Velvet 10 review

I feel like I don’t review this series enough. After all, it’s a creator-owned espionage series by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Velvet Templation is on the run after being framed for double crossing her agency. What’s followed is an increasingly deep mystery involving agency corruption, power players thought dead and double crossing. The last issue ended with Velvet being betrayed by Damian Lake, a man she rescued from prison not long before, and facing cops on a train who wish to arrest her.

This issue picks up exactly where the last left off. What felt like a rookie mistake for Velvet to trust someone of questionable allegiances turns out to be something far more sinister. Most of this issue is a chase scene, with Velvet jumping the train only to find the entire area filled with law enforcement already searching for her. The action is good and the internal narration adds to the tension, not only exploring Velvet’s thought process but showcasing her anger. But where this issue really shines is the ending. It would be completely wrong to spoil it, so I’ll just say that Velvet is in more danger than ever before. “Welcome to the real game.”

The art is fantastic. It fully embraces the noir feel of the story with dark backgrounds, realistic looking characters and fights that flow perfectly from panel to panel. Velvet’s white streak of hair and her mole add character to her appearance, and Damian Lake looks intimidating with his casual grin after he really gets to work.

I’ve enjoyed every issue of this series so far, but this is quite possibly my favourite comic of the week. Nathan Edmondson’s Black Widow is great (today’s issue is intense), but this is espionage comics at its best. If that interests you in the slightest, you should be picking this up.