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Sleeper #1-2
Sleeper: Season One
Holden Carver is 'the Conductor', a super-powered agent of the nameless global crime syndicate run by the terrifying Tao. Holden Carver is also an agent of global spy group International Operations, working in deep cover. But the only person who knows his secret is lying in a coma.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2009
16 people are currently reading
532 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,796 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 129 reviews
December 11, 2014
Damn...I hate when Jeff comes close to being right.
This book is flipping awesome...and he says it's being made into a movie. I do agree that I think it would be a better tv show. I would be glued to the sucker. It would have to go on one of the raunchier channels though..like Food Network or something.
You have this post-human guy Holden Carver..he is a conductor. You gotta read it to find out about that. He was with the good guys..then got planted with this weirdo named Tao, who likes to fuck with the powers that be.
This keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole book. The characters are interesting, You have Miss Misery-who gets sick if she isn't beating the crap out of someone, and Genocide who has skin that doesn't penetrate very easily so he is perfect as a smash bam serial killer.
There is lots of violence and sex in this book --so it ain't for the kiddies...but everyone else so needs it.
PS..Nanny Nanny Boo Boo at Jeff..I got the next episode to read!!
This book is flipping awesome...and he says it's being made into a movie. I do agree that I think it would be a better tv show. I would be glued to the sucker. It would have to go on one of the raunchier channels though..like Food Network or something.
You have this post-human guy Holden Carver..he is a conductor. You gotta read it to find out about that. He was with the good guys..then got planted with this weirdo named Tao, who likes to fuck with the powers that be.
This keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole book. The characters are interesting, You have Miss Misery-who gets sick if she isn't beating the crap out of someone, and Genocide who has skin that doesn't penetrate very easily so he is perfect as a smash bam serial killer.
There is lots of violence and sex in this book --so it ain't for the kiddies...but everyone else so needs it.
PS..Nanny Nanny Boo Boo at Jeff..I got the next episode to read!!
October 29, 2011
Easily….EAS-I-LY…in my top 5 ALL TIME FAVORITE graphic novels and as well written a story as I have ever seen in the genre. Ed Brubaker crushes this one and puts himself in a real horserace with Garth Ennis as my favorite writer of comics. Yes, I am a fan of this book and I intend to gush, so get suited up in your ponchos and galoshes cause it’s going to get wet around here.
Sleeper is just about perfect. A gritty, pitch-perfect blend of noir espionage thriller and hardboiled superhero action set in the seedy underbelly of the Wildstorm Universe. This is the same world populated by Warren Ellis’ Stormwatch and The Authority among others.
Brubaker channels himself some John LeCarre and filters the deep cover operative plot through a world of superhumans and global conspiracies. The prose, the art, the characters, the story, the action, the drama, the subtext…all outstanding.
Meet Holden Carver.
Carver is a grizzled, veteran intelligence operative who is sent deep, deep under cover to infiltrate a powerful criminal organization with global influence run by the superhumanly brilliant (and spooky as hell) mastermind named Tao.
Carver is a metahuman with about the best complement of powers I have come across. He’s completely impervious to pain and has a powerful “wolverine-like” healing ability. Holden hates his abilities as it keeps him detached and completely disconnected from the world. In addition (and best of all in my opinion), Carver can store all of the trauma and pain that he “doesn’t feel” and unleash it into others through skin contact. [Side Note: This completely reminded me of the very end of the movie The Crow when Brandon Lee sends 18 hours of his wife’s dying pain into the bad guy responsible…very cool].
The entire story arc (12 issues) contained in this volume concerns Carver slowly rising to the pinnacle of Tao’s organization, eventually becoming one of 3 “Prodigals” who sit just below Tao. In order to accomplish this meteoric rise, Carver is forced to do some pretty nasty things in order to maintain cover and impress Tao. Making matter much worse is the fact that the only person who knows that Carvel is not a “real” traitor is in a coma and may never recover.
Moving from worse to shitty, Carver has been “in character” for so long that he is beginning to question which side he is really on. Add to this that he has become buddies with a bullet-proof murderous thug named Genocide and fallen in love with a fellow Prodigal (the gorgeously nasty Miss Misery) and you have the making for high levels of awesomeness.
Among the myriad of things I found amazing about this series is how inventive Brubaker is in injecting the hardboiled sensibilities into the narrative, even when it comes to the special abilities of his characters. I don’t want to give away spoilers but both Miss Misery and Peter Grimm (the #1 Prodigal) have powers that are far removed from your standard super-strength or ray beams. They are scary as hell and match perfectly the personality of the characters. It is just wonderful.
Finally, I think the world of Sleeper is wonderfully drawn and very compelling. Again, I don’t want to give away major spoilers, but there is a global secret society at the heart of the story that will make lovers of conspiracy theories (Knights Templar, Freemasons, the Tri-lateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group) woot, skip and glee-out until they hurt themselves and lose consciousness.
I…um…know of what I write.
Hopefully, I have intrigued you enough to check this out because it is really spectacular. For fans of both comics and noir espionage, this is a must read.
5.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
Sleeper is just about perfect. A gritty, pitch-perfect blend of noir espionage thriller and hardboiled superhero action set in the seedy underbelly of the Wildstorm Universe. This is the same world populated by Warren Ellis’ Stormwatch and The Authority among others.
Brubaker channels himself some John LeCarre and filters the deep cover operative plot through a world of superhumans and global conspiracies. The prose, the art, the characters, the story, the action, the drama, the subtext…all outstanding.
Meet Holden Carver.
Carver is a grizzled, veteran intelligence operative who is sent deep, deep under cover to infiltrate a powerful criminal organization with global influence run by the superhumanly brilliant (and spooky as hell) mastermind named Tao.
Carver is a metahuman with about the best complement of powers I have come across. He’s completely impervious to pain and has a powerful “wolverine-like” healing ability. Holden hates his abilities as it keeps him detached and completely disconnected from the world. In addition (and best of all in my opinion), Carver can store all of the trauma and pain that he “doesn’t feel” and unleash it into others through skin contact. [Side Note: This completely reminded me of the very end of the movie The Crow when Brandon Lee sends 18 hours of his wife’s dying pain into the bad guy responsible…very cool].
The entire story arc (12 issues) contained in this volume concerns Carver slowly rising to the pinnacle of Tao’s organization, eventually becoming one of 3 “Prodigals” who sit just below Tao. In order to accomplish this meteoric rise, Carver is forced to do some pretty nasty things in order to maintain cover and impress Tao. Making matter much worse is the fact that the only person who knows that Carvel is not a “real” traitor is in a coma and may never recover.
Moving from worse to shitty, Carver has been “in character” for so long that he is beginning to question which side he is really on. Add to this that he has become buddies with a bullet-proof murderous thug named Genocide and fallen in love with a fellow Prodigal (the gorgeously nasty Miss Misery) and you have the making for high levels of awesomeness.
Among the myriad of things I found amazing about this series is how inventive Brubaker is in injecting the hardboiled sensibilities into the narrative, even when it comes to the special abilities of his characters. I don’t want to give away spoilers but both Miss Misery and Peter Grimm (the #1 Prodigal) have powers that are far removed from your standard super-strength or ray beams. They are scary as hell and match perfectly the personality of the characters. It is just wonderful.
Finally, I think the world of Sleeper is wonderfully drawn and very compelling. Again, I don’t want to give away major spoilers, but there is a global secret society at the heart of the story that will make lovers of conspiracy theories (Knights Templar, Freemasons, the Tri-lateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group) woot, skip and glee-out until they hurt themselves and lose consciousness.
I…um…know of what I write.
Hopefully, I have intrigued you enough to check this out because it is really spectacular. For fans of both comics and noir espionage, this is a must read.
5.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
June 3, 2019
While waiting for the individual issues of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ 2019 Criminal series to come out, I decided to go back and reread some of their earlier work, in part to see where they were ten years ago, but also, anything they do or did is better than most of the comics out there. I had recalled both not particularly liking the particular stew of superhero and noir I found in this volume, but that’s always been just a comparative issue for me, just because I prefer the straight noir they do in Criminal to their mash-ups. Though I of course do like the noir cast Brubaker gives to his superhero work such as Daredevil and Catwoman.
I gave this four stars when I first read it, and will again now. It’s a matter of taste, yeah, though also a matter of making distinctions between what is for me greatness vs. really, really good in their own work. I say this is the latter, though amazing in many, many ways, worthy of five stars compared to most comics, for the writing, the dialogue, the character studies, the art. With Brubaker it is never strictly about genre; it’s about character, and digging deeper into that.
This is the story of Holden Carver, a deep undercover operative for John Lynch and International Operatives. He’s on assignment with an organization run by the mysterious TAO. But Lynch is in a coma and nobody else knows he’s one of the “good” guys. Or is he? After awhile, Carver begins to wonder who he is. He kills lots of people undercover for a pretty bad guy.
The mash-up parts of it? Carver, like most people in this series, has a super-power; his central nervous system has been shut down, he heals quickly from any wounds he receives; he doesn’t feel pain. Brubaker’s basically a noir writer, but he loves him some goofy pulp, too. The people in super-villain Tao’s organization include people with typical comics villain names such as The Nihilist, Genocide, and Pit Bull. Oh, and another mash-up: Lynch falls in love with Ms. Misery, who is basically an unkillable femme fatale psychopathic nymphomaniac (oh, perfect, girls, another standard to live up to in order to conquer men! First it’s Barbie, and then Ms. Misery).
All this sounds like way escapist fun, adult comix sex and violent, I suppose, but really, I think this kind of playing around/invention isn’t fundamentally at the heart of any Brubaker story. It’s about morality and identity and politics (ever wonder who really runs the world, the “they” people always refer to? Tao has inside connections with them). And some great ideas: What do these folks in the Tao organization do in their free time, besides drink? They tell each other their origin stories! Ms. Misery’s is the most chilling, but they are all great, and this idea is so great, right?
This omnibus volume collects the first two (of four) of the original volumes. It’s really, really good.
I gave this four stars when I first read it, and will again now. It’s a matter of taste, yeah, though also a matter of making distinctions between what is for me greatness vs. really, really good in their own work. I say this is the latter, though amazing in many, many ways, worthy of five stars compared to most comics, for the writing, the dialogue, the character studies, the art. With Brubaker it is never strictly about genre; it’s about character, and digging deeper into that.
This is the story of Holden Carver, a deep undercover operative for John Lynch and International Operatives. He’s on assignment with an organization run by the mysterious TAO. But Lynch is in a coma and nobody else knows he’s one of the “good” guys. Or is he? After awhile, Carver begins to wonder who he is. He kills lots of people undercover for a pretty bad guy.
The mash-up parts of it? Carver, like most people in this series, has a super-power; his central nervous system has been shut down, he heals quickly from any wounds he receives; he doesn’t feel pain. Brubaker’s basically a noir writer, but he loves him some goofy pulp, too. The people in super-villain Tao’s organization include people with typical comics villain names such as The Nihilist, Genocide, and Pit Bull. Oh, and another mash-up: Lynch falls in love with Ms. Misery, who is basically an unkillable femme fatale psychopathic nymphomaniac (oh, perfect, girls, another standard to live up to in order to conquer men! First it’s Barbie, and then Ms. Misery).
All this sounds like way escapist fun, adult comix sex and violent, I suppose, but really, I think this kind of playing around/invention isn’t fundamentally at the heart of any Brubaker story. It’s about morality and identity and politics (ever wonder who really runs the world, the “they” people always refer to? Tao has inside connections with them). And some great ideas: What do these folks in the Tao organization do in their free time, besides drink? They tell each other their origin stories! Ms. Misery’s is the most chilling, but they are all great, and this idea is so great, right?
This omnibus volume collects the first two (of four) of the original volumes. It’s really, really good.
December 4, 2014
Misery. The Nihilist. Genocide. Pit Bull.
This is the augmented spy company, Holden Carver is currently keeping. Based on those names are they the good guys or the bad guys? Fortunately for the reader, Ed Brubaker has Carver afloat in a sea of gray. He’s a deep undercover operative for John Lynch and International Operatives and he’s currently embedded in an organization run by the mysterious TAO. The problem is Lynch is in a coma and nobody else knows he’s one of the “good” guys.
Brubaker creates a world of superheroes, powered up spies (Carver’s central nervous system has been “shut down”, he has a healing factor and any pain he feels can be weaponized and transferred to someone else) and effectively muddies the thin line between good and evil.
There are rumors this is going to made into a film. If done right it would probably make a better TV series.
This is a mature title so don’t leave it laying around for the kiddies to pick up.
This is the augmented spy company, Holden Carver is currently keeping. Based on those names are they the good guys or the bad guys? Fortunately for the reader, Ed Brubaker has Carver afloat in a sea of gray. He’s a deep undercover operative for John Lynch and International Operatives and he’s currently embedded in an organization run by the mysterious TAO. The problem is Lynch is in a coma and nobody else knows he’s one of the “good” guys.
Brubaker creates a world of superheroes, powered up spies (Carver’s central nervous system has been “shut down”, he has a healing factor and any pain he feels can be weaponized and transferred to someone else) and effectively muddies the thin line between good and evil.
There are rumors this is going to made into a film. If done right it would probably make a better TV series.
This is a mature title so don’t leave it laying around for the kiddies to pick up.
March 13, 2011
I’m surprised that other comic book writers haven’t forced some kind of Harrison Bergeron style handicaps on Ed Brubaker because at this point his high quality productivity is making them all look bad.
Sleeper is set in the universe of Wildstorm comics. Holden Carver is a covert government agent who got super powers by accident. He feels no pain from injuries, his body heals ultra-fast, and then he can deliver the damage he just took to someone else by touching them. Carver is recruited by Lynch of International Operations to pose as a bad guy and go undercover to penetrate an organization of super criminals led by the mastermind Tao.
Carver works his way through the ranks of thugs and has become a trusted henchmen to Tao, but his role has become confusing because Lynch was injured and is in a coma. With no one else knowing that he was undercover, Carver is considered an enemy by the government and forced to do increasingly nasty work for Tao to protect his true mission. But if all you do is pretend to be evil, doesn’t that eventually make you actually evil?
This is another great twist on the superhero concept by Brubaker. This plays out more like a spy story the a traditional hero comic with few costumes used, and Sean Phillips artwork creates the same kind of realistic brooding noir style atmosphere as the Criminal comics. Brubaker and Phillips continue to come up with some of the most entertaining comics around today.
Sleeper is set in the universe of Wildstorm comics. Holden Carver is a covert government agent who got super powers by accident. He feels no pain from injuries, his body heals ultra-fast, and then he can deliver the damage he just took to someone else by touching them. Carver is recruited by Lynch of International Operations to pose as a bad guy and go undercover to penetrate an organization of super criminals led by the mastermind Tao.
Carver works his way through the ranks of thugs and has become a trusted henchmen to Tao, but his role has become confusing because Lynch was injured and is in a coma. With no one else knowing that he was undercover, Carver is considered an enemy by the government and forced to do increasingly nasty work for Tao to protect his true mission. But if all you do is pretend to be evil, doesn’t that eventually make you actually evil?
This is another great twist on the superhero concept by Brubaker. This plays out more like a spy story the a traditional hero comic with few costumes used, and Sean Phillips artwork creates the same kind of realistic brooding noir style atmosphere as the Criminal comics. Brubaker and Phillips continue to come up with some of the most entertaining comics around today.
March 20, 2012
This is some of the finest work I have ever read within the medium of comic books, and I say that without any hint of hyperbole. The team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are putting out a consistent stream of excellence through their work. I mean, you can't get much better than this.
In Sleeper, we meet Agent Carver. Carver is injected as an undercover operative into a secret criminal group with it's fingers in all things political. As Carver ascends to a pretty prominent position within the company, he continously lowers himself to the criminal level just to keep his true identity hidden. The only problem is that Carver has been entangled within this organization for so long that he begins to question which side he's on.
If that's not interesting enough, I'll gladly inform you that Carver is a post-human (which by the way, is my favorite name for mutants or superheroes). Unable to feel any pain and heal himself at a rapid rate, Carver also contains the ability absorb pain and weaponize it by injecting it into an adversary. While that sounds pretty unique, he's surrounded by individuals with their own unique powers - one of which forces a vision of images from your deepest, darkest fears leaving you paralized.
Everything about this book kicks-ass. From the language, to the artwork, to the characters (Genocide is awesome!) - everything just operates on such a high level. Like Criminal, Vol. 1: Coward and like Incognito, Volume 1, the action and violence here is both swift and brutal. Once again - and I can't say this enough - Phillips vision is both stylistic and gritty.
Can I also mention that I love the idea of calling this "Season One"? Why isn't this done more often?
In Sleeper, we meet Agent Carver. Carver is injected as an undercover operative into a secret criminal group with it's fingers in all things political. As Carver ascends to a pretty prominent position within the company, he continously lowers himself to the criminal level just to keep his true identity hidden. The only problem is that Carver has been entangled within this organization for so long that he begins to question which side he's on.
If that's not interesting enough, I'll gladly inform you that Carver is a post-human (which by the way, is my favorite name for mutants or superheroes). Unable to feel any pain and heal himself at a rapid rate, Carver also contains the ability absorb pain and weaponize it by injecting it into an adversary. While that sounds pretty unique, he's surrounded by individuals with their own unique powers - one of which forces a vision of images from your deepest, darkest fears leaving you paralized.
Everything about this book kicks-ass. From the language, to the artwork, to the characters (Genocide is awesome!) - everything just operates on such a high level. Like Criminal, Vol. 1: Coward and like Incognito, Volume 1, the action and violence here is both swift and brutal. Once again - and I can't say this enough - Phillips vision is both stylistic and gritty.
Can I also mention that I love the idea of calling this "Season One"? Why isn't this done more often?
May 31, 2012
Noir-flavored, super-powered spy comic. Fantastic.
Carver is trapped, a double agent in a hyper-organized super-criminal organization. His contact, and the only person who knows that he's working undercover, is in a coma and may never wake up. He could never prove to the authorities that he's clean, and couldn't hope to escape his current employers without their help. And he's been in so long that he's starting to lose sight of who he was.
It's fantastic. Noir and superheroes really can work well together, and this is a prime example. I loved how the powers given reflect the setting, especially with the almost literal femme fatale, Miss Misery. Being good makes her sick, in a very literal sense, and it's only by being bad that she can stay healthy.
The storyline really takes Carver through the wringer. As well it should, because this shouldn't be easy for him. He goes on quite a journey here, and it doesn't seem to be looking up for him anytime soon. And because I found myself getting attached to him, it made for a pretty tense read in spots. And with a good cliffhanger that will have me reaching for season two soon.
Carver is trapped, a double agent in a hyper-organized super-criminal organization. His contact, and the only person who knows that he's working undercover, is in a coma and may never wake up. He could never prove to the authorities that he's clean, and couldn't hope to escape his current employers without their help. And he's been in so long that he's starting to lose sight of who he was.
It's fantastic. Noir and superheroes really can work well together, and this is a prime example. I loved how the powers given reflect the setting, especially with the almost literal femme fatale, Miss Misery. Being good makes her sick, in a very literal sense, and it's only by being bad that she can stay healthy.
The storyline really takes Carver through the wringer. As well it should, because this shouldn't be easy for him. He goes on quite a journey here, and it doesn't seem to be looking up for him anytime soon. And because I found myself getting attached to him, it made for a pretty tense read in spots. And with a good cliffhanger that will have me reaching for season two soon.
September 23, 2015
Super secret spy shit. Sex, violence, violent sex and a fun story. Tossing in special "post human" powers makes this a must read for crime fiction and comic book folks alike. On to Season Two!!!
And boobs.
And boobs.
May 6, 2020
Brubaker's first real big hit, the story of a sleeper agent whose handler is put in a coma, leaving him marooned deep undercover in the terrorist organisation run by Tao, the former superhero, now turned organised crime boss. A top cape-related crime noir by a top creative team. I read the digital comics Sleeper: Point Blank #1 to #5 and Sleeper #1 to #12. 7 out of 12.
December 6, 2016
Damn! I have to admit, it took a couple of issues for me to get into the groove of this one, but once that happened, I was hooked. Ready for Season 2!
August 14, 2018
I can see why this is such a highly regarded series. Although many of the characters in it have powers, it's not really a superhero series.
Holden Carver is deep undercover. He’s been tasked with infiltrating a criminal organization headed by the man known as Tao, set up to look like a traitor to his own country as cover. But the spymaster who assigned him ths mission, the only one he reports to, the sole individual who can extract him and clear his name, lies in a coma. And Tao seems to be growing suspicious. The back cover sums it up very nicely: “Can Holden evade detection by those who think he's an ally, avoid capture from those who believe he's a traitor and somehow survive with his soul intact?”
There's a lovely sense of paranoia to this book, heightened by Sean Phillips’ moody pages. Brubaker and Phillips work well together, as comics fans well know. The tension remains high throughout the book, and the final pages set a new direction going into Season Two, ending on a doozy of a cliffhanger. Recommended!
Holden Carver is deep undercover. He’s been tasked with infiltrating a criminal organization headed by the man known as Tao, set up to look like a traitor to his own country as cover. But the spymaster who assigned him ths mission, the only one he reports to, the sole individual who can extract him and clear his name, lies in a coma. And Tao seems to be growing suspicious. The back cover sums it up very nicely: “Can Holden evade detection by those who think he's an ally, avoid capture from those who believe he's a traitor and somehow survive with his soul intact?”
There's a lovely sense of paranoia to this book, heightened by Sean Phillips’ moody pages. Brubaker and Phillips work well together, as comics fans well know. The tension remains high throughout the book, and the final pages set a new direction going into Season Two, ending on a doozy of a cliffhanger. Recommended!
June 19, 2022
really had no idea what I was getting here because I was expecting more of Brubaker's realist noir and instead got a superpowered spy joint that started bonkers and descended into full-on trope-mania.
It's an old story. What happens when the only person who knows you're deep undercover slips into a coma? ... and you have superpowers where you can't feel any pain, but instead you can channel any pain you should have felt and use it to kill others? ... and you start an affair with a psychopathic superbiyotch who will die if she starts to develop real feelings for you? ... and your baddie boss has unlimited superpowers and controls the whole planet?
It's nuts. None of it makes any sense and now I desperately want to read the rest of the story.
It's an old story. What happens when the only person who knows you're deep undercover slips into a coma? ... and you have superpowers where you can't feel any pain, but instead you can channel any pain you should have felt and use it to kill others? ... and you start an affair with a psychopathic superbiyotch who will die if she starts to develop real feelings for you? ... and your baddie boss has unlimited superpowers and controls the whole planet?
It's nuts. None of it makes any sense and now I desperately want to read the rest of the story.
November 26, 2023
Noir spy games in a powers setting. Holden Carver is a deep-cover double agent in a global criminal/terror organization. His handler, the only person on Earth who knows that he's still one of the good guys, has just been shot in the head by a mystery assailant. Now trapped in a role he detests, Carver has no choice but to hurt, steal, and kill as he struggles to find a way out.
If it weren't for the existence of his stellar Criminal series, I'd call this Brubaker's crowning achievement. The plot construction is flawless, with flashbacks slotting perfectly in place. The 'origin stories' game played by the criminal rank and file is a clever, engaging way to frame what are essentially exposition dumps. Inset single-panel flashbacks provide elegant emphasis to Carver's ruminations about his plight and prospects. And Sean Phillips' shadowy, non-cartoony illustration complements the tense, dark storytelling perfectly.
This is one of the best short series I've ever read.
Plot points:
----------------------------
SECOND READ
Showing its age a little bit. The "secret world monarchy" isn't a monarchy, it's more plutarchy or oligarchy, and to have maintained absolute power for 5000 years I feel like they should be rather cannier than they are in Sleeper . (The Grail organization in Preacher had a similar problem.)
Still, Sleeper is a tonal masterpiece with stupendous illustration and keen motivational insight.
Brubaker and Phillips somehow take something as inherently silly as spandex-clad muscleheads and make it gritty and grounded in reality. Their 'post-humans' are basically celebrity cops, and they abuse their power as often as not, get drunk and high and laid, make mistakes, often embody the worst aspects of toxic masculinity. It's like Ennis but smarter and without the shock-jock impulses. (And I say that as someone who likes Ennis.)
If it weren't for the existence of his stellar Criminal series, I'd call this Brubaker's crowning achievement. The plot construction is flawless, with flashbacks slotting perfectly in place. The 'origin stories' game played by the criminal rank and file is a clever, engaging way to frame what are essentially exposition dumps. Inset single-panel flashbacks provide elegant emphasis to Carver's ruminations about his plight and prospects. And Sean Phillips' shadowy, non-cartoony illustration complements the tense, dark storytelling perfectly.
This is one of the best short series I've ever read.
Plot points:
----------------------------
SECOND READ
Showing its age a little bit. The "secret world monarchy" isn't a monarchy, it's more plutarchy or oligarchy, and to have maintained absolute power for 5000 years I feel like they should be rather cannier than they are in Sleeper . (The Grail organization in Preacher had a similar problem.)
Still, Sleeper is a tonal masterpiece with stupendous illustration and keen motivational insight.
Brubaker and Phillips somehow take something as inherently silly as spandex-clad muscleheads and make it gritty and grounded in reality. Their 'post-humans' are basically celebrity cops, and they abuse their power as often as not, get drunk and high and laid, make mistakes, often embody the worst aspects of toxic masculinity. It's like Ennis but smarter and without the shock-jock impulses. (And I say that as someone who likes Ennis.)
April 27, 2015
Cinco estrellitas es demasiado poco para semejante obra maestra...pero bueno, son los estándares de Goodreads.
Este comic que mezcla el género del espionaje con el mejor género negro cumplió todas y cada una de mis expectativas. Los personajes son interesantes, profundos, y cada uno tiene su historia que contar. Los diálogos son punzantes, nadie anda con demasiadas vueltas y las escenas de acción aparecen dibujadas rozando la perfección por Sean Phillips, que parece sentirse cómodo y en casa con los guiones de Ed Brubaker, y que sorpresivamente me parece un asno escribiendo superhéroes pero un maestro escribiendo obras propias de este tipo de género.
Mención especial para Tao, quizás el mejor villano que haya leído en mi vida de lector.
Sumamente adictiva, divertida e intrigante. Por suerte tengo el paperback de la Season 2 para ver como termina todo y, de paso, seguir viciando con estos grandes personajes.
Este comic que mezcla el género del espionaje con el mejor género negro cumplió todas y cada una de mis expectativas. Los personajes son interesantes, profundos, y cada uno tiene su historia que contar. Los diálogos son punzantes, nadie anda con demasiadas vueltas y las escenas de acción aparecen dibujadas rozando la perfección por Sean Phillips, que parece sentirse cómodo y en casa con los guiones de Ed Brubaker, y que sorpresivamente me parece un asno escribiendo superhéroes pero un maestro escribiendo obras propias de este tipo de género.
Mención especial para Tao, quizás el mejor villano que haya leído en mi vida de lector.
Sumamente adictiva, divertida e intrigante. Por suerte tengo el paperback de la Season 2 para ver como termina todo y, de paso, seguir viciando con estos grandes personajes.
March 25, 2012
Amazing.
December 9, 2021
Ed Brubaker might just be my favorite comic book writer out there.
Holden Carver is the 'Conductor.' He is also a spy. He's infiltrated the criminal underground and been in deep cover now for almost two years. He's beginning to lose himself, as bit by bit his contact with his handler is fading the closer he gets to the top. Tao, the criminal mastermind, doesn't seem to be suspicious yet - but others are. Others are, and things are getting hot.
Then the only person who knows Carver is undercover goes into a coma right as he's reaching the top.
Things aren't looking good for you, Carver.
Set in the Wildstorm universe, this is a riveting spy thriller. The characters are fascinating, and beautifully original. The dialogue is believable, laugh out loud funny, and sharp enough to cut you to the bone. The origin stories for this motely crew are harrowing. This is a book like no other, and I can't wait to read Season Two.
Thank you so much for the recommendation, Matt & Domi. I owe y'all one.
Holden Carver is the 'Conductor.' He is also a spy. He's infiltrated the criminal underground and been in deep cover now for almost two years. He's beginning to lose himself, as bit by bit his contact with his handler is fading the closer he gets to the top. Tao, the criminal mastermind, doesn't seem to be suspicious yet - but others are. Others are, and things are getting hot.
Then the only person who knows Carver is undercover goes into a coma right as he's reaching the top.
Things aren't looking good for you, Carver.
Set in the Wildstorm universe, this is a riveting spy thriller. The characters are fascinating, and beautifully original. The dialogue is believable, laugh out loud funny, and sharp enough to cut you to the bone. The origin stories for this motely crew are harrowing. This is a book like no other, and I can't wait to read Season Two.
Thank you so much for the recommendation, Matt & Domi. I owe y'all one.
April 25, 2017
great read reminds me of 100 bullets with super powers
January 23, 2020
The first two or three issues had me somewhat confused. I couldn't quite get a grip on the lead character and it turns out Brubaker isn't above that specific mid-2000s, Mark Millar-esque edgelord-style of writing that is not a right fit for him and frankly beneath his real talents. Luckily, this series quickly outgrows that aspect and becomes something truly bleak, jarring and most importantly, interesting.
I should never have doubted you, Brubaker.
I should never have doubted you, Brubaker.
February 5, 2025
Pretty good. Seems unique for its time but often copied today
April 19, 2023
3.9 biblio
December 28, 2021
(Zero spoiler review for the whole series) 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. 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, no doubt 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 of this book, finding it a unnecessary, 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 just yet more proof why Brubaker is the greatest writer still working in comics today. Or still performing at his peak, anyway. Aa 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. 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. 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, no doubt 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 of this book, finding it a unnecessary, 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 just yet more proof why Brubaker is the greatest writer still working in comics today. Or still performing at his peak, anyway. Aa 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. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
January 29, 2012
Sleeper is excellent. Picture a great spy thriller - at times as fast paced as Bourne Identity, and at times slow and intense (like one of LeCarre's novels - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold comes to mind), but always gripping. Then, add in a bunch of murderous, superpowered criminals.
The end concoction is addictive as hell.
Sleeper is a great examination of the dark side of the super world, and deals with the slow fall of a deep cover agent that finds himself stuck after his handler is incapacitated. Watching him deal with the horrible acts that he commits - and with the characters that he finds himself stuck with - is incredibly interesting.
Sean Phillips' noir-styled art fits the darker tone of the storyline well. I've loved the team's work on Criminal, and Sleeper is just as good.
The end concoction is addictive as hell.
Sleeper is a great examination of the dark side of the super world, and deals with the slow fall of a deep cover agent that finds himself stuck after his handler is incapacitated. Watching him deal with the horrible acts that he commits - and with the characters that he finds himself stuck with - is incredibly interesting.
Sean Phillips' noir-styled art fits the darker tone of the storyline well. I've loved the team's work on Criminal, and Sleeper is just as good.
May 21, 2017
A spy novel with super powers, this book is grim, gritty, and painful. Holden Carver is a double agent who can't feel much, an interesting reflection of the moral relativism explored by his actions over the course of the story.
Most of the powers in this story are interesting and well crafted in the way that they shape and are shaped by the characters. I especially liked the way certain characters take a moment to tell their origin stories in little flash backs that provide depth without distracting from the overarching plot.
That said, I found Tao's final motivations to be a little disappointing as a final culmination of all of Carver's painstaking investigation. In the end, possibly just because I didn't love Tao's reveal, this wound up being an excuse for lots of sex and violence in a comic held together by a few sort of interesting characters. Not exactly my cup of tea.
Most of the powers in this story are interesting and well crafted in the way that they shape and are shaped by the characters. I especially liked the way certain characters take a moment to tell their origin stories in little flash backs that provide depth without distracting from the overarching plot.
That said, I found Tao's final motivations to be a little disappointing as a final culmination of all of Carver's painstaking investigation. In the end, possibly just because I didn't love Tao's reveal, this wound up being an excuse for lots of sex and violence in a comic held together by a few sort of interesting characters. Not exactly my cup of tea.
January 29, 2010
I had already read "The Sleeper" vol 1 which reprinted the issues 1-6 in a single trade paperback. This "Season 1" contained chapters (issues) 1-12, so I re-read the first half (with pleasure) and finished the book just enjoying it more and more as it went. It just builds and builds. And Brubaker and Phillips work as well together as Plant and Page. This is an espionage thriller, where many of the characters just happen to have powers. What I mean by that is this is a smarter than usual take on the whole super-heroes and super-villians thing, but really it is more of a spy story. This is a lot of fun!
January 5, 2014
An early effort from the Brubaker/Phillips team, this is a slice of sleazy noir set in the darkest corner of a superhero universe. The protagonist is as doomed as it's possible to be, but his efforts to survive are constantly interesting, and the trope of the "origin story" is used to remarkable effect, especially in the climactic chapter. Worth finding and reading no matter what kind of comics you prefer.
July 21, 2019
Ed Brubaker is a fan favorite comic book writer I've never really gotten into. Like a lot of fans, I caught onto him in the pages of Captain America, during the creative run that saw Bucky Barnes return (which inspired a movie or two). Except the only part of that run I really enjoyed was Bucky's return, and as far as I was concerned, that was Ed Brubaker in a nutshell: a great idea, but the rest of it just sort of plays out. I don't think Sleeper is much different.
Sleeper, in fact, may have a lot in common with Watchmen. They're both sort of post-superhero tales. Sleeper takes place within the Wildstorm universe. Wildstorm originated within the early days of Image, when it was still a superhero company. Eventually it was bought by DC and lightly incorporated into the DC landscape (the biggest push for that was during the "New 52" era). In its later years of original independence, Wildtorm began to branch out into darker superhero comics, and that's where fans began to appreciate it most, thanks in large part to Warren Ellis and The Authority, which in a lot of ways inspired Marvel's later Ultimate line and by extension the MCU. But Sleeper, as Brubaker tends to write, is a crime comic, and as such follows villains around. Watchmen, it could be argued, isn't a superhero comic at all, but a story about a group of superheroes who kind of became villains somewhere along the way (with a few exceptions).
If it hadn't existed before Scorsese's The Departed (which was itself based on a movie called Infernal Affairs), I'd say Sleeper owes a huge debt to Marty. Instead I'd suggest it owes one to the TV show Alias. (Funny enough, but Brian Michael Bendis launched his Jessica Jones comic Alias, which is otherwise completely unrelated, the same month the TV show debuted.) In the show, CIA agent Sydney Bristow becomes a double agent within the international criminal organization SD-6. Now, it's hardly an original concept, considering the Cold War and all, but it's hard to believe Brubaker didn't have it in mind when he conceived Sleeper. But what made Alias so brilliant was that Sydney had friends on both sides. SD-6 wasn't made up exclusively of bad guys. But writers like Brubaker can't resist envisioning worlds like that.
So of course Sleeper is the kind of comic that earns its laurels by presenting a thoroughly compromised figure, in this case Holden Carver, the Conductor, recruited by familiar Wildstorm figure John Lynch (originally conceived as a Wildstorm counterpart to Nick Fury), who joins a rogue organization run by a villain named Tao (derived from comics Alan Moore had written). The later G.I. Joe Cobra comics written by Mike Costa (initially co-written with Christos Gage) began in similar fashion but branched widely and lucratively well beyond such strictures.
Since Watchmen, the way to present a complex superhero comic tends to mean the good guys look like bad guys, or the story literally follows bad guys, as in Sleeper, which hardly even features John Lynch, and the only familiar superhero, briefly seen, is Majestic. In fact, Sleeper, in these first twelve issues, effectively exists free from any real connection to the greater Wildstorm landscape. And that makes it kind of weird. It makes the good guys look like real chumps, in exactly the way Watchmen could only unfold the way it did with all the heroes being compromised or ineffectual. It's a superhero comic for a cynical age.
What made Brubaker's Captain America so disappointing for me was that Brubaker often seemed to have no idea what to do with, y'know, Captain America. He seemed most interested in the family dramas of the villains. Putting Bucky into the costume didn't change this, either. I realize in the grand scheme, Brubaker seems hardly interested in superheroes at all anyway, and that his many titles of crime comics affirms the assumption that crime comics are basically all he really wants to do. But this isn't going to appeal to everyone, especially when he makes no real effort to balance out the crime with good guys capable of confronting it. Again, a concept for a cynical age.
It would be exactly as if Matt Damon got that complete victory over Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed. Thank god that didn't happen. The second "season" collection has Lynch giving Carver a kind of happy ending, but the fact that Brubaker can't imagine a better one says everything left that needs to be said about how hopeful he is about the world. And I don't need to spend too much of my time reading stuff like this, thank you. You can get some of the feel of what Brubaker was going for in the current slate of Valiant comics, which is like Marvel's Ultimate line if it really did replace the original landscape, especially in the figure of Toyo Harada. But what makes Valiant so brilliant, at its best, is that it always keeps things in perspective. To make something like Sleeper work at all, you have to narrow the possibilities down to something that has nothing to do with anything else, by necessity. And then what do you really have? Just another Ed Brubaker crime comic. If you like that sort of thing. Sydney Bristow would make another spectacular escape from the likes of this. And it would be far more entertaining.
Sleeper, in fact, may have a lot in common with Watchmen. They're both sort of post-superhero tales. Sleeper takes place within the Wildstorm universe. Wildstorm originated within the early days of Image, when it was still a superhero company. Eventually it was bought by DC and lightly incorporated into the DC landscape (the biggest push for that was during the "New 52" era). In its later years of original independence, Wildtorm began to branch out into darker superhero comics, and that's where fans began to appreciate it most, thanks in large part to Warren Ellis and The Authority, which in a lot of ways inspired Marvel's later Ultimate line and by extension the MCU. But Sleeper, as Brubaker tends to write, is a crime comic, and as such follows villains around. Watchmen, it could be argued, isn't a superhero comic at all, but a story about a group of superheroes who kind of became villains somewhere along the way (with a few exceptions).
If it hadn't existed before Scorsese's The Departed (which was itself based on a movie called Infernal Affairs), I'd say Sleeper owes a huge debt to Marty. Instead I'd suggest it owes one to the TV show Alias. (Funny enough, but Brian Michael Bendis launched his Jessica Jones comic Alias, which is otherwise completely unrelated, the same month the TV show debuted.) In the show, CIA agent Sydney Bristow becomes a double agent within the international criminal organization SD-6. Now, it's hardly an original concept, considering the Cold War and all, but it's hard to believe Brubaker didn't have it in mind when he conceived Sleeper. But what made Alias so brilliant was that Sydney had friends on both sides. SD-6 wasn't made up exclusively of bad guys. But writers like Brubaker can't resist envisioning worlds like that.
So of course Sleeper is the kind of comic that earns its laurels by presenting a thoroughly compromised figure, in this case Holden Carver, the Conductor, recruited by familiar Wildstorm figure John Lynch (originally conceived as a Wildstorm counterpart to Nick Fury), who joins a rogue organization run by a villain named Tao (derived from comics Alan Moore had written). The later G.I. Joe Cobra comics written by Mike Costa (initially co-written with Christos Gage) began in similar fashion but branched widely and lucratively well beyond such strictures.
Since Watchmen, the way to present a complex superhero comic tends to mean the good guys look like bad guys, or the story literally follows bad guys, as in Sleeper, which hardly even features John Lynch, and the only familiar superhero, briefly seen, is Majestic. In fact, Sleeper, in these first twelve issues, effectively exists free from any real connection to the greater Wildstorm landscape. And that makes it kind of weird. It makes the good guys look like real chumps, in exactly the way Watchmen could only unfold the way it did with all the heroes being compromised or ineffectual. It's a superhero comic for a cynical age.
What made Brubaker's Captain America so disappointing for me was that Brubaker often seemed to have no idea what to do with, y'know, Captain America. He seemed most interested in the family dramas of the villains. Putting Bucky into the costume didn't change this, either. I realize in the grand scheme, Brubaker seems hardly interested in superheroes at all anyway, and that his many titles of crime comics affirms the assumption that crime comics are basically all he really wants to do. But this isn't going to appeal to everyone, especially when he makes no real effort to balance out the crime with good guys capable of confronting it. Again, a concept for a cynical age.
It would be exactly as if Matt Damon got that complete victory over Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed. Thank god that didn't happen. The second "season" collection has Lynch giving Carver a kind of happy ending, but the fact that Brubaker can't imagine a better one says everything left that needs to be said about how hopeful he is about the world. And I don't need to spend too much of my time reading stuff like this, thank you. You can get some of the feel of what Brubaker was going for in the current slate of Valiant comics, which is like Marvel's Ultimate line if it really did replace the original landscape, especially in the figure of Toyo Harada. But what makes Valiant so brilliant, at its best, is that it always keeps things in perspective. To make something like Sleeper work at all, you have to narrow the possibilities down to something that has nothing to do with anything else, by necessity. And then what do you really have? Just another Ed Brubaker crime comic. If you like that sort of thing. Sydney Bristow would make another spectacular escape from the likes of this. And it would be far more entertaining.
July 17, 2010
When you have to pretend you're a bad guy, how long does it take until you become one? Holden Carver is deep undercover, and has been so long that the lines start to blur.
It took me a while to get into this (simply because I wasn't in the right mood), but once I did I couldn't stop reading. It's really gripping and involving, and asks some good questions, with amazing art to match the mood.
It took me a while to get into this (simply because I wasn't in the right mood), but once I did I couldn't stop reading. It's really gripping and involving, and asks some good questions, with amazing art to match the mood.
July 3, 2014
Sleeper is an excellent spy novel that just happens to be a superhero comic. Agent Holden Carver went undercover to infiltrate a secret criminal organization. He wants to come out of the cold, but his handler, the only man who can clear his name, is in a coma. Will Holden manage to keep his cover until he can leave? Or will his new identity become his reality?
November 14, 2014
The artwork was lacking, but perhaps that was the point. Gritty crime comics are not my usual read, so the art direction was much different than what I'm used to ala Superboy, Batwoman, etc.
The story is intriguing and I would crack open the next issue if I had it on-hand. Though, I'm not quite sure where it's headed. Again, maybe that's the point.
The story is intriguing and I would crack open the next issue if I had it on-hand. Though, I'm not quite sure where it's headed. Again, maybe that's the point.
September 7, 2015
An intriguing mix of The Departed and superheroes. The protagonist is so deep under cover that the only person who knows he's actually a good guy is in a deep coma. The whole series is quite good. The villain is one of the most cunning villains in recent superhero fiction. Check it out if you can find it
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