2. Velvet #4 - Ed Brubaker And Steve Epting (Image)
There are a lot of exceptionally drawn comics being published right now by artists with wildly different styles, and that's awesome for us readers. But Steve Epting - he might be the best one of them all. I'm reminded of how accomplished he is as an artist every time I pick up an issue of Velvet and I'm blown away every single time. Velvet is simply stunning to look at. The Cold War-set spy thriller continues as Velvet (think female James Bond or younger Valerie Archer) is still being hunted by her former paymasters while conducting her own investigation into the truth behind her partner's killing. Her whirlwind tour of Europe leads her to her next target, Roman, an ex-KGB agent, during the Carnival of Fools in Monaco. As she plays dress-up with the rest of the city, putting on masks to indulge in night-long excess, she realises she isn't the only assassin after Roman... Velvet #4 felt very comfortably James Bond-ish: set in luxurious Monaco, a snapshot of Velvet in her undies as she gets dressed, and the men in tuxes crowded round the baccarat table. But where Bond usually steps in for the roughhousing, Velvet slips off her heels to take down three world-class assassins in her ballgown. There's a brilliant observation about physical fights from the female perspective and the 9-panel breakdown of how it ends is unexpectedly really bloody one panel is especially gory as she rips part of his face off with her fingers! Besides the incredible art, snappy script, engaging story and great characters, there's an unexpected twist at the end too. Brubaker and Epting are just killing it with this book! Velvet #4 is another brilliant comic in this flawless series.