Velvet 15

Velvet 15
Jul 2016

The Man Who Stole the World - Part 5
By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser

This isn’t a climax. This is an epilogue. Maybe I should be getting used to this by now but I still find it mildly annoying.

Velvet is dead. She was killed when Colt was chasing her through the streets of Washington DC. Colt is the one reporting this information to Simonson and Manning. He’s brought the body back with him. Her identity has been positively confirmed via dental records, which is about as sophisticated as it got in 1973.

Velvet 14

Velvet 14
Apr 2016

The Man Who Stole the World - Part 4
By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser

Colt shows up. Max is dead. Colt learns what he can from the dead bodies and security camera footage. He reports back to Senator Hildebrandt and Simonson on his inconclusive findings.

Velvet looks for answers. She wants them from President Richard Nixon, about the Watergate break-in. She blackmails Vice President Gerald Ford into helping her abduct the President right out of the White House. She takes him down into the Metro tunnels that run near the White House. The Metro isn’t open yet but construction is under way. She interrogates him there after drugging him and gets the answers she needs. She now understands what Damian Lake is up to.

I’m still enjoying the book but it has risen to a new level of ridiculous. Much more James Bond than George Smiley but then I guess it always was. There’s just something about seeing her break into the White House and kidnap the Nixon that crossed a line that it felt like the book hadn't before.

Velvet 13

Velvet 13
Feb 2016

The Man Who Stole the World, Part 3
By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser

Velvet tells Rachel to run while she faces off against Damian Lake. He tricks her with a device that projects his image. He is actually standing behind her. He shoots her in the back. She survives thanks to the flying suit but the impact of the bullets still hurts like hell.

Velvet 12

Velvet 12
Nov 2015

The Man Who Stole the World - Part 2
By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser

Velvet Templeton travels to Washington, D.C. with Max. ARC-7 sends Colt (X-33) to recover Velvet. He has his doubts about her motives and goals. The CIA comes after Velvet in Washington, D.C. She fights them off with a little help from Max. She doesn’t trust him entirely. She can't afford to so she lies to him and sets up a diversion without telling him.

She tries to fill in the missing pieces by interviewing someone who X-14 was keeping tabs on, Rachel Tanner, a Diplomat’s assistant. Just as she’s starting to ask Rachel some inportant questions Damian Lake shows up.

Lots of setup here. There’s just one fight, when CIA agents try apprehending Velvet. Aside from that it is a much more low key issue. She deals with Max, goes looking for information which leads her to Rachel, which in turn leads her to Damian Lake. It feels a bit like Lake is playing her. Did he want her to lead him to Rachel Tanner? I’m still enjoying the story as it builds to the end. If I know Brubaker the end will have a cerebral twist just like most of his other works do.

Velvet 11

Velvet 11
Aug 2015

The Man Who Stole the World - Part 1
By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser

Velvet Templeton travels to Hungary. She approaches Maximillion Dark, an American secret agent. She hopes he can help her figure out what Agent X-14 was investigating or working on when he was killed.

Prior to talking to Dark she spent 3 months in Paris. She dyed her hair gray and worked as a temp in the financial sector at Titanic Holding. The company has connections to spy agencies. Both X-14 and her husband were looking into it before they were killed. She seduces the lead accountant of a firm with connections to Titantic Holding. She convinces him to make a trip to the United States. They fly on a private jet. Before the plane lands she jumps out and flies to the group using the flying suit.

The next night she meets up with Dark in Gramercy Park. He has stolen some paperwork for her. She’s hoping to find some clue as to what X-14 was up to in the paperwork. She accompanies Dark back to his place. She leaves while he is asleep, after they have sex. She’s learned enough. The paperwork was too clean. It had been scrubbed. She tails Dark to a phone booth where he makes a phone call. He believes he has her trust. He’s working for someone else, possibly Damian Lake.

Feels good to be back to reading Velvet. The story wouldn't be quite so satisfying if it wasn't for the spectacular art by Epting and Breitweiser. The colors change throughout this issue but always seem spot on. I like the occasional use of inset panels. I have high hopes for how this story will end.

Some of my other favorites written in whole or in part by Ed Brubaker:
- Daredevil
- The Fade Out
- Gotham Central
- Sleeper