Velvet

• Title: Velvet #11
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Ed Brubaker
• Artist: Steve Epting

With issue #11 Velvet moves forward on a new arc as Velvet Templeton reaches out to an old acquaintance in Maximilian Dark. The first five pages are all presented from Dark’s point of view before a ghost from his past shows up asking for his help. The opening conversation between the pair helps solidify the comic’s timeline as we learn Velvet has been on the run for three months and remains her former agency’s #1 most wanted. It also fills us in on how Velvet has spent time as a secretary in Paris snooping into an international conglomerate she believes may be connected to X-14’s death.

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• Title: Velvet #9
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Ed Brubaker
• Artist: Steve Epting

Velvet #9 introduces us to Damian Lake, the former head of Intel Division who may have been set-up in a similar manner to Velvet before spending a forced extended stay in a psychiatric prison. Or he may me a master manipulator, gifted liar, and completely insane. Or, what’s worse for our heroine, he may very well indeed be both. The question is will Velvet discover what is true before the man gets her killed?

As Velvet gets one story out of Damian concerning an investigation that got his team killed and him thrown into a dark hole to be forgotten we get the official account from Arc-7 as well painting a far darker version of the man. It’s likely both have some truth to them just as both are missing key details to give Velvet the information she desperately needs.

The real question is whether, after going to the trouble of breaking him out of prison, Damian is a comrade or a potential new enemy who may only complicate her attempts to learn the truth about who has framed her and arranged the deaths of two men she loved. Worth a look.

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• Title: Velvet #8
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Ed Brubaker
• Artist: Steve Epting

Shifting its attention back to the title character, the latest issue of Velvet involves the hunted spy returning to London and breaking into the very super-secret spy organization which has been scouring the globe for her since she was framed for the murder of an old friend.

Although we see the actions Velvet Templeton takes once she has broken into the headquarters of Arc-7, the reasons behind those actions is still largely a mystery. Velvet risks getting captured and having to deal with Agent Roberts (who wasn’t fooled by her plan to clear the agency by strapping a fake bomb on its director inside the building’s parking garage) all to make a single phone call. I’m curious to learn just who the man in the back of the van is and why he is worth such an effort.

Providing action, suspense, and a few more breadcrumbs to the larger mystery at play, Velvet #8 doesn’t disappoint. Worth a look.

[Image, $3.50]