4.5 starsHey! It's an old chick who can kick ass!Ok, maybe old isn't the right word, Velvet isn't exactly using a walker to get around, but she's no spring chicken.Most of the folks at her Top Secret agency think she's just a secretary. Kinda like Bond's Miss Moneypenny.But when a top agent gets killed, and a highly decorated agent in retirement becomes the suspect, Velvet decides to do a little investigation of her own on the side. And what she discovers is that someone has gone to a lot of tro...

Other reviewers have already pointed out that this story essentially asks what would happen if James Bond got killed, and it turned out that Miss Moneypenny was more of a bad-ass than he ever was? So in an effort to come up with a new way of describing this I’ll ask what if Sterling Archer got killed, and Cheryl/Carol was more of a bad-ass than he ever was?In 1973 Velvet Templeton is the secretary to the director of super-secret spy agency ARC-7. After their best agent is ambushed and killed Vel...

From the creators of the greatest Captain America run in history comes a cold war tale of espionage and betrayal. Imagine if Miss Moneypenny was really a kickass spy. Another bad-ass series from Image. Run out and get this book now.

Holy shit! Some people just got their asses handed to them. By a woman. By a woman clearly over 30!How many times has some arrogant suit walked into my office, thinking he owns the world and I was his servant because I'm just a secretary. *imitates very annoying nasal voice*And how many times have I wanted to punch that kind of guy?! EXACTLY!Velvet is a secretary. Well, not JUST ANY secretary but also a secretary. And she's not taking shit from anybody, that's for sure. From page 1 we know that

"That's the problem with lies...they're so much prettier than the truth."Okay, that was fun. I mean there's still Brubaker drama and darkness, but what a great story and fantastic artwork!I'm not really a fan of spy thrillers. I do enjoy James Bond movies. But this was surprisingly entertaining, not at all dry, and it kept me on my toes. There's great action and intrigue, mystery, exotic characters, and tons of violence: fighting, shooting, chasing, and of course EXPLOSIONS! The violence is pret...

This is like a great Bond movie. Except that Miss Moneypenny is the star, and she's far more accomplished and dangerous a spy than anyone ever expected. Brubaker does some of his best work away from the capes, so I was far from surprised with how fantastically he wrote this spy thriller. I'm fascinated by the story, which promises to have far more twists and turns ahead. And I love Velvet herself, as much as I love Brubaker for inventing a Cold War female spy who's more than sex appeal. I also l...

Velvet is the Real Deal!!!I picked this up because I have enjoyed other volumes by Brubaker. He definitely has the noir, crime story vibe down. This book is about a woman who everyone has been overlooked because she's the Moneypenny (as in Miss Moneypenny from the James Bond series). Nice to flirt with, make travel arrangements, and take notes in the meetings for her Director. She holds the keys to the kingdom in that way that Executive Assistants often do, but not who you would consider a field...

Yeah, this is some awesome reading!What’s it about?A top agent has died (ya know like a 007/Sterling Archer type). The secretary Velvet Templeton wants answers. The thing is Velvet is more bad-ass than anyone else in the agency!Why it gets 5 stars:The story is pretty cool. I like espionage stuff and Brubaker certainly wrote a cool espionage book here!The art is fucking amazing! Epting and Breitweiser are a fantastic duo! The art in this is freaking awesome!(Note: the darker panels are also aweso...

I read this entire series as one long story, so the review is for the whole book. But don't worry, there will be no spoilers here. —————— “You people always forget your field ops aren’t just pawns being pushed around the map.” Dark city streets in bleakly pouring rain. Curtains of cigarette smoke. Dark secrets and conspiracies within conspiracies. Pools of blood. Cynical disillusioned narration. An aging former secret agent suddenly shaken out of the stupor of last couple decades spent numbl...

Ed Brubaker has few peers when it comes to the graphic novel spy game.Case in point: Velvet Templeton, - the personal secretary to the Director of the Agency, Britain’s top spy shop – photographic memory, excellent shorthand, willing to work late hours, brews tea without equal, and was one of the most deadly agents the Agency had ever employed. This is a secret known to only a few, but when the top male agent goes down and she gets swept away in the finger pointing, all bets are off as her train...

Velvet is just simply badass . . . periodThis has to be one of the best, most well-written, most believable (despite being over the top) spy stories I have ever read. I am a huge James Bond fan, but I think I may have found a new favorite secret agent. If you are looking for stories with strong female protagonists, look no farther. Velvet is real and raw. Sexy and smooth. Clever and cunning. While she uses her looks and feminine charm to woo the bad guys, she is not a pushover. She just knows me...

Move over James Bond, Miss Moneypenny is taking over.Mind if we talk about me for a minute? No? Thanks. So lovely of you.I've never been a comics fan. I never read comics growing up and my life has always revolved around books, books, books and more books. I remember visiting my cousins as a little girl, seeing comics everywhere and thinking to myself: "these people are weird. Their books are full of pictures. Where are all the words? And what are all these bubbles for anyway?" So there I was, l...

What if Miss Moneypenny was more than just a secretary – what if she was actually deadlier than Bond? And what would happen if she was backed into a corner? Velvet Templeton is a desk jockey in an MI6 facsimile called ARC-7 at the height of the Cold War in 1973. X-14, the agency’s best spy, is killed by an unknown assassin, as is the retired agent who trained him – and Velvet has been framed for the murders! Hunted as a traitor by her former employers, they quickly realise she’s far more accompl...

2022 buddy (re)read with Nataliya:I'm glad that this one holds up to my gushing memory of it. Wonderful noir atmosphere, great artwork and most of all an awesome main character. Velvet Templeton is just such a cool character. Love her. Love the book. :)2018 review:Nothing short of spectacular!I'm probably only repeating what other reviewers said already. But this comic is like a good old James Bond movie.We travel around the world to uncover the reasons behind the death of an agent and kick the

(A-) 82% | Very GoodNotes: Review pending re-read. Collected review for volumes 1-3 can be found here: Velvet

Dave's Quick Judgement - THE DEFENSE - Lead heroine is kick-ass, yet also sympathetic. - More emotional depth than you find in your average spy thriller. - Plenty of action. - Velvet's inner dialogue is even more heart-pounding than the action sequences. - Jaw-dropping twist at the end. THE PROSECUTION - Unfortunately, there's also still loads of unanswered questions at the end. - Only 128 pages?!? I WANT MORE!!!!! THE VERDICT Much like he did with his sublime "Sleeper" series, Ed Br...

Another fantastic spy/noir thriller from Brubaker. He really is the best at this kind of story and it's the first time I've seen a female spy written so well. Her name is velvet and she's the secretary for a super dooper secret spy agency. What even the spies don't know is that she used to be the best spy in the agency. The story: a super dooper secret agent gets killed and that is super rare for this agency which means only one thing - there's a mole in the agency! Commence action and espionage...

When the top agent for the spy organization ARC-7 is murdered, all evidence points to Velvet Templeton, the unassuming organization’s secretary. She’s innocent but capturing her is proving difficult and those hot on her trail are meeting the true Velvet, the retired secret agent with the skills to pay the bills.While recently on vacation in Ottawa, I dropped into The Comic Shoppe to pick up Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips new noir series The Fade Out. I couldn’t find it so I asked the clerk if he

Awesome introduction to the Velvet story. It's dark, noir-tinged, sexy, exciting, with terrific artwork and a storyline worth following. Velvet was a top notch British agent breaking hearts and bones from Monaco to Cairo before something happened and she settled in as a trusted secretary at headquarters. But, now she's got blood on her hands, caught red-handed with a secret agent corpse. She's on the run and no one believes her anymore. I'm not a big fan of graphic novels, but this series has it...

This is highly accomplished work by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, a great team. The art is especially good, and Brubaker is as usual a terrific storyteller. There's nothing here that is all that original in this Bond kinda thriller, I think, but the dialogue is Brubaker lean and it works well with the polished artwork that like Bond moves from sophisticated to violent. Okay, this one is more violent than the often cartoonish Bond. The original twist in this is that Velvet is the main character,