VELVET #1 takes the spy-thriller throwback formula, turns it on its ear and gives it a shot of martini, then slaps us on the butt. Shaken, not stirred. The new series from Image Comics sees writer Ed Brubaker and penciller Steve Epting going to town . You know, the dudes who brought us the Winter Soldier storyline in Captain America. Yeah. Those guys. Anyway, when the globes numero uno secret secret agent is killed, Velvet (who retired from active duty and is now personal assistant to the director) can’t shake the feeling that he walked into a trap. When the evidence points to her mentor, she digs deeper. But everything is not as it seems.
You totally read that in Sean Connery’s voice, didn’t you?
The script in VELVET #1′s is spot on with the tone and sensibilities of the 60′s and 70′s. Brubaker’s characters are ALL hiding something. Velvet herself is a woman with a past more loaded than a Beretta and she is only seen as ‘just a secretary’. Epting’s phenomenal pencils don’t disappoint, with able colour assistance from Elizabeth Breitweiser, each panel looks more and more like a cinematic experience, rather than a comic book. The attention to detail is worth noting as well, even though there are a few period mistakes (The Violent Professionals premiered in ’73, not ’68) But that’s nitpicking.
No woman on the planet looks so unruffled after a 4am wake up call. None.
All in all, Image has yet another great series in its stables as long as the writing and art hold up to the impossibly high standards the creative team have set for themselves. While I wait for VELVET #2, I’ll be in the lab, working on a prototype laser pen.
‘Til then…