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So, is anyone else reading (and enjoying) this Wildstorm 'Mature Readers' title, now on its fourth issue, written by Ed Brubaker with art by the still-oddly-underrated Sean Phillips?
Brief summary for those who aren't: Holden Carver works for International Operations, a sort of super-CIA/Interpol. For the last four years, Holden has been deep undercover, working his way up the ranks of a super-criminal organisation led by the smooth-talking but sinister Tao. As of issue #2, Carver's become of Tao's three closest lieutenants - but in the process, of course, he's done all kinds of horrible things, up to and including terrorist bombings with high civilian casualties.
All for the greater good? Not exactly. See, the only other person who knows Carver is a double-agent is his old boss at IO, Lynch, who is now in a coma (how he got there is as yet unrevealed). Not that Lynch was much of a 'good guy' in the first place - but the point is, Carver can't break cover - he pretty much *is* his cover, now. Adding even further to the moral complexity, Carver has a 'condition' (ie, 'superpower') gained in the line of duty for IO, which means he can't feel pain - he stores up any pain inflicted on him and can pass it onto others through touch. In other words, in theory Carver can't break cover, but what's never been clarified though I'm sure we're meant to ask the question, is what could anyone do to him if he did? Presumably, he *can* be killed, but fear of torture etc is much less of a factor than it might be.
Oh, and as of the most recent issue he's also sleeping with Ms Misery, another lieutenant and Tao's sometime fuckbuddy. She seems to personify my own theory about Carver, which is that he actually really *likes* being the bad guy, but hasn't quite brought himself to admit it.
Anyway: you know how comics writers and readers often say about titles like this "hey, it's set in the world of spandex, but it's not a filthy spandex comic!", and they tend to be lying through their teeth? Sleeper is the real deal. It has a lot to do with Phillips' art, and the muted colour scheme used throughout, but Brubaker's writing is also firing on all cyliners in a way I haven't encountered from him before. Holden Carver feels like a very real character, and a deeply fucked-up one at that, and Brubaker manages to pull off the interior monologue (quite a hackneyed device in comics these days) better than I've read in a while. It's proper noir, this. Recommended. |
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