SleeperSeason 1
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
2004
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
SleeperSeason 2
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
2005
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Do you like spies? Cold-war style espionage style spies? So far deep undercover that they don't even know who they're working for anymore? With grim hard-boiled voice-overs? And characters who say things like "we're past petty concepts like good and evil." With (added bonus!) superpowers that handily reflect character's personality traits? Yes? Yes? and Yes? Well then - Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips have just the comic book for you.
Told over two "Seasons" [1] (comic books = the new televison! Or something) Sleeper is a series that will keep you gripped in it's vice-like jaws (Grrrrrr!) as it moves from one outrageous set-piece to the next (at point early on there's actually a panel with the main character falling out of helicopter over Paris as he fires a mini-canon-thing (sorry: I'm not great with identifying guns) at an airplane (altho sadly it's nowhere near as good as that sounds). With characters with such gonzo names as: Genocide Jones, Steeleye, XXX Ray, The Nihilist [2], Diesel Max and Miss Misery [3] who tend to refer to superheroes as "dweebs" and who are so cagey about when it comes to revealing anything about their past they have to toss a coin to see who goes first ("Origin Stories. Heads or tails?").
It's not exactly subtle ("I'd crushed charred baby skulls underfoot and choked the life out of freely elected Presidents so we could replace them with hand-picked dictators. And yet, at the end of the day, I still believed I was one of the good guys." [4]) and everything always seems to be "one pussy hair" away from everything else [5]. But just as long as you can make it past the (yawn) section which makes the claim that pop music keeps people stupid... ((But maybe that's just me? I dunno: but then there's something about the writing through the whole comic that makes me feel that it's written by someone who just not quite as smart as he thinks he is (sorry Ed - nothing personal) there's a point where someone throws out the word "Obsequiousness."[6] which just makes it seem like they're trying too hard: I mean - it's a good comic for what it is - but it's not exactly Will Self (who you know makes using long and difficult words look easy)).
Cut from the same noir meets superheroes! cloth as Incognito (which you'll love if you enjoy this and vice versa) this is 21st Century superhero comics - yeah it's grim and gritty and darker than being locked in a cupboard with a blindfold on: but it pops like a boat full of fireworks, snaps like a crocodile that's only just got out of bed and crackles like a whole roll of bubble wrap (and if you thought popping on those things was addictive: just you wait until you start reading this).
It's just a shame that Season 2 isn't as gripping as Season 1: in the afterword at the end of the last book Ed Brubaker admits that they only had things planned up until the end of the first half ("When we started, I had planned it to be 12 chapters, and thought we'd be lucky to get those.") - and yeah: that sure does make a lot of sense - as the pressure that they so artfully build up over the course of the first book just sort of dissipates as the double-crossing gets double-crossed so many times that it can be hard to keep track who exactly is lying to who - and although that has it's advantages (I guess) it does mean that the tension isn't cracked up to the same levels as before (someone lying to someone else = tension, someone maybe lying to someone else who maybe already knows that they're already maybe lying just = a little bit confusing).
(Oh: and - if you liked Sleeper - then you should know: that there's a prequel comic out there called Point Blank (same writer - different artist) that you should try too).
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[1] Or (if you can't get the two books above) it also comes in volume form - Vol. 1: Out in the Cold and Vol. 2: All False Moves (that's Season One) and Vol. 3: A Crooked Line and Vol. 4: The Long Way Home (Season Two). (I mean - I guess I could have posted it up in volume form here because Islington has copies of both types - but in terms of my personal preference I would go for the Seasons: it's just more satisfying to read them in big chunks and only have a single rest in-between.
[2] Who's a total (deliberately?) Comedian (from Watchmen) rip-off. But then - hey - I guess if you're gonna steal: steal from the best.
[3] Which I wanna believe is an Elliott Smith reference. (I mean - I know it's probably not: but still: I want to believe that it is). Also: am I totally alone in thinking that Figure 8 is his best album? I mean - good lush production isn't something to be scared of people...
[4] For the full effect I think you have to imagine that being said by Michael Sheen as he lies on his bed staring at a ceiling fan.
[5] I mean: seriously I think they must use that line at least twice (maybe even three or four?) I dunno: I mean I guess I could go back through the whole series to check: but definitely they use at least twice. At least. (Or maybe I'm being too harsh? Maybe in the world of Sleeper "pussy-hair" is an official unit of measurement? Inches, centimeters and pussy-hairs? "Does it not quite fit?" "Yeah - it's - let me see........ it's six pussy-hairs too big. Sorry.")
[6] It means: "Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning." (and yeah: I have no problem admitting that I had to look it up: just be warned - I may try and see if I can slip it into another post at some point in the future..."This book is so full of obsequiousness!").
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Further reading: Point Blank, Incognito, Criminal, 100 Bullets, Queen and Country, Red, Anna Mercury, Global Frequency, Desolation Jones, The Authority, Fatale.
Profiles: Ed Brubaker.
All comments welcome.
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