Velvet #1

Writer Ed Brubaker Artist Steve Epting

Introduction

The comic book market may never have been quite as strong as it is right now. A huge reason for this, is the fact that titles like Lazarus and Satellite Sam are really starting to catch on. In the 90's back when average books were selling absurd amounts of copies, the huge titles were all work for hire properties in the beginning of the decade. Then, when Image initially, launched delayed comics led to disappointing sales. Writers are largely starting to define their identities with creator owned books now. They are not going to let their livelihood and sense of identity fall devoting their entire lives to Marvel or DC. The incredible creative team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are launching the next big book entitled Velvet over at Image. With incredibly high expectations due to the pedigree, does the team even have a chance of satisfying fans?

Writing

The opening voice over written by Brubaker introduces a concept that has some massive room to grow. The first few lines offered to the reader will immediately suck them in with ease. The story lacks a slight amount of clarity, in regards to the transition of the tale between the first and second halves of the title. That is a slight nitpick, the vast majority of the material being offered here is superb. This could all get cheesy very fast without extremely well handled dialogue from the scribe. It is interesting to get a female lead, who brings something drastically different from the the male players within the story here. The slight distinction of adding the white streak in Velvet’s hair makes all the difference.

Artist

Steve Epting started to get more attention on Captain America with the same writer of this title. His art has never looked quite as good as it does here. While it is clear that Eptings art is getting better, the new colorist adds to the quality. Collaborator Frank D’ Armata’s colors from Captain America gave the book a muddy look that brought out some of the negative aspects of the incredible pencilling. Thanks to Elizabeth Breitweiser, I have never been happier looking at the artwork of Epting. The distinctive mood that permeated through dark titles, such as New Avengers breaks out in full force here. There is a distinctive style to the backgrounds in the first couple of pages that is sure to impress the reader. Unfortunately this level of detail is not seen as frequently as I would like in the title, what we are given is evidence that this is one of the very best illustrators in this industry. The way different body types are drawn with care, is something that very few artists can actually deliver on.

Conclusion

While this installment does seem to have a stronger first half, there is a lot to like here. It is also not up for debate that the writing and art are both superb, even with some minor issues here and there. For the next evolution of the art form, look no further than Velvet.