By Staff Reports

Revealed at July’s Image Expo, the media event that prepared the comics market for what’s next from the largest American independent comics publisher, VELVET is a dark and provocative new espionage thriller from Ed Brubaker (FATALE) and Steve Epting. The first creator-owned project from the team who brought you Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the ongoing Image Comics series VELVET will debut in October.

Velvet Templeton is supposed to be just a secretary, the personal assistant to the Director of a top secret Intelligence Agency, but when the world’s greatest spy is killed, she quickly finds herself caught in a web of mystery and murder, as her own secret past comes to light.

“The thing I’m most excited about with Velvet is, she’s a woman with this incredibly dangerous history who’s been living a quiet life for a long time, and her current life and who she used to be are about to collide in a very explosive way,” said Brubaker. “So she’s going to have to face a lot of things she’s been hiding from, and do things she barely remembers how to, and hope she’s still as good as she used to be.”

Steve Epting’s art on VELVET—dark and sexy, with painterly colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser—is partly influenced by the covers of ’60s and ’70s spy novels.

“I’m a huge fan of the illustration art from that era and it was actually a big influence on my approach to the covers for Captain America. I’m hoping to bring even more of that sensibility to Velvet—especially considering the time in which the story is set,” said Epting.

Brubaker has also spoken about VELVET to Comic Book Resources and MTV Geek.

VELVET #1 can be pre-ordered now from the August issue of Previews (Diamond code AUG130505) and will be in stores on October 23.

Check out a preview after the jump!