Comics
Review: ‘Velvet’ #1
A smart spy thriller, “Velvet” #1 will keep readers on their toes as each plot twist hits them hard. This is an exciting glimpse into a secretive world filled with gun-toting traitors, high-ranking schemers, and trained assassins. No one can be trusted as everyone is pretending to live a double life in the “Velvet” series.
WRITTEN BY: Ed Brubaker
ART BY: Steve Epting
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: October 23, 2013
The underground organization, X-Ops, has sent their top secret agent, Jeff Keller, on a dangerous assignment in Paris. With the Eiffel Tower behind him, Jeff ends up taking out his gun and shooting a room full of innocent civilians. After dodging the French police, Jeff jumps across the rooftops before finally reaching his parked car. Just when he thought the fiasco was over, Jeff suddenly sees the shotgun pointed at him. At point-blank range, the shotgun blast kills Jeff before he can take out his piece. At the X-Ops headquarters in London, Velvet Temptation has just been debriefed about Jeff’s murder. Velvet will have to go through her own team in order to find Jeff’s killer.
Writer Ed Brubaker takes his espionage-driven narrative through different foreign settings and time periods. What I liked most about Brubaker’s writing is how he transitions the timeline between Velvet’s past and present. With the story set amid the ’70s and late ’60s, Brubaker has a way with the hard-bitten dialogue as the narrative steers toward noirish territory. When a secondary character calls Velvet nothing more than a “secretary,” it automatically sounds misogynist and hateful.
During the time jumps, Brubaker is able to hint at the many layers behind Velvet Temptation. When Velvet is at the X-Ops offices, she is more of a bookworm, kind of like a librarian, as she goes through tedious amounts of paperwork. But when she is out in the field, Velvet lets loose her hair, becoming seductive and adventurous. And when she is at home, Velvet acts like a completely different person, living a comfortably quiet life. Notice in the bedroom how there is no personal item belonging to her.
Artist Steve Epting has an interesting character design for Velvet. When Velvet is at the X-Ops headquarters, her wardrobe is classy and business-like. To keep up the elegant look, Epting lets a white strand of Velvet’s hair curl around her face. Epting uses rain as a way to establish the noir themes. When Velvet is walking across the rainy streets of London, she uses a brown trench coat to cover herself, as if she is always hiding something.
Epting’s illustrations in the opening pages will instantly hook the readers. It’s an action sequence gone horribly wrong as Jeff finds himself suddenly comprised. A tribute to the James Bond movies, specifically the Pierce Bronsan ones, Jeff is wearing a black suit and a bowtie as he fights his way through security. The panels burst with red hues as Jeff is taken down by the hidden gunman.
“Velvet” #1 kicks off to a great start and I hope the excitement keeps up in the next issue. If you’re a fan of “24” and the Jason Bourne movies, you’re definitely going to enjoy the hell out of “Velvet.”
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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