whatever reason.

The publisher has finally updated its website to include the solicitations and Noir #4 does appear among them.  So maybe they just didn't submit it to news outlets earlier in the month.  Regardless, it's there now and presumably will be available on time.  There was also an alternative cover to Black Bat #9 revealed, which I've displayed at the bottom of this post.

NOIR #4 (of 5)
Writer: Victor Gischler
Art: Andrea Mutti

In the Labyrinth of the Templars, The Black Sparrow and Miss Fury follow the deranged villains Orlando and Minerva on a trail of a lost treasure. Along the way, they dodge traps and pitfalls and learn of the Templar connection to the Mohawk Tribe. Will the ladies be forced to join forces with the bad guys to attain their goal, or will one stab the other in the back at the first opportunity. Blazing guns, snapping bullwhips and the looming shroud of betrayal await you in the next issue of Noir.

Dynamite Entertainment's Bat/Fury February 2014 Solicitations

And they come with disappointing news.

MISS FURY #11
Writer: Rob Williams
Art: Jack Herbert

FINAL ISSUE! With Miss Fury now allied with US Naval Intelligence she is parachuted into wartime Europe in order to track down Schauburger's laboratory in Germany. Can she find her kidnapped lover, Captain Chandler, there? And who is attacking Schauburger during his garbled ghostly messages? Nazi forces are everywhere but a war can be fought on many fronts, as Miss Fury is about to discover...

The BLACK BAT #9
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Art: Ronan Cliquet

To save Carol Baldwin's life, the Black Bat must do the unthinkable and break his most hated enemy out of prison. But will doing so cement his status as an outlaw? Also, the police start to lose their grip on the city as vigilantism takes hold with disastrous results.

These two items are from an "exclusive first look" at the solicitations that Comic Vine posted.  The fourth issue of Noir should also come out that month, but it was not included in the first look.  When its solicitation is available, I'll add it here.

And so ends the Miss Fury series, unfortunately.

Now historically Dynamite would tend to forget about characters that did not sell well for them.  Of late they've improved on that level though.  They have restored their 1940's version of the Green Hornet, for example, and have included some of their character in other books, much like they did for both The Black Bat and Miss Fury in Masks (and Fury in Noir).  So it's not necessarily the end for our leading lady.

And quite frankly, I believe The Black Bat is headed for a similar fate.  Brian Buccellato's current story ends at #12 and the book isn't a top seller for the company.  As best as I could determine, it was about in the middle of the pack in  terms of sales, but several of the books that sold similar amounts are now cancelled, including Vampirella, Jennifer Blood and Green Hornet: Legacy.  The positive side of that is that those titles all had 30 plus issues published, so perhaps there's hope.