Sean Phillips Variant Cover for Velvet #1.

In which we had a great weekend out of town, except for missing this news...

Velvet #1 is in stores this week, from Ed Brubaker, his long-time Captain America collaborator Steve Epting, and the new Fatale colorist Bettie Breitweiser.  Comic Book Resources has an extended preview of the debut issue, with two pages that weren't included in the USA Today interview we covered earlier.   In early reviews, CBR gives the issue four out of five stars, and Comicosity gave it a 9.5 out of ten.  Aint It Cool has a brief interview with artist Steve Epting.

There's even bigger news for those of us who are especially fans of Ed Brubaker's collaborations with Sean Phillips.

We've covered the Comic Art Festival that was held in Kendal, UK, this past weekend, and on Friday their official Twitter feed announced an exclusive variant of Velvet #1, with cover art by Sean Phillips.

Secret festival limited edition comic revealed in Comics Clock Tower from 10.30am. It's @brubaker Velvet issue 1 with cover by@seanpphillips
— Comic Art Festival (@comicartfest) October 19, 2013

Digging around, we found that, while the issue was launched at the Comic Art Festival, it will also be available through the UK's Forbidden Planet, and the site is taking presale orders until October 23rd.  At the time of this blog entry's publication, that's less than four hours away, London time.

Update, 8:45 pm ET:  It appears that, with the presale over, the variant issue is now on sale, at the same address.

It's a beautiful cover, and we can confirm that Forbidden Planet does take international orders.

Appearances, Interviews, & Criminal Movie News.

UK Appearances for Brubaker and Phillips, October 18th-21st.

We've had confirmations on Twitter that Ed Brubaker will be making two appearances with Sean Phillips, at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal and at London's Gosh Comics.   Here's a summary of their upcoming appearances.

• The Write Comic Stuff, Friday, October 18th, 8:45 pm, in Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre Theatre, featuring Ed Brubaker and fellow writer Kurt Busiek
• The Art of Sean Phillips. Saturday, October 19th, 2:00 pm, in the Brewery Arts Centre Screen One.
• THE Ed Brubaker, Saturday, October 19th, 3:45 pm, in the Brewery Arts Centre Screen One.
• Crime Lords, Sunday, October 20th, 3:30 pm, in the Brewery Arts Centre Theatre, featuring both Brubaker and Phillips.
• Brubaker and Phillips at Gosh! Comics, Monday October 21st, 7:30 pm, at Gosh! London, in a now SOLD OUT appearance and conversation with Phonogram and Young Avengers writer Kieron Gillen.

Sean Phillips is one of the Comic Art Festival's founder patrons, and he will also be one of the judges for the Young Persons Comic Art Competition.

Don't forget the Art of Sean Phillips Exhibit, open now through November 10 at the Sugar Store Gallery in the Brewery Arts Centre, as part of the Comic Art Festival.  Admission is free, and Phillips has posted photos of the exhibition's opening and preview, including the picture we're reposting above.

Phillips' also relays that he's attending the London Super Comic Con, which runs March 15th and 16th.

New Director for "Coward" Adaptation

Variety exclusively reported -- and Brubaker confirmed a summarizing story from Twitch Film -- that the film adaptation to "Coward" has a new director.  When news first broke almost two years ago that Criminal's first arc was being adapted for the big screen, David Slade was tied to the picture.  Now, Ed Brubaker is still writing the screenplay, and the film will be directed by Korean director Kim Jee-Woon, who made his English-speaking debut last year with Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand.

Producer Jamie Patricof praised the director, "His previous work consists of elevated genre films, set in interesting worlds, with three-dimensional characters, which makes him a very strong and exciting partner for 'Coward.' "

We hope that means we'll soon see the film adaptation -- and we hope that a Sean Phillips movie poster wouldn't be out of the question, to say nothing of Criminal's next arc.

We'll keep everyone posted on more movie news as we find it.

Brubaker Interviews for Velvet

Ed Brubaker has conducted a couple recent interviews for his upcoming new series Velvet.  Talking with Comic Book Resources, he reveals that he has material for at least a year and a half's worth of stories, and that the espionage series will not be as "tonally" dark as Fatale.

In an interview with Comics Alliance, Brubaker confirms that the monthly issues will have bonus content, similar to his recent collaborations with Sean Phillips:  "I want all the single issues to feel like magazines that you can go back to."

Velvet #1 is scheduled to be released on October 23rd.

Brubaker, Rucka Address "Gotham"

Finally, Deadline recently broke the news that Fox is developing a TV series called "Gotham," focusing on Jim Gordon's life as a detective prior to the arrival of the Batman.  I'm skeptical of the idea, as Brubaker and Greg Rucka's Gotham Central series wasn't set in a world without Batman:  the Dark Knight's presence in the city was felt, even when he wasn't on the page.

The two Gotham Central creators were asked about the show, and CBR's Robot 6 summarizes their answers.  Neither have any inside info on the series, and neither have been contacted.