Jade Lagardère has had an interesting career, to say the least. After establishing herself as a supermodel in Belgium, and dabbling in the acting world, Lagardère added another title to her CV: comic book writer. Teaming with artist Butch Guice, the pair created Amber Blake, a spy thriller series released initially in French by Glenat before being brought to American audiences by IDW. Now Lagardère and Guice, joined by colorist Dan Brown and letterer Gilberto Lazcano, are back with a new Amber Blake adventure, Operation Dragonfly, and The Beat has an exclusive preview of the one-shot story.

Along with the preview, Lagardère told The Beat about the return of Amber Blake, and what she hopes readers of Operation Dragonfly take away from it:

“I’m so excited for the fans to discover more about Amber Blake. She is back stronger than ever following her betrayal in the previous storyline. Amber’s spymaster is losing his grip on her, and new characters like Emily and Cheng prove to be really important in Amber’s life.

What an amazing pleasure to continue this beautiful journey with artist Butch Guice, who is extremely talented. And thanks so much to Denton J. Tipton, who is a real genius! I’m very glad and feeling so lucky to have such an amazing team with me.

Through the character of Amber Blake, I want to bring hope and strength to the many who suffered from a difficult childhood and difficult times. And in this story, we will shine a light on the horrors of human trafficking. Amber is a superhero even though she doesn’t have superpowers. She can give people the courage to stand up, speak up, and fight back. They are not alone on this road. Each of you can be Amber Blake.”

Amber Blake: Operation Dragonfly will be published by Heavy Metal under their Magma Comix imprint and the guidance of Denton Tipton, who also oversaw the publishing of the original series at IDW. A new English release of the original series is planned from Magma Comix, though release details have yet to be revealed.

Check out the exclusive preview of Amber Blake: Operation Dragonfly below. The one-shot is scheduled to land in stores on July 14th.