“The Fade Out” is the new noir series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. It opens up with a recollection of the “phantom planes” over Los Angeles, the Japanese bombers imagined but never actually in the air, following Pearl Harbor. Hearing them up above became a nervous habit hard to break. And so the world of Charlie Parish, a schemer and a screenwriter in Hollywood, seems to be just one big bad habit.
Category Archives: Ed Brubaker
Review: THE FADE OUT #1
Filed under Comics, Comics Reviews, Crime, Crime Fiction, Ed Brubaker, Hollywood, Image Comics, Noir, Sean Phillips
Review: Velvet #2, published by Image Comics
Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting have both been making comics long enough to where they can make them in their sleep. They choose to not be complacent about it. With this comics venture, the team of writer and artist come to it full of energy. Velvet is a well crafted comic. It functions in the way a successful comic does: it does not take itself to seriously, it provides a vivid story, and it gets down to action from the get go. Velvet was falling out of high rise window when we last saw her. She figures out a nice save and then some.
Getting back to that visual of Brubaker and Epting asleep in their respective beds and dreaming up the script and artwork. The comic does have that sense of ease about it. There are a variety of scenes of Velvet Templeton fighting for her life, racing this way and that, and each scene is different and refreshing. No filler. No dead space. There are a number of extended bits of internal dialogue and each bit is clever, interesting, and fun to read. The ball is not dropped once. This back and forth dynamic of sharp and witty script and artwork is downright poetic.
For a moment, I wonder if a Mission Impossible Tom Cruise would have handled a similar challenge the way Velvet did. That comes to mind as Velvet has to figure out what to do when she’s suddenly airborne. I think it’s a toss up, just to give Tom his due. What Velvet does next, right after flying out of a window, is a fine moment in comics. This whole issue is a fine moment in comics and it looks like it will just keep getting better.
Velvet #2 is available now. Visit our friends at Image Comics here.
Filed under Comics, Comics Reviews, Ed Brubaker, Image Comics, Steve Epting, Velvet
VELVET, from Image Comics, Sells Out
The second issue of VELVET from creators Ed Brubaker (FATALE), Steve Epting, and Elizabeth Breitweiser is setting comic racks on fire and has sold out completely at the distributor level.
Issue #2 picks up right after #1 ends, jumping straight into the action as Velvet Templeton flees her own agency and races to uncover why Agent X-14 was killed. Dead bodies, ruined lives, and angry soldiers block her path toward discovering the truth.
Praise for VELVET:
“Velvet should move to the top of any reading pile immediately.” –Kelly Thompson, Comic Book Resources
“Stylish, exciting, and smart, Velvet is another win for the unstoppable force of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.” –Iann Robinson, Crave Online
“If you’re a fan of 24 and the Jason Bourne movies, you’re definitely going to enjoy the hell out of Velvet.” –Jorge Solis, Bloody Disgusting
“What else is there to be said? Velvet is a hell of an arresting personality negotiating a deadly and complicated landscape. There’s no telling where she’s going next, but good lord does this reviewer want to find out.” –Michelle White, Multiversity Comics
VELVET #2 has completely sold out at the distributor level, but may still be available in comic stores, and is currently available digitally on the Image Comics website (imagecomics.com) and the official Image Comics iOS app, as well as on Comixology on the web (comixology.com), iOS, Android, and Google Play.
Image Comics is pleased to announce that this second issue will be going back to print to meet customer demand. The second printing of VELVET #2 (Diamond Code OCT138253) will release on 1/8.
VELVET #3 releases 1/8 and will be available for pre-order with Diamond Code OCT130631.
Filed under Comics News, Ed Brubaker, Image Comics, Steve Epting
Review: VELVET #1, published by Image Comics
“Velvet,” published by Image Comics, is your next spy thriller addiction. It is written by one of the best crime fiction writers that comics has ever known, Ed Brubaker. And he is teamed up with one of the best artists he’s ever worked with, Steve Epting. This new series blasts away from the start. We have the dark and moody color palette that Brubaker favors, provided by colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser. We have the nondescript lettering, as if out of typewriter or teletype machine, provided by letterer Chris Eliopoulos. Yes, this comic is like a good martini, shaken, not stirred.
Filed under Comics, Comics Reviews, Crime, Crime Fiction, Ed Brubaker, Image Comics, mystery, Pulp Fiction, Spy Thrillers
Men in Hats in 2011
Men in hats. Will the trend continue? I believe it has reached what I lovingly call, “The Flip Flop Factor.” Something happened in 2011. It had been occurring more under the surface for many years. But, now, we’ve reached that tipping point where all bets are off and any guy, at anytime, could be considering wearing a hat. He’s seen enough cool dudes wear hats and he senses something’s in the air. Johnny Depp wears hats. It must be alright. “The Flip Flop Factor” comes into play in the fact that a lot of guys see this as an opportunity to flaunt a bit of their casual side at any given time or place. Just like flip flops are no longer an item to be found only on the beach or at the gym, hats on men are no longer just an item at a club. They are this new staple in fashion: a little annoying to some, a bit audacious to others, but definitely here to stay. Also, we reached the point this year where men’s hats, like flip flops, are being sold everywhere, along with a price drop for this type of sporty/retro hat, that makes them even more tempting and accessible.
You can see from these following photos of yours truly, that any bloke can look a little more interesting with a hat. And these bad boys didn’t set me back at all. All three of these hats were less or around twenty bucks. I bought them in 2011 at different times and different places. I think, with these three, I’ve got my set that I can just wear whenever. I have to say, it took me a while, like a lot of guys, to find hats that I liked. I was willing to spend a little more too but nothing seemed to speak to me. I wasn’t too keen on the ones made out of straw or paper. I’m more into something more solid, made of some kind of cloth. I was always aware of a high end men’s hat shop in town but only ventured in there once. Then, this year, I warmed up to the new boutique chain, Goorin Brothers. In time, I may find the finer quality hat I might still be longing for. Like flip flops, you can get the cheap, but still great, type or you an indulge your senses with something out of this world.
It’s very interesting to me how hats have come back. They went away, had become too attached to a bygone era, too associated with your dad or your grandfather, but now they are back. They are not part of the soul sucking routine of “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.” No, they are now a life-saver. As long as they’re not some lame version with flaps to cover your ears, you’re good. As long as they have style, that’s the kind of hat you want.
The balance on supply and demand and trend setting is just right at this time. Guys are fully aware that hats are hot. Retro is hot. Hats are retro. Hats are hot. Not everyone is going to wear them. There will always be a sense of style and of setting oneself apart from the slow and dull herd when donning a hat. You know the slow and dull herd, right? You see them every day of your life, waiting for the bus in the morning, shuffling along, or power walking, up and down, and down and up, the sidewalks as if they really are going anywhere. And then, out of that thick fog, emerges that guy in that hat. That guy with a little something special in his heart that keeps him moving and doesn’t let the petty stares from the ignorant or the smirks from the wanna-bes get him down. He’s the guy with the hat!
Like anything else that is cool, hats have always been around and have been worn by cool people, whether society gets it or not. You’ll find that hats were already back some years back and worn by artists, writers and any number of daredevils and nonconformists. They are a natural for cartoonists and those in the comics and entertainment industry. Big time comics writer Ed Brubaker, of “Captain America” fame among other works, is a long-time hat wearer. And the ultimate hat man in comics must be Seth, known for a body of work that pays homage to the past, as in “Palookaville,” a past with many more hats that we are ever likely to see again. But you never know.
Filed under Ed Brubaker, Fashion, Lifestyle, Men, pop culture, Seth, Style, Trends