The Good
Did you miss VELVET in the month that there were no new issues because the trade came out? I sure did; Brubaker and Epting left us with a pretty bold close to the first arc (and opening up of old wounds). And the start of this new one? Seamless.
Now that Velvet knows she's been double-crossed in the worst way, there's a new level of confidence and agency in the way she goes about tracking down her betrayer. Last arc, she was on the run. Now she's working towards being a few steps ahead. This book is paced to move; it always has been, and I'm glad to see that there's no sign of that stopping.
The colors on this book are flawless. Bettie Breitweiser's nighttime rain sequences are always spectacular (I would buy an art book of just these.), and the whole book just has such moody, evocative lighting. Steve Epting's art is gorgeous, and Breitweiser's colors make it even better.
The Bad
Nothing here. This issue feels like a textbook example of how to open a second volume without missing a beat.
The Verdict
VELVET kicks off its second arc with as much energy and intrigue as the first, never flagging in terms of action or sharpness. For all of the high-paced fight-and-flight of the first arc, the series feels like it's really diving into its core with Velvet's new, more personal motivation to find the traitor in ARC-7. And now that she's bringing the fight out in the open, I have a feeling we're going to see Velvet Templeton at her most exceptional.