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Sleeper #1-4
Sleeper Omnibus
SLEEPER is the critically acclaimed graphic novel series written by Eisner Award-winner Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Deadenders, Captain America) and stylishly rendered by legendary artist Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies. Criminal, Incognito).
Agent Holden Carver is forced to live one day at a time in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse he plays with the leader of the secret criminal organization he has infiltrated while trying to elude detection.
Agent Holden Carver is forced to live one day at a time in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse he plays with the leader of the secret criminal organization he has infiltrated while trying to elude detection.
736 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2013
21 people are currently reading
654 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,797 books3,009 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
January 27, 2015
Holden Carver must not have read Vonnegut’s Mother Night because then he would have known he should be very careful about who he pretended to be…
Holden was recruited by Internal Operations spymaster John Lynch to infiltrate a dangerous terrorist group led by a man called Tao by appearing to betray the IO and go rogue. Their plan works, and Holden is soon making his way up the ranks to become one of Tao’s top people. Things go sideways after Lynch is shot and is in a coma. Since he was the only man who knew that Holden was working undercover, the double agent is stuck working for a group of bad guys while his former organization thinks he’s a traitor.
Oh, and did I forget to mention the super powers?
See, this is the DC Wildstorm universe which has superheroes like The Authority. Holden’s abilities came from an alien artifact bonding to him during a botched recovery mission, and this leaves him with an ability to heal quickly. He also can’t feel the physical damage, instead storing it like a battery and able to deliver the pain to someone else by touching them. This has also left him immune to manipulative mind powers like Tao’s as well as feeling numb to pretty much everything else so it made him a great prospect to be a double agent. It also leaves him pretty miserable. The one thing that comes close to penetrating his shell is his on-going affair with Miss Misery, another Tao lieutenant who literally thrives on doing bad things to people. She’s not exactly the kind of girl you take home to mom.
Ed Brubaker has a knack for fusing genres like the way he combined a police procedural crime comic with the antics of the world of Batman in the excellent Gotham Central. Here he’s doing the classic story of the spy trying to come in from the cold in a superhero universe, and it works incredibly well. What’s interesting about this is that there is one layer of super activity going on with people running around in costumes punching each other and another more covert war going on in the shadows where the participants wear leather trench coats rather than capes. The artwork by Sean Phililps also has the same brooding noir style that has worked so well with other Brubaker stories like the Criminal comics.
Like any good spy story, there’s a lot of not knowing who to trust, and Holden increasingly feels like an expendable pawn in the games of others. He also has to do terrible things to maintain his cover, but eventually considers that he did things equally bad in service to the IO and wonders if it really matters at all what his intentions are. The murky world of spy games and suspect ethical choices have more of a vibe of a John LeCarre novel than a comic book. It’s also got plenty of graphic violence, profanity and nudity so it’s definitely for adults and not kids.
A note about the omnibus edition: This is one big bastard of a kitten squisher. Oversized and with over 700 pages, it contains not only the two ‘seasons’ of Sleeper, it also has the extra related stories Point Blank and the crossover issue of Coup d’Etat: Sleeper #1. It’s kind of pricey (I got mine as a Christmas gift.) but it’s a high quality hardcover and gives any reader the entire story in one volume.
(I also reviewed the first volume of Sleeper.)
Holden was recruited by Internal Operations spymaster John Lynch to infiltrate a dangerous terrorist group led by a man called Tao by appearing to betray the IO and go rogue. Their plan works, and Holden is soon making his way up the ranks to become one of Tao’s top people. Things go sideways after Lynch is shot and is in a coma. Since he was the only man who knew that Holden was working undercover, the double agent is stuck working for a group of bad guys while his former organization thinks he’s a traitor.
Oh, and did I forget to mention the super powers?
See, this is the DC Wildstorm universe which has superheroes like The Authority. Holden’s abilities came from an alien artifact bonding to him during a botched recovery mission, and this leaves him with an ability to heal quickly. He also can’t feel the physical damage, instead storing it like a battery and able to deliver the pain to someone else by touching them. This has also left him immune to manipulative mind powers like Tao’s as well as feeling numb to pretty much everything else so it made him a great prospect to be a double agent. It also leaves him pretty miserable. The one thing that comes close to penetrating his shell is his on-going affair with Miss Misery, another Tao lieutenant who literally thrives on doing bad things to people. She’s not exactly the kind of girl you take home to mom.
Ed Brubaker has a knack for fusing genres like the way he combined a police procedural crime comic with the antics of the world of Batman in the excellent Gotham Central. Here he’s doing the classic story of the spy trying to come in from the cold in a superhero universe, and it works incredibly well. What’s interesting about this is that there is one layer of super activity going on with people running around in costumes punching each other and another more covert war going on in the shadows where the participants wear leather trench coats rather than capes. The artwork by Sean Phililps also has the same brooding noir style that has worked so well with other Brubaker stories like the Criminal comics.
Like any good spy story, there’s a lot of not knowing who to trust, and Holden increasingly feels like an expendable pawn in the games of others. He also has to do terrible things to maintain his cover, but eventually considers that he did things equally bad in service to the IO and wonders if it really matters at all what his intentions are. The murky world of spy games and suspect ethical choices have more of a vibe of a John LeCarre novel than a comic book. It’s also got plenty of graphic violence, profanity and nudity so it’s definitely for adults and not kids.
A note about the omnibus edition: This is one big bastard of a kitten squisher. Oversized and with over 700 pages, it contains not only the two ‘seasons’ of Sleeper, it also has the extra related stories Point Blank and the crossover issue of Coup d’Etat: Sleeper #1. It’s kind of pricey (I got mine as a Christmas gift.) but it’s a high quality hardcover and gives any reader the entire story in one volume.
(I also reviewed the first volume of Sleeper.)
June 23, 2016
I really didn't know what to expect from this story. The synopsis mentioned crime noir with super powers, but that doesn't really describe what it is or do it justice.
It's espionage at its highest level within the old windstorm universe i.e. The Authority. It's starts of very slow and the art from Phillips gets better and better as the story goes on. The main character is a sleeper agent in a tug of war match between two powerful spy's. Each agent has their own special power....this is when it gets interesting. Miss Misery....wow, she's definitely my favourite character.
Relationships start to broaden and you get a real feel for the characters, something Brubaker is great at.
Overall it's a story that you need to invest time in. It does take time to come together, but it really does become a special story with a fantastic ending. You can tell that this really meant something to Brubaker.
Recommended.
It's espionage at its highest level within the old windstorm universe i.e. The Authority. It's starts of very slow and the art from Phillips gets better and better as the story goes on. The main character is a sleeper agent in a tug of war match between two powerful spy's. Each agent has their own special power....this is when it gets interesting. Miss Misery....wow, she's definitely my favourite character.
Relationships start to broaden and you get a real feel for the characters, something Brubaker is great at.
Overall it's a story that you need to invest time in. It does take time to come together, but it really does become a special story with a fantastic ending. You can tell that this really meant something to Brubaker.
Recommended.
September 3, 2013
This is my second read of this series, having read the individual trades a few years back, and yet I was still absolutely hooked throughout. Brubaker and Phillips seamlessly blend super villainy and hard-boiled spy thrills so well that it feels like you're getting the best of both worlds without any of the bullshit. I honestly cannot think of anything I dislike about the central Sleeper series itself.
However, the omnibus also includes Point Blank, a one-off murder mystery starring Grifter from the WildCATS. As Brubaker explains in the afterword, this story was originally intended to stand alone, but WildStorm liked the setup so much that they asked for a followup. Well, I'm glad they did, because Point Blank is mediocre at best, but it spawned one hell of a spinoff. I do think reading Point Blank first adds to Sleeper, since it gives you pretty much all the backstory, but on the whole it's nowhere near as good.
But Sleeper, man. Give me a break. Every character is fleshed out. You care about the criminals, you care about the "good guys," if you can even call them that. Everyone is situated firmly in the grey, all of their motives personal, none of which really for "the greater good." There's even a love story in there between Carver (the central character, who has the ability to absorb and redirect pain) and Miss Misery (who becomes more beautiful and powerful the more horrible she acts), but it's the weirdest, least romantic love story I've ever read in comics, and it's pretty much perfect. And the ending will hang with you for weeks.
Brubaker and Phillips have done a lot of amazing work over the years: Criminal, Incognito, and their current series, Fatale. They are my favorite creative team, and have knocked a lot of stuff out of the park. But Sleeper they knocked out of the entire STATE. If you haven't read it and don't want to fork over the money for the omnibus, at least check out the trades. You won't be disappointed.
However, the omnibus also includes Point Blank, a one-off murder mystery starring Grifter from the WildCATS. As Brubaker explains in the afterword, this story was originally intended to stand alone, but WildStorm liked the setup so much that they asked for a followup. Well, I'm glad they did, because Point Blank is mediocre at best, but it spawned one hell of a spinoff. I do think reading Point Blank first adds to Sleeper, since it gives you pretty much all the backstory, but on the whole it's nowhere near as good.
But Sleeper, man. Give me a break. Every character is fleshed out. You care about the criminals, you care about the "good guys," if you can even call them that. Everyone is situated firmly in the grey, all of their motives personal, none of which really for "the greater good." There's even a love story in there between Carver (the central character, who has the ability to absorb and redirect pain) and Miss Misery (who becomes more beautiful and powerful the more horrible she acts), but it's the weirdest, least romantic love story I've ever read in comics, and it's pretty much perfect. And the ending will hang with you for weeks.
Brubaker and Phillips have done a lot of amazing work over the years: Criminal, Incognito, and their current series, Fatale. They are my favorite creative team, and have knocked a lot of stuff out of the park. But Sleeper they knocked out of the entire STATE. If you haven't read it and don't want to fork over the money for the omnibus, at least check out the trades. You won't be disappointed.
April 29, 2023
Video Review version - https://youtu.be/1m6sv6nVKBc
Sleeper is that type of spy thriller you don't know will work as well as it does until you read it. I mean you have a realistic approach, a CIA like organization sending a man undercover to unravel them, seen that before. Add in super powered human beings and heroes and things get even fresher, with some awesome twist.
The first story is actually a prequel that stars Grifter, aka Cole, from Wildcats/Wildstorm/Stormwatch. And he's trying to solve what happened, who shot his friend, and by the time you get to the ending of it, it all makes sense but it doesn't grab or suck you in just yet.
Then we get to the main story which is 24 issues in total. Carver is the undercover agent sent to dismantle this terrorist organization but it gets messy quick. His lead, who's one of the only people who knows he's undercover, is the one shot by Grifter in the first story and sent into a coma. This leads Carver into trying to figure out his exist plan but things keep getting worse and worse when every single plan he has gets more complicated by death, betrayal, and covering up his own tracks. Leading him deeper and deeper into the very organization he's meant to take down.
I should expect no less from this team. Brubaker puts in some of the cleanest and best dialogue out there, especially for the thriller setting. Then you get the art from Sean Phillips who knocks it out of the PARK. The designs, the shadows, the overall feel of the tone of this book is all thanks to Phillips excellent work. Anytime I read a story in this type of setting all I can think of is no one is topping these two.
A truly remarkable, dark, twisted, fucked up adventure that I will no doubt revisit down the line. Very few Omnibus get a 5 out of 5 for me, but this wonderful title deserves it and is a MUST buy for fans of this genre or anything from Brubaker and Phillips. A 5 out of 5.
Sleeper is that type of spy thriller you don't know will work as well as it does until you read it. I mean you have a realistic approach, a CIA like organization sending a man undercover to unravel them, seen that before. Add in super powered human beings and heroes and things get even fresher, with some awesome twist.
The first story is actually a prequel that stars Grifter, aka Cole, from Wildcats/Wildstorm/Stormwatch. And he's trying to solve what happened, who shot his friend, and by the time you get to the ending of it, it all makes sense but it doesn't grab or suck you in just yet.
Then we get to the main story which is 24 issues in total. Carver is the undercover agent sent to dismantle this terrorist organization but it gets messy quick. His lead, who's one of the only people who knows he's undercover, is the one shot by Grifter in the first story and sent into a coma. This leads Carver into trying to figure out his exist plan but things keep getting worse and worse when every single plan he has gets more complicated by death, betrayal, and covering up his own tracks. Leading him deeper and deeper into the very organization he's meant to take down.
I should expect no less from this team. Brubaker puts in some of the cleanest and best dialogue out there, especially for the thriller setting. Then you get the art from Sean Phillips who knocks it out of the PARK. The designs, the shadows, the overall feel of the tone of this book is all thanks to Phillips excellent work. Anytime I read a story in this type of setting all I can think of is no one is topping these two.
A truly remarkable, dark, twisted, fucked up adventure that I will no doubt revisit down the line. Very few Omnibus get a 5 out of 5 for me, but this wonderful title deserves it and is a MUST buy for fans of this genre or anything from Brubaker and Phillips. A 5 out of 5.
October 13, 2024
The Omnibus starts with the mini-series Point Blank, which I actually didn't like that much. The art work made the story hard to follow. But the actual Sleeper storyline by Brubaker and Phillips is great. It has their usual forte of sex and violence, but unlike some of their other collaborations (Criminal & Fatale), the characters of this world have super powers, which makes for some cool action scenes. The spy-genre thriller element makes for some good plot twists, and keeps the story interesting. I came into Brubaker and Phillips via Incognito, and this is similar to that. Even with the characters switching between being on the good side and bad. I love Criminal for the realism it has, but sometimes you just want to see Sean Phillips draw people zaaping each other.
This just further cements the pair as my favourite partnership in comics.
This just further cements the pair as my favourite partnership in comics.
September 26, 2015
You know those really dark bitter beers? That's what this story reminded me of. The main character is an operative of the good guys intel agency infiltrating the bad guys similar organization. Only one person knows he is undercover. The rest of the world thinks he has actually gone rogue. Then the one person that knows he still really a good guy is shot in the head. The plot puts the main character in what appears to be an impossible situation. The good guys want him dead and if he runs from the bad guys they will want to kill him as well.
The book contains all the nasty terrible elements you would expect from people that live on the knife edge of life killing and taking what they want for a powerful organization. It's a very dark story. Cunningly told but I won't promise you'll like how it all shakes out.
The book contains all the nasty terrible elements you would expect from people that live on the knife edge of life killing and taking what they want for a powerful organization. It's a very dark story. Cunningly told but I won't promise you'll like how it all shakes out.
October 13, 2013
WOW!
I've read my fair share of super-hero comics (I should, I been doing it for over 40 years), and I've pretty much read just about everything written as noir-comics... though I do get a surprise now and then.
If anyone had asked me can the two mix? Heck, had anyone one asked me if mixing the two had ever been done. I probably would have said a couple of times, but without all that much success. Somehow the super-heroic side of the story would tend to stand out and the noir part would simply be there for a varying 'new' method to tell the super-hero part.
Then I got my hands on the fist trade paperback of Sleeper.
WOW!
Then after some research into wanting to buy the second trade, I found that it was all available as one big-arsed Omnibus!
WOW!
So yeah, I bought the Omnibus, and boy are my arms sore... oh wait, that's not the way that joke works, but the Omnibus is really heavy... and the story and art?
WOW!
I've read my fair share of super-hero comics (I should, I been doing it for over 40 years), and I've pretty much read just about everything written as noir-comics... though I do get a surprise now and then.
If anyone had asked me can the two mix? Heck, had anyone one asked me if mixing the two had ever been done. I probably would have said a couple of times, but without all that much success. Somehow the super-heroic side of the story would tend to stand out and the noir part would simply be there for a varying 'new' method to tell the super-hero part.
Then I got my hands on the fist trade paperback of Sleeper.
WOW!
Then after some research into wanting to buy the second trade, I found that it was all available as one big-arsed Omnibus!
WOW!
So yeah, I bought the Omnibus, and boy are my arms sore... oh wait, that's not the way that joke works, but the Omnibus is really heavy... and the story and art?
WOW!
February 24, 2015
Quick thoughts: Absolutely fantastic noir super powered spy mind bender. Dark and harsh to great effect, Carver's largely hopeless undercover mission amid the expert game masters he's trying to stay ahead of is layered and compelling from start to finish.
August 18, 2017
4.5 stars.
A truly satisfying read. Brubaker never diappoints. Overall, a few minor quibbles, but can't at all see giving this a 4-star rating.
A truly satisfying read. Brubaker never diappoints. Overall, a few minor quibbles, but can't at all see giving this a 4-star rating.
August 21, 2025
Ed Brubaker is easily one of my favorite comic book writers and these days, he’s considered arguably the best crime writer in comic books, and I find him consistently great. So it was fascinating reading this early series by him, which I also believe is his first collaboration with his longtime partner, artist Sean Phillips.
The book is a really dark and thrilling espionage spy thriller with the added twist of being set in a world of superpowered humans. It is technically a “superhero” book, but will probably feel way more grounded than anything you’ve read that features metahumans. The powers here are really creative as well, whether it’s our main character’s ability to never feel pain but being able to transfer that same pain to others, or our femme fatale who needs to constantly do immoral things in order to literally stay healthy. There’s no glamour and fun with any of these powers. They’re all portrayed as a curse for our characters, something that they have to live with.
The really impressive element here though is the thriller aspect. Brubaker crafts a thrilling spy drama filled with double and quadruple crosses, and the most deep cover of all the deep cover stories I’ve seen, where even I as the reader was questioning whether our “hero” was still a good guy.
The book is a really dark and thrilling espionage spy thriller with the added twist of being set in a world of superpowered humans. It is technically a “superhero” book, but will probably feel way more grounded than anything you’ve read that features metahumans. The powers here are really creative as well, whether it’s our main character’s ability to never feel pain but being able to transfer that same pain to others, or our femme fatale who needs to constantly do immoral things in order to literally stay healthy. There’s no glamour and fun with any of these powers. They’re all portrayed as a curse for our characters, something that they have to live with.
The really impressive element here though is the thriller aspect. Brubaker crafts a thrilling spy drama filled with double and quadruple crosses, and the most deep cover of all the deep cover stories I’ve seen, where even I as the reader was questioning whether our “hero” was still a good guy.
May 8, 2015
Random thoughts and comments (no spoilers)
First thing to know is that this takes place in the Wildstorm Universe, created by Jim Lee. I kind of remember a time when DC pushed the WSU into Vertigo and that's what threw me for a loop initially. You don't have to know a lot and the book explains that little bit you need, mainly that a man named Lynch is head of a super spy organization known as IO (International Operations). Basically they are equivalent to Nick Fury and SHIELD, which brings up another idea of who could have played the characters if this was set in the Marvel Universe?
The art is fantastic, definitely has a noir-ish feel (since that's mostly what Brubaker likes to write.) The color scheme reminds me of his Captain America run, slightly drab, muted colors. Note that this is definitely a mature readers title complete with swearing, graphic violence, nudity and sex.
While there are super-heroes in it, this is a spy story. Think of it as that genre of edge-of-your seat thriller where you are never sure how the double-agent will get out of the mess they are in. How will they escape this deep cover? What explanation can he give to not blow his cover? And since this has to do with spies: who is telling the truth? Are they double-crossing me or are they just trying to look like they are double-crossing me? That sort of stuff.
The story really draws you in, getting to know the characters and about half-way through I went on a couple reading binges to try and get to the end to see what happened. Overall it's really well-done and worth a read.
First thing to know is that this takes place in the Wildstorm Universe, created by Jim Lee. I kind of remember a time when DC pushed the WSU into Vertigo and that's what threw me for a loop initially. You don't have to know a lot and the book explains that little bit you need, mainly that a man named Lynch is head of a super spy organization known as IO (International Operations). Basically they are equivalent to Nick Fury and SHIELD, which brings up another idea of who could have played the characters if this was set in the Marvel Universe?
The art is fantastic, definitely has a noir-ish feel (since that's mostly what Brubaker likes to write.) The color scheme reminds me of his Captain America run, slightly drab, muted colors. Note that this is definitely a mature readers title complete with swearing, graphic violence, nudity and sex.
While there are super-heroes in it, this is a spy story. Think of it as that genre of edge-of-your seat thriller where you are never sure how the double-agent will get out of the mess they are in. How will they escape this deep cover? What explanation can he give to not blow his cover? And since this has to do with spies: who is telling the truth? Are they double-crossing me or are they just trying to look like they are double-crossing me? That sort of stuff.
The story really draws you in, getting to know the characters and about half-way through I went on a couple reading binges to try and get to the end to see what happened. Overall it's really well-done and worth a read.
December 18, 2016
Took a concerted effort to finally finish, often felt repetitive and as if the story was not moving forward. This could obviously be because A) a massive omnibus changes the way the reader interacts with a story, the breaks you might ordinarily get when reading a 5 issue graphic novel arc and then waiting for the next one help to break up the repetition for example and/or B) the writer is trying to capture the purgatory nature of the protagonist and his mental state that verges on crumbling schizophrenia due to the nature of his assignment. Some interesting things are done with the undercover cop and Cold War spy genre tropes, and as you would expect from Brubaker and Phillips each scene is carefully crafted, visually interesting and well written but the inevitable horribly bleak noir conclusion that ties everything together does not feel like a big enough payoff for getting through almost 800 pages (I can't even imagine if anything would at this point either) leaving the impression that the parts are worth more than the whole.
July 6, 2022
Very Gotham-central in terms of it's place in Brubaker's work.
October 29, 2022
(Zero spoiler review) 4.5/5
My Boy Brubaker does it again. I've had the Sleeper sitting on my shelf for something like a year now, after purchasing it at considerable expense on the secondary market, which is the only place and the only price you'll pick up this book for, at the moment at least (reprint forthcoming soon... dammit). And like every other really good book I have sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, I was doing all within my power to not read it. Each time I read a few average books in a row, I knew all I had to do was pick up a Brubaker book and all the bad story blues would just fade out, pun intended. But seeing as how you can only read something for the first time once, I was admirably succeeding in keeping this little, all but guaranteed gem unread. But what the hell, it's Christmas, and I deserve it. And I do have a few other Brubaker books sitting there I haven't spoiled yet. Though for how long...
Whilst it took a little while to get going, I really wasn't a fan of the first five issues. Neither Brubaker's writing or Jim Lee's art were really clicking for me. All that changed once the book got going proper and Mr Sean Philips entered the scene, to smear his beautiful noir chops all over the pages. These two men really do make beautiful music together, and the rest of us get to sit back and admire the results.
Whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of the superhero aspect to this book, finding it unnecessary, or a little ham fisted at times, especially during the (pretty bad) origin stories. Though Ol Ed might have been writing them with tongue firmly in cheek, everything else was pretty much pure gold, and gave me one of the greatest characters to grace the pages of a comic book in Miss Misery. Never before has a Femme been so Fatale, pun intended. I obviously won't spoil anything about her, but hot damn! Whilst she worked amazingly as a secondary character in this story, and likely wouldn't quite come off the same way in her own spin off series, I would kill for some Jennifer Blood type Sleeper spin off starring this twisted and titillating little lady.
Slight gripes aside, this is yet more proof why Brubaker is the greatest writer still working in comics today. Or still performing at his peak anyway. A few of the old guard float in and out, although most are past their prime. Sleeper might not be my favourite Brubaker story. Hell, it might not even crack the top three, although the fact that its still fucking awesome just goes to show the strength of this man's back catalogue. Get the softcovers if you have to, just make sure you read it. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
My Boy Brubaker does it again. I've had the Sleeper sitting on my shelf for something like a year now, after purchasing it at considerable expense on the secondary market, which is the only place and the only price you'll pick up this book for, at the moment at least (reprint forthcoming soon... dammit). And like every other really good book I have sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, I was doing all within my power to not read it. Each time I read a few average books in a row, I knew all I had to do was pick up a Brubaker book and all the bad story blues would just fade out, pun intended. But seeing as how you can only read something for the first time once, I was admirably succeeding in keeping this little, all but guaranteed gem unread. But what the hell, it's Christmas, and I deserve it. And I do have a few other Brubaker books sitting there I haven't spoiled yet. Though for how long...
Whilst it took a little while to get going, I really wasn't a fan of the first five issues. Neither Brubaker's writing or Jim Lee's art were really clicking for me. All that changed once the book got going proper and Mr Sean Philips entered the scene, to smear his beautiful noir chops all over the pages. These two men really do make beautiful music together, and the rest of us get to sit back and admire the results.
Whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of the superhero aspect to this book, finding it unnecessary, or a little ham fisted at times, especially during the (pretty bad) origin stories. Though Ol Ed might have been writing them with tongue firmly in cheek, everything else was pretty much pure gold, and gave me one of the greatest characters to grace the pages of a comic book in Miss Misery. Never before has a Femme been so Fatale, pun intended. I obviously won't spoil anything about her, but hot damn! Whilst she worked amazingly as a secondary character in this story, and likely wouldn't quite come off the same way in her own spin off series, I would kill for some Jennifer Blood type Sleeper spin off starring this twisted and titillating little lady.
Slight gripes aside, this is yet more proof why Brubaker is the greatest writer still working in comics today. Or still performing at his peak anyway. A few of the old guard float in and out, although most are past their prime. Sleeper might not be my favourite Brubaker story. Hell, it might not even crack the top three, although the fact that its still fucking awesome just goes to show the strength of this man's back catalogue. Get the softcovers if you have to, just make sure you read it. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
May 19, 2024
A great story somewhat pulled down by all the weird super power stuff.great book but far from Brubaker/Phillip’s Best.I never got overly attached to any of these characters .So when they came to a conclusion didn’t really effect me one way or the other but still 4 stars for the awesome art,great story.just not amazing like we usually get from Brubaker and Phillips..but this was one of their first projects together,so I guess it makes sense ! 4/5
April 28, 2024
One of the strangest books to come out of WildStorm's experimental phase, and one of the best. Holden Carver is an undercover agent trapped among the enemy because the only man who can bring him in from the cold is in a coma... and that's just the beginning of his problems.
February 3, 2024
This book started off really strong from one of my favorite teams in comics. I was thoroughly enjoying the first half, but it just felt like it was dragging for the entire second half. I never cared about any of the characters because they are all unlikable. Ms misery is probably my favorite.
Overall I liked the premise. Double agent gets stuck undercover and can’t escape, but once a certain thing happens it just feels like an endless cat and mouse game that I didn’t care about.
Overall I enjoyed it for the most part, but won’t read again
Overall I liked the premise. Double agent gets stuck undercover and can’t escape, but once a certain thing happens it just feels like an endless cat and mouse game that I didn’t care about.
Overall I enjoyed it for the most part, but won’t read again
March 6, 2025
4.5/5 Stars
This came highly recommended and it certainly delivered. Having read Brubaker and Phillips' Pulp, I was eager to explore their other work. A dark, grimy spy thriller, Sleeper proved a captivating read. A good mix of twists and turns, complex characters, and plenty of intrigue, this was a winner!
This came highly recommended and it certainly delivered. Having read Brubaker and Phillips' Pulp, I was eager to explore their other work. A dark, grimy spy thriller, Sleeper proved a captivating read. A good mix of twists and turns, complex characters, and plenty of intrigue, this was a winner!
September 9, 2020
Why isn't this an HBO series yet?!!
January 18, 2021
5
Noir/Spies/superheroes.
Come to Daddy! - I will eat this up every day. Instantly became one of my favourites! 5 chicken nuggets!
Noir/Spies/superheroes.
Come to Daddy! - I will eat this up every day. Instantly became one of my favourites! 5 chicken nuggets!
April 27, 2016
Can I buy Ed Brubaker a house near my place,so that I can pick his brain for book ideas? (I am planning to start a Kickstarter project to fund this, feel free to donate :P) How can somebody be so good so consistently in crime noir setting? Even when he writes superhero stuff, still crime/espionage stories trickle in, and thank god for that. Unlike some other writers (here I am looking at you Mr. Bendis) Brubaker does not deviate from his strong suit while writing Superhero stories. In my opinion, Brubaker is the best crime noir comics writer there ever existed and one of the best in complete fiction writer list.
From the above rant anybody can understand that I am a huge Brubaker junkie, and I am quite unashamed about it. He has not disappointed me with his writing yet and Sleeper is not the book to buck that trend. So, let's talk about it. Sleeper is set in wildstorm universe, where super powered person exist. Our hero, and I am using that term pretty loosely (protagonist is probably a better word), Holden Carver himself have his own super power. He is planted inside a very dangerous terrorist organisation as a double agent by a government organisation. When we meet Carver, he is already inside the organisation for quite a some time and looking to get out. We follow him in his quest.
This omnibus starts with a prologue sort of story, Point Blank. This sets up the context and introduces all major players. This has a nice twist at the end, but nothing that an experience reader will not see a long way out. All in all a good story but nothing exceptional. Here, you have to remember one thing, Brubaker builds steam gradually. Do not expect break neck speed start, invest your time in the story and the payoff is always mind blowing. And surely it picks up and delivers in the second half.
Brubaker shows that the good and bad (!) in real world (yes, it reads as a real world story even if it has super powered people in it) is relative and as the story progresses one side mirrors the other in its actions very frequently. He shows the toll it takes on a human mind to live a double life. He compels the user to care about deeply flawed and villainous characters. That is where this story wins. It shows over and over that one man's god is another man's devil, that good and bad solely depends on the perspective/context (the only exception here I feel is Tao).
The art by Sean Phillips is his regular fair. He may be not a hugely talented artist but his art compliments the noir setting perfectly. His main strength is human emotions, he captures it so flawlessly. Almost the whole story takes place during nighttime and the dark colors compliment the mood of the story and help the reader understand the desperation of Carver.
Long story short, it is a great read which I would recommend to any Crime/espionage story lover. And if you are like me and are waiting on the fence deciding whether it is for you or not,stop wasting your time and read the book already. I am looking forward to a reread.
From the above rant anybody can understand that I am a huge Brubaker junkie, and I am quite unashamed about it. He has not disappointed me with his writing yet and Sleeper is not the book to buck that trend. So, let's talk about it. Sleeper is set in wildstorm universe, where super powered person exist. Our hero, and I am using that term pretty loosely (protagonist is probably a better word), Holden Carver himself have his own super power. He is planted inside a very dangerous terrorist organisation as a double agent by a government organisation. When we meet Carver, he is already inside the organisation for quite a some time and looking to get out. We follow him in his quest.
This omnibus starts with a prologue sort of story, Point Blank. This sets up the context and introduces all major players. This has a nice twist at the end, but nothing that an experience reader will not see a long way out. All in all a good story but nothing exceptional. Here, you have to remember one thing, Brubaker builds steam gradually. Do not expect break neck speed start, invest your time in the story and the payoff is always mind blowing. And surely it picks up and delivers in the second half.
Brubaker shows that the good and bad (!) in real world (yes, it reads as a real world story even if it has super powered people in it) is relative and as the story progresses one side mirrors the other in its actions very frequently. He shows the toll it takes on a human mind to live a double life. He compels the user to care about deeply flawed and villainous characters. That is where this story wins. It shows over and over that one man's god is another man's devil, that good and bad solely depends on the perspective/context (the only exception here I feel is Tao).
The art by Sean Phillips is his regular fair. He may be not a hugely talented artist but his art compliments the noir setting perfectly. His main strength is human emotions, he captures it so flawlessly. Almost the whole story takes place during nighttime and the dark colors compliment the mood of the story and help the reader understand the desperation of Carver.
Long story short, it is a great read which I would recommend to any Crime/espionage story lover. And if you are like me and are waiting on the fence deciding whether it is for you or not,stop wasting your time and read the book already. I am looking forward to a reread.
November 1, 2014
Warning: language, violence, and adult situations. But really a crime/spy book would have to have this. And it did. Not sure what I think of this series it was interesting and kept my attention for around 700 pages....so that is something
April 24, 2014
Is it bad that I kind of wish Tao would wipe my mind so that I could read this again for the first time?
March 28, 2024
4.5 stars.
One of Brubaker's best original works. Him and artist Sean Phillips go a long way as a team.
The story itself is somewhere between hard boiled and grimdark, purposefully provocative in the superpowers and dubious choices the characters make throughout the progression of the story. Most story beats thread the needle and keep the overall narrative strings untangled and believable, although my only gripe was the choice of cold logic (less entanglements is also a weakness) at most times over emotional plotpoints (an overall weakness of cynical-style worldbuilding).
Most of the emotional insight was via the double-to-triple agent protagonist Holden Carver, who experiences the terror of war games firsthand as a piece on the chessboard/the field. It is surprising that being stuck to mostly observing and experiencing didn't stretch to the repetitive, although to the story's credit Carver did act on its own in situations. Maybe just not as much reactive to the other character's decisions as I would have liked. Most of the deception was done via lies, which again fits with the mindgames theme but is passive by its nature. To achieve dynamic shifts in the actions of characters via asymmetric information is a high-end skill mastered by only some of the best storytellers.
A subversion of the Übermensch/superhuman was to give it by-proxy ethically wrong powers (a woman who stays healthy by doing anything morally wrong, or another who can suck the lifeforce only from gay people and ironically being gay herself) or at least something that by its appearance seems to take a side politically or polarize. The humor is dark, which makes a backdrop for the character who is torn to do bad to do good, slowly transforming to just do bad.
The core question is directly posed along the story by the chaotic evil antagonist/crime lord Tao and indirectly by his mirror image (or rather other end of the horseshoe) intelligence commander John Lynch: is morality only determined by the actions people make? (cue in 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'). What about infiltration? The theme also blends well with the questions on identity: who you think you are, who you seem to be from other people's perspectives, and how your temporary, long-term and ultimate actions shape these perceptions
The comic released in the early 2000s meshes multiple governmental conspiracy theories with action/spy thrillers, some tropes that were already born during the cold war era but have been amplified during our age of misinformation spaces. For the common reader it feels still fresh as if talks about the deepstate would have been speculated about only recently, although power behind power is an ageless conundrum as far as civilization goes.
By design the world and its characters are cynical, which in subtext is both a great satire of superhero comics and a way to catharhically process evil in the world. The reader probably feels the wrong every step of the way, only being met with temporary flashes of good or moral choices that often lead to them being crushed. Such is grimdark.
One of Brubaker's best original works. Him and artist Sean Phillips go a long way as a team.
The story itself is somewhere between hard boiled and grimdark, purposefully provocative in the superpowers and dubious choices the characters make throughout the progression of the story. Most story beats thread the needle and keep the overall narrative strings untangled and believable, although my only gripe was the choice of cold logic (less entanglements is also a weakness) at most times over emotional plotpoints (an overall weakness of cynical-style worldbuilding).
Most of the emotional insight was via the double-to-triple agent protagonist Holden Carver, who experiences the terror of war games firsthand as a piece on the chessboard/the field. It is surprising that being stuck to mostly observing and experiencing didn't stretch to the repetitive, although to the story's credit Carver did act on its own in situations. Maybe just not as much reactive to the other character's decisions as I would have liked. Most of the deception was done via lies, which again fits with the mindgames theme but is passive by its nature. To achieve dynamic shifts in the actions of characters via asymmetric information is a high-end skill mastered by only some of the best storytellers.
A subversion of the Übermensch/superhuman was to give it by-proxy ethically wrong powers (a woman who stays healthy by doing anything morally wrong, or another who can suck the lifeforce only from gay people and ironically being gay herself) or at least something that by its appearance seems to take a side politically or polarize. The humor is dark, which makes a backdrop for the character who is torn to do bad to do good, slowly transforming to just do bad.
The core question is directly posed along the story by the chaotic evil antagonist/crime lord Tao and indirectly by his mirror image (or rather other end of the horseshoe) intelligence commander John Lynch: is morality only determined by the actions people make? (cue in 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'). What about infiltration? The theme also blends well with the questions on identity: who you think you are, who you seem to be from other people's perspectives, and how your temporary, long-term and ultimate actions shape these perceptions
The comic released in the early 2000s meshes multiple governmental conspiracy theories with action/spy thrillers, some tropes that were already born during the cold war era but have been amplified during our age of misinformation spaces. For the common reader it feels still fresh as if talks about the deepstate would have been speculated about only recently, although power behind power is an ageless conundrum as far as civilization goes.
By design the world and its characters are cynical, which in subtext is both a great satire of superhero comics and a way to catharhically process evil in the world. The reader probably feels the wrong every step of the way, only being met with temporary flashes of good or moral choices that often lead to them being crushed. Such is grimdark.
November 11, 2023
I was late to the party for Ed Brubaker, I'll admit it. I didn't discover his writing until I bought the Civil War: Captain America trade paperback in 2007. I couldn't believe how good it was, and from there I picked up the Captain America By Ed Brubaker Omnibus and all subsequent Cap books, following him on Uncanny X-Men, later discovering Criminal and more. I was completely unaware of this title until this book was announced. It was like finding out that a band that you love actually had a few earlier albums available, and they were all being re-released in a gigantic box set with all of the trimmings.
Sleeper is a tale of secret operative parahumans involved in James Bond level cloak and dagger capers. Holden Carver is the star of the show, and he plays both sides...or are both sides that are playing him? I'm not telling you, because reviews that are essentially a synopsis and filled with spoilers suck, and you won't find any of that here, ever. Suffice it to say that is nary a dull moment in the 700-odd pages of this book.
Miss Misery is fascinating, and plays the role of lover and teammate to Carver. I kept thinking of the old Nazareth song off of the classic Hair Of The Dog album. Blackwolf cracks me up, especially the story of how he chose his name. Fans of 1970s comics should get a hearty chuckle out of that.
All ages reading this is most certainly not. Indeed, one could turn this book into a drinking game, doing a shot for each curse word or bullet fired. You would die of alcohol poisoning by the end of the book if you did this, but it might prove fun if done by story arc. Let me know how that turns out for you.
All of the ingredients that fans of Criminal and Fatale love are here, but the soup hasn't come to a boil yet. Instead of being great this merely really, really good. This would make a great stocking stuffer for the more discerning comic book fan on your Christmas shopping list...provided that the nails on your fireplace mantle can hold a stocking with a 5.2 pound book in it. (2.36 kilograms for readers in the non-English measuring system world outside of the United States, Liberia, and Burma).
Sleeper is a tale of secret operative parahumans involved in James Bond level cloak and dagger capers. Holden Carver is the star of the show, and he plays both sides...or are both sides that are playing him? I'm not telling you, because reviews that are essentially a synopsis and filled with spoilers suck, and you won't find any of that here, ever. Suffice it to say that is nary a dull moment in the 700-odd pages of this book.
Miss Misery is fascinating, and plays the role of lover and teammate to Carver. I kept thinking of the old Nazareth song off of the classic Hair Of The Dog album. Blackwolf cracks me up, especially the story of how he chose his name. Fans of 1970s comics should get a hearty chuckle out of that.
All ages reading this is most certainly not. Indeed, one could turn this book into a drinking game, doing a shot for each curse word or bullet fired. You would die of alcohol poisoning by the end of the book if you did this, but it might prove fun if done by story arc. Let me know how that turns out for you.
All of the ingredients that fans of Criminal and Fatale love are here, but the soup hasn't come to a boil yet. Instead of being great this merely really, really good. This would make a great stocking stuffer for the more discerning comic book fan on your Christmas shopping list...provided that the nails on your fireplace mantle can hold a stocking with a 5.2 pound book in it. (2.36 kilograms for readers in the non-English measuring system world outside of the United States, Liberia, and Burma).
February 25, 2023
Hacia tiempo que no me involucraba tan intensamente con un cómic moderno, creo que la última vez había sido con el genial Mr Miracle, de los cracks King y Gerads.
Sleeper es, en primera instancia, una nueva re definición del cómic de superhéroes, un thriller de espionaje cuya particularidad son los posthumanos, personas con habilidades especiales producto de experimentos u operaciones del gobierno.
Brubaker utiliza la primera persona (voz en off del protagonista, Carver) para avanzar una trama compleja y densa, pero en el buen sentido, con contenido y con personajes muy bien construidos, a partir de los cuales desarrolla distintas líneas argumentales.
Básicamente, Sleeper es una sucesión de intrigas, chantajes y traiciones, que hacen que la línea que separa el bien del mal, sea cada vez más difusa.
Phillips, que me parece un soberbio dibujante, recurre a un estilo realista noir y consigue plasmar perfectamente la atmósfera angustiante, sucia y opresiva que sobrevuela el ambiente. Mediante inusuales composiciones de página, cruzando y superponiendo viñetas, suma vértigo y tensión, que no interfieren con su gran capacidad narrativa.
Un aspecto que me sorprende, es la gran expresividad que muestran los rostros de sus personajes, independientemente del tamaño de la viñeta o del plano utilizado.
Sleeper presenta tantos homenajes” (películas, series, novelas) como influencias (películas, series, novelas) y atrapa desde la primera página. Se destaca, creo, por su original mezcla de géneros, una especie de cruce entre Mike Hammer, The Departed y The Boys.
IM PRES CIN DI BLE.
Sleeper es, en primera instancia, una nueva re definición del cómic de superhéroes, un thriller de espionaje cuya particularidad son los posthumanos, personas con habilidades especiales producto de experimentos u operaciones del gobierno.
Brubaker utiliza la primera persona (voz en off del protagonista, Carver) para avanzar una trama compleja y densa, pero en el buen sentido, con contenido y con personajes muy bien construidos, a partir de los cuales desarrolla distintas líneas argumentales.
Básicamente, Sleeper es una sucesión de intrigas, chantajes y traiciones, que hacen que la línea que separa el bien del mal, sea cada vez más difusa.
Phillips, que me parece un soberbio dibujante, recurre a un estilo realista noir y consigue plasmar perfectamente la atmósfera angustiante, sucia y opresiva que sobrevuela el ambiente. Mediante inusuales composiciones de página, cruzando y superponiendo viñetas, suma vértigo y tensión, que no interfieren con su gran capacidad narrativa.
Un aspecto que me sorprende, es la gran expresividad que muestran los rostros de sus personajes, independientemente del tamaño de la viñeta o del plano utilizado.
Sleeper presenta tantos homenajes” (películas, series, novelas) como influencias (películas, series, novelas) y atrapa desde la primera página. Se destaca, creo, por su original mezcla de géneros, una especie de cruce entre Mike Hammer, The Departed y The Boys.
IM PRES CIN DI BLE.
Read
March 30, 2024Gets better as it goes, and only a few moments came off as gratingly dated. The second half of Sleeper is really way more fun, finally letting itself have a sense of humor as the personal vendettas of its characters take over, but it still rarely had the emotionally striking moments I hoped for or find in similarly gritty genre works by authors like Ennis. Plus the twisted version of a love story at the heart of this never worked for me, despite Miss Misery and Carver’s relationship being conceptually interesting. I still can’t stand Brubaker’s noir captioning, and the best issue was the flashback story that had no captions at all. Sean Phillips and Colin Wilson do solid work here, with lots of good character acting, despite never really being my kinda artists, largely because of their repetitive layouts. And I get that it’s driven by the tone but I think that dark color palette hampers Phillips work.
March 21, 2025
Noir story with superhero spies and low levels of science fiction. Not one of Brubaker and Phillips' best.
The narrative, as befits any good spy one, has many twists and turns, rich in surprises and unexpected reveals. However, it often feels that this baroque structure is there purely for the purpose of being there, all these comings and goings doing little to advance the plot or to grow some character, at least in relation to the pagecount.
At some point you are being shown for the umpteenth time how complex are the mind games between the spymasters, while the main character goes again through the motions of losing someone he loves and questioning his aims.
The art and layout are above average, but don't reach the outstanding level that this pair has delivered in other works.
Sleeper is not terrible, it is decent, but I don't think I will be re-reading this in a long time.
The narrative, as befits any good spy one, has many twists and turns, rich in surprises and unexpected reveals. However, it often feels that this baroque structure is there purely for the purpose of being there, all these comings and goings doing little to advance the plot or to grow some character, at least in relation to the pagecount.
At some point you are being shown for the umpteenth time how complex are the mind games between the spymasters, while the main character goes again through the motions of losing someone he loves and questioning his aims.
The art and layout are above average, but don't reach the outstanding level that this pair has delivered in other works.
Sleeper is not terrible, it is decent, but I don't think I will be re-reading this in a long time.
January 16, 2024
All of the best things that made Wildstorm fun to read are here, turned up to the max and then filtered through Brubaker and Philips perfectly in-sync noir sensibilities. Glad to finally have a full collection of what is easily one of my favorite comics. When people talk about grim dark adult comics, the examples they bring to the table are usually dumb with an inability to actually tell a story or have real characters operating in that mode, instead it ends up being offensive bs where they can't even get around to telling a story that isn't more than smashing action figures together in blood packs. Here we've got a modern superhero noir that approaches things with an actual story to tell, a real consistent tone to set it in and real characters to tell it.
February 26, 2023
Długo zwlekałem z zabraniem się za Sleepera i żałuje, ponieważ Brubaker dostarczył wybitną historie. Znakomicie bawi się gatunkami, tworząc unikalne połączenie superhero, thrillera szpiegowskiego i klimatu noir. Co prawda Sean Phillips tworząc rysunki do Sleepera jeszcze się rozkręcał i raczej był przed swoim prime, natomiast trzeba przyznać, że idealnie pasuje do twórczości Brubakera. Mogę śmiało polecić każdemu. To rewelacyjny komiks, który praktycznie non stop trzyma w napięciu. Do tego znakomicie buduje główne postaci, przez co człowiek mocno angażuje się w ich losy i całą intrygę, a wiele sytuacji potrafi zagrać na emocjach czytelnika.
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