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Continuing the theme of high-profile
imprints that haven't done terribly well, the Eye of the Storm
imprint continues with Sleeper.
Holden is a sleeper agent for covert
government organisation International Organisations, working
as a superpowered henchman for Tao. Since he hasn't been
called upon to do anything by IO, he's essentially been a
de facto supervillain for the last few years, and given
that he isn't too wild about IO either, his life isn't in
particularly great shape.
It's certainly a strong premise for a
series, and Brubaker makes the most of it with the opening
story, in which Holden is paired up with another of Tao's
agents, who's suspected of being a traitor. As with
Brubaker's miniseries Point Blank, although this is
billed as a superhero title, it's really more of an espionage
book. It plays to Brubaker's strengths in plotting and
characterisation.
On the other hand, Brubaker is all too keen
to make use of WildStorm continuity without really explaining
it. For example, despite the fact that the series is
premised on Holden being a sleeper agent within Tao's
organisation, we're never given any clear explanation of what
Tao's agenda is, and what his organisation actually does.
Is he a terrorist? A criminal? A zealot? I
really haven't a clue, and given that it's central to the
premise, I'd have appreciated some clearer explanation about
what Tao does.
It's not the most visual comic in the
world, either. Sean Phillips is a great artist, and the
panel layouts are certainly imaginative. But the
colouring... This book seems to subscribe to the view
that if you want to give your comic a moody, adult tone, you
should reach for the subdued palette. However, there's a
subdued palette, and then there's what we have here, which is
22 pages of Mostly Brown and Grey. It's just too
monotonously drab for a story which features a bar full of
superheroes in full costume, and ends with a four page
shootout
The concept and the characters have
promise, but god, turn on the damn lights.
Rating: B
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