This series is doing everything right, and the readers are reaping the rewards. It's great to see these smartmale characters dismiss Velvet as just another woman when, in reality, she's strong enough and smart enough to kill them all. It's comics like this that show you how creativity and great storytelling are not dead. Hollywood may not see the need for strong female characters because they feel there isn't an audience for it, but comics are continuously showing us that that is definitely not the case. Let them have their Adam Sandler comedies and Tom Cruise action movies; I'll gladly take an issue of Velvet over them any day. Read Full Review

Velvet's continued actions baffle Colt and Roberts who are only beginning to suspect that there's likely far more to the story than the simple frame job suggests. Colt's perspective gives us a glimpse at the dangerous false trails one finds while searching for a master spy while Roberts more analytical approach searches for assets and leverage which can be used against Velvet, although he discovers just how far he's been lagging behind his target in the final couple pages of yet another terrific issue. Best of the Week. Read Full Review

This series continues to get stronger and stronger, and even an issue without our protagonist is just as good as everything that has come before it. Despite not progressing the storyline itdid do a great job of teaching us how to catch a spy and tease the big showdown for the next issue. Read Full Review

What saves Velvet, and most of Brubaker's work, from being swallowed by genre conventions is that Brubaker is a student of whatever he undertakes. Whatever flaws his work has (and there are few), pace is not one of them. The moment anything is seems to take too long, or a character seems to be dragging, Brubaker's narrative turns and subverts convention, making the reader demand more. Read Full Review

Insight into the characters chasing Velvet and their realisation she is more intelligent and dangerous than they ever thought. Read Full Review

There are a lot of comics on the stands that have a "superspy" motif, but most of them are focused on the big, dumb spectacle or James Bond notions of such tales. This book has a much more personal tone, a fascinating hero (who, it can't be forgotten, is a female character over the age of 25, fighting a number of conventions), and the Brubaker take on morality and espionage, and the tolls it takes on the characters involved. Velvet #7 is an excellent story, with excellent art, another fine chapter in the life of Velvet Templeton. Read Full Review

In addition to pacing, point of view, and art, Velvet #7 also excel at characterization. Its mostly been a strong suit of the series so far, as readers have seen many sides of Velvet. Here in their brief tales, we get strong versions of Colt and Roberts (who we have previously seen in smaller glimpses). Also, brief appearances by characters like long-haired scientist Hans are very enjoyable. So far, the new arc of the series, called The Secret Lives of Dead Men (which began in issue #6), has been very strong. After Velvet #7, like Colt and Roberts, I have no idea what Ms. Templeton is going to do next. Read Full Review

But this one still manages to be a smart, fun, and exciting read, all of which is gorgeously rendered by Steve Epting. Definitely not my favorite issue of the series, but still a damn good one. Read Full Review

In all honesty, Epting may be the best period artist currently working in comics, so fully does he capture the book's time and feel. Double O Awesome. Read Full Review

Like the other entries in this series, Velvet #7 continues to build on the promise of its central premise while hinting at something more. A few more Arc-7 characters are given greater depth, and while it seems like Velvet's story isn't advancing in this particular issue, it closes with a promise that the next issue will be explosive. This issue ratchets up the tension and the stakes right up until the last page – which, as always, seems to come too soon. Read Full Review

Velvet continues to be a thrilling spy tale, as though the lack of follow-up disappointed me, Brubaker's brilliant storytelling more than made up. Highly recommended. Read Full Review

Brubaker and Epting push "Velvet" forward with another solid installment, giving voice to some of the book's secondary characters. By the issue's breathtaking end, readers will be begging to see more of Ms. Templeton as her plan comes together. Read Full Review