Longbox Digging: Sleeper Season Two #1-12

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips

Having just read my way through the trade of Season One of this title, half of it for the first time, I was too wrapped up in the story to not dig out the single issues for the second season, and finish the story.

In this run, Brubaker completely switches up the rules that govern Carver's life. In the first volume, the drama came from the fact that Carver, a double-agent working for John Lynch and I.O., was stuck in Tao's criminal organization with no protection, as Lynch lay in a coma. Now, Lynch is awake, and Carver is trying to work his own agenda.

He no longer cares about achieving Lynch's goals. He also has led Tao to believe that he is completely on his side. Meanwhile, he is simply trying to keep his friends safe, and to find a cure for his bizarre medical condition / super-powers.

This series feels a little quicker-paced, as the three men work their plans, and Carver's relationships throw wrinkle after wrinkle into his plans. There is his former fiancee, now working for Lynch and believing that he is still a good man. And then there's Miss Misery, a truly great character, who loves Carver, but also can not be trusted in any way.

One thing that I felt worked even better in Season Two than Season One was the further integration of the Wildstorm universe. Grifter, from the WildCATS makes a couple of appearances here, which fits as he has history with each of the principal characters.

Phillip's art throughout this comic is incredible. I love the way he lays out the pages, with assymetrical panel layouts, and a lot of diagonal storytelling. As well, I think that the cover logo has one of the best designs I've ever seen in comics (I love the man on top of the 'L').

Placing this book within the Brubaker/Phillips oeuvre, I would have to say I prefer it over Incognito, although Criminals is still their best work.

Sleeper Season One

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips

I was a little late in jumping on to Sleeper. I bought the second season as it came out, but had not read the first. Eventually I picked up the first trade, but never got the second. Just recently I found this, which collects the first two trades, in a used bookstore, and decided it was time to reacquaint myself with Holden Carver.

Sleeper is a superior piece of comics. Brubaker's story of a double agent that is left on his own while his handler is in a coma combines the best of Cold War espionage novels with superhero action. Carver, his loyalties vacillating between his friends in Tao's organization, his former lover, and what he believes is right, finds himself in an impossible situation. Brubaker continuously adds tension to the story, as Carver is dragged deeper into Tao's world.

The team of Brubaker and Phillips have become much more reknowned since this work was completed - their Criminal and Incognito series are critically acclaimed and quite popular, and this title has a lot in common with Incognito. The thing is, I think I like this better. The main reason for that is that Brubaker is playing around in an established universe - he makes use of pre-existing characters and government agencies in the Wildstorm universe, and that lends a touch of gravity to this book, especially as he subtly subverts the structures of that universe, ultimately revealing that the world is run by an organization of people so rich and powerful, that they are completely unkwown.

Having finished this, I think it's time to dig back through the collection and re-read Season Two.

Point Blank

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Colin Wilson

I managed to miss the best of the Wildstorm era almost completely. I'd given up on the earlier Wildstorm books back when they were basic 90's Image stuff, and somehow never realized that Alan Moore was writing WildCATS until after they were published. Likewise, when Point Blank came out as part of the 'Eye of the Storm' line, I saw Grifter and skipped it (although I loved Stormwatch: Team Achilles). Likewise, I never picked up Sleeper until the second 'season' began.

So, I'm coming at Point Blank from a backwards position. I've now read Moore's WildCATS, and half of Sleeper (soon to be fixed), and so my knowledge of characters like Tao, Carver, and Lynch is much more informed than Grifter's is in this book. That's actually an interesting perspective to read this from, as it helps make clear how well Brubaker was laying the groundwork for his later work, even though he didn't know at the time that he'd have the opportunity to return to it.

This reads quite nicely as an espionage/black ops story with just a hint of superhero about it. You don't need to know that Grifter (sorry, I hate the name Cash Cole) is part of a team of half-alien something or others; the story is both self-contained and referential to the larger universe it's set in. I really like the pace of the story, and the resolution is fantastic - Brubaker was trying some new things with this book.

The art is good. Some of Wilson's characters look odd in places, but he manages to marry the Wildstorm look to a more serious comic quite nicely.

Having now read this, I look forward to re-reading Sleeper, which I remember being a fantastic book. Anyone currently enjoying Criminal or Incognito should grab that immediately.