Collects VELVET #1-5. From the bestselling creators of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" comes this smash-hit spy thriller with a unique new twist! When the world's greatest secret agent is killed, all evidence points to Velvet Templeton, the personal secretary to the Director of the Agency. But Velvet's got a dark secret buried in her past...because she's also the most dangerous woman alive.

ED BRUBAKER and STEVE EPTING redefined Captain America with the 'Winter Soldier' saga... and everything they've done so far has been leading to VELVET! When the world's best secret agent is killed, Velvet Templeton, the Personal Assistant to the Director of the Agency, is drawn off her desk and back into the field for the first time in nearly 20 years... and is immediately caught in a web of mystery, murder and high-octane action. Sexy and provocative, with a dark twist on the spy genre, this EXTRA-LENGTH first issue by two of the industry's best-selling creators will knock you out!

The strands of the mystery finally bring Velvet back home to the US, and to Washington DC, for the explosive finale to the first big Velvet storyarc. About the Creators: Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are the best-selling creators of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Scholars of state socialism have frequently invoked “nostalgia” to identify an uncritical longing for the utopian ambitions and lived experience of the former Eastern Bloc. However, this concept seems insufficient to describe memory cultures in the Czech Republic and other contexts in which a “retro” fascination with the past has proven compatible with a steadfast critique of the state socialist era. This innovative study locates a distinctively retro aesthetic in Czech literature, film, and other cultural forms, enriching our understanding of not only the nation’s memory culture, but also the ways in which popular culture can structure collective memory.

In Revolutionary France, Claire Devereaux enters into a devil's bargain with the ruthless new commissioner, Phillipe Duhet, to save her family from the guillotine. Claire has promised to surrender herself to his every whim. But American spy Adam Dillon abducts the sadistic tyrant and assumes his identity. Adam is prepared for anything--except for fiery Claire.

An illuminating biography of Lou Reed, featuring interviews with over 140 people who knew him intimately, plus previously unpublished photographs. As band leader of the Velvet Underground and later a successful solo artist, Reed was much more than what the general public came to know as the grumpy New Yorker in black who sang “Walk on the Wild Side.” To his dedicated admirers, he was one of the most innovative and intelligent songwriters of modern times—a natural outsider who lived a tumultuous and tortured life. In the course of his deep research into Reed’s life, from a humble upbringing on Long Island to death from liver disease in 2013, Howard Sounes interviewed more than 140 people who knew the artist intimately—some of whom have not spoken publicly about him before. With new revelations from former wives and lovers, family members, fellow band members and celebrities, and music industry figures, this book offers an updated, unfettered look at Reed’s creative process, his mental health problems, his bisexuality, his three marriages, and his addictions to drugs and alcohol. Featuring previously unpublished photographs of some of Reed’s most private moments, this is the definitive account of one of rock ’n’ roll’s most complicated and brilliant prophets. “Compelling . . . Sounes takes pride in carefully debunking the myths that have crept in from Reed’s own fictionalizations.” —The Sunday Telegraph “Controversial . . . Sounes’ book pushes the standard Reed narrative.” —New York Times “A measured chronicle of the life and music of Lou Reed . . . Sounes proves to be an amiable narrator who successfully reveals Reed as an innovative, influential musician.” —Publishers Weekly “A walk on the dark side.” —Independent “A must read . . . Sounes chronicles Reed’s turbulent, and often brutal, relationships with men and women . . . and the wayward talent that produced such classics as ‘Walk On The Wild Side.’” —Daily Mail

Frida Kahlo remains one of the most popular artists of our timesales of Frida books number into the hundreds ofthousandsand yet no volume has ever focused on one of the most memorable aspects of her persona and creativeoeuvre: her wardrobe. Now, for the first time, 95 original and beautifully staged photographs of Kahlo's newly restored clothing are paired with historic photos of the artist wearing them and her paintings in which the garments appear. Frida's life and style were an integral part of her art, and she is long overdue for recognition as a fashion icon.

The Velvet Underground and Nico has influenced the sound of more bands than any other album. And remarkably, it still sounds as fresh and challenging today as it did upon its release in 1967. In this book, Joe Harvard covers everything from Lou Reed's lyrical genius to John Cale's groundbreaking instrumentation, and from the creative input of Andy Warhol to the fine details of the recording process. With input from co-producer Norman Dolph and Velvets fan Jonathan Richman, Harvard documents the creation of a record which - in the eyes of many - has never been matched. EXCERPT In 1966, some studios, like Abbey Road, had technicians in white lab coats, and even the less formal studios usually had actual engineering graduates behind the consoles. Studios were still more about science than art. Clients who dared make technical suggestions were treated with bemusement, derision, or hostility. The Velvets were a young band under constant critical attack, and the pressure to conform in order to gain acceptance must have been tremendous. Most bands of that era compromised with their record companies, through wholesale revamping of their image from wardrobe to musical style, changing or omitting lyrics, creating drastically edited versions for radio airplay, or eliminating songs entirely from their sets and records. With Andy Warhol in the band's corner, such threats were minimized.

As the volatile relationship between Shin and Kano perseveres, the debt-ridden businessman and child of privilege begin to see each other in a different light. Though Kano grows closer to Shin, he's pulled away from her by a trio of beautiful and enigmatic women - Kano's elegant stepmother Yoriko, the kind-hearted office worker Rumi, and the no-nonsense journalist Mitsumi. Shin faces a crisis - can he choose between what he must do and what he really wants?

Elly has always had a strange feeling about the old house - and then she hears about the macabre discoverey in one of the bedrooms. The skeleton of a girl, dressed in red velvet, was found shut away in an old chest. Then strange things start happening - Elly hears ghostly singing, seespeople in the woods dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and hears threatening voices in the house. She decides to solve the ancient mystery, but in digging up the ancient past she uncovers secrets about her own family history which will have a lasting effect on her whole future.