Sleeper Season Two #1

June 29, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Faith, Hope and Charity

On the run, trying to escape his past, Holden Carver gets a new “assignment.”

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips
Colors: Strachan With Sinclair
Letters: Jared Fletcher
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Cover Art: Sean Phillips
Publisher: DC/Wildstorm Universe

Okay, before I get into the meat of this review, allow me to voice a complaint about a practice I see way too often in comics. Why on Earth would anyone, rather than providing a proper credit box, simply run a list of names (just last names, mind you, not even first and last), not detailing who did what job and forcing anyone interested in such a thing to play detective? It’s not like a movie with big names where everyone recognizes everything. (Spielberg! Hanks! Zeta-Jones!) These people have worked damn hard to put out a good comic book – give them the full credit they deserve.

Okay, on to the actual book. While I was at a slight disadvantage, having only read the first issue of “Season One” and the prologue to this series that appeared in the Coup D’etat Afterword, this issue was very accessible, setting up the situation for even those with only a modicum of prior knowledge about the title.

Holden Carver has gone from being a deep undercover agent posing as a supervillain to an agent that feels betrayed by his agency and his former commander, John Lynch (whom Holden believes is still in a coma). When someone approaches him with an offer that will allow him to gain a measure of satisfaction, it’s clear that this “Season” of Sleeper will be quite different from the first.

This makes for a quite satisfying spy/espionage action/drama, and the story would probably work just as well without the superhero trappings, which is what holds me back from being the first book I’d recommend to someone looking for “superheroes with a twist.” It’s a solid book, don’t misunderstand, but for someone looking for a different take on superheroes I’d be more likely to recommend something like Powers, where it’s actually a new take on superheroics, as opposed to a book in another genre that happens to have superhero incidentals.

Sean Phillips is the perfect match for Brubaker’s story. He serves up good action and drama and the occasional appearance of the guy in spandex doesn’t look silly or jar you out of the story. (In fact, the look reminds me very much of Dark Horse’s The Escapist – Phillips would be a fine match for one of those short stories.)

So while I’m not exactly wild about this book, I did enjoy it and I think it does a fine job of setting up the new storyline. If you’ve been thinking about Sleeper and looking for a place to jump on board, this is the issue to do it.

Rating: 7/10

Coup D’etat Afterword #1

March 9, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Wetworks Volume Two & Sleeper Season Two Preludes

Where does the Wildstorm universe stand after the Coup D’etat? Find out here.

Writers: Mike Carey & Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Whilce Portacio
Inks: Trevor Scott & Sean Philips
Colors: Wendy Broome
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Ben Abernathy, Alex Sinclair & Scott Dunbier
Cover Art: While Portacio
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm

The title of this book is Coup D’etat Afterword, but it could have just as easily been titled Wildstorm Secret Files, because it is in essentially the same format as that DC Universe series of books – two short stories setting up future titles and lots of profile pages on nearly every Wildstorm title.

It’s a good, quick read that helps get you up-to-date on where things stand now that The Authority has set themselves up as defacto rulers of the United States. Lucifer and My Faith in Frankie scribe Mike Carey is poised to resurrect Wetworks, a very different title from what he’s known for, as a techno-thriller with hints of superhero comics and military action. He tells a good set-up story that will lead fans into the new series quite easily.

Whilce Portacio, who created Wetworks for Image comics once upon a time, returns with some great artwork in this issue. Sometimes dismissed as a Jim Lee clone, Portacio proves here that he has a really good style and knows how to tell a comic book story.

The Sleeper story doesn’t feature Holden Carver at all, but instead shows the reawakened John Lynch pondering the fate of his former operative who has “gone native” in a supervillain underground. This story serves as good recap for the first season – if you didn’t read Sleeper before but want to start, this story will tell you everything you know.

While I wasn’t a fan of Sean Philips’ art in this week’s issue of JSA, he does a much better job in this short story. Taking place mostly in a snow-covered cemetery, he creates a very bleak and bitter mood, making Lynch seem like a force to be reckoned with. The real prize in this issue for Sleeper fans, however, comes with the confirmation that Season Two will begin in June.

The profile pages in this book are also a real gem. In addition to showing the current states of Wildcats, Stormwatch, Wetworks and The Authority, the book also includes profiles of each of these teams in their earliest incarnations. The changes each title has undergone are pretty striking when viewed in this fashion, and it makes you realize how long the Wildstorm Universe has really been around.

Rating: 7/10