Velvet Collar #2
Velvet Collar #2 Self-Published 2019 Written & Lettered by Bryan Knight Layout Editor Alan Garcia Pencilled by Dave Davenport Inked by Dave Davenport & Pup Tut Coloured by Byron Power Rough Trade Secrets, picks up two years after the events of issue #1. The five main characters are summoned by a mysterious stranger to find out that their problems are far from over. I like this book, a lot more than I was expecting even though I expected a fair bit. I mean the first issue was lovely and I was intrigued by the characters and wondered where Bryan was going to take this. I know that the targeting and take down of Rentboy was a huge topic, and quite honestly should still be, and it left many without an income not to mention trampling some human rights. As with all self-published books it takes time to put out books so they don't come as frequently as we'd like them to, although, this came out pretty quickly all things considered. So please remember to support books like this on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. I love that this is as much educational as it is a story. How does an event effect the lives of those who lived it as well as educate the general population that sex work is a dirty word. Bryan walks the line very nicely here with how we see the story & plot development with it's sequence of events and how information is revealed. The character development is fantastic and we see these characters getting together years later and yet we still feel like they are the same guys we knew. Sure circumstances being what they are continually change who we are and as in life so it is in art. If you really want someone to get to know your characters then have them shown at a table breaking bread together and let the dialogue flow. You are going to see the relationships between them and how familiar, like family you might say, they can get and the overall topics will surprise you. So doing that is a sensational way to get us invested in these characters so we start we start to think of them as people. The pacing is great and it brings the twists and turns we don't expect to see and all of this conspires to create the ebb & flow of the book. The interior artwork here is very indie style. Meaning that the faces could use work, the definition from far away or working on the consistency of seeing the same faces from panel to panel being the same (the same person) as well making sure the anatomy is correct. Otherwise, I like the linework that we see and how it's being utilised to create some of this attention to detail. Some of the panels work better than others but I gotta say that page 9 s a showstopper because of the page layout, how we see backgrounds and the overall aesthetic. Yes this is very much an adult book and there is sex happening some of which is more graphic than others so you've been warned, though honestly it is more tasteful than I was expecting and sex positive instead of porn. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a good eye for storytelling. I like the colour work here as well as there is some wonderful utilisation of the various hues and tones to create the shading and shadows. This issue sets a new tone and direction for our guys. It will be like nothing you are expecting and then you'll wonder how you can ever live without it moving forward. This is going to be the kind of storytelling that you wish the gay community has. Revolutionary, brilliant and extremely fun this is going to be that book which comes out of nowhere and takes the industry by storm. It's just that good. You can head on over to http://velvetcollarcomics.com/ to order yours today!
