Brubaker's story of an undercover operative in a vast super-villain organization continues this issue with a fairly big status quo change for the lead and a modern-day story that blends nicey with more exposition and backstory on how he got here in the first place. It's got the same dark and gritty feel that Brubaker has brought to Catwoman, with moody artwork by Sean Phillips, and they've really captured a sense of the hopelessness and moral uncertainty of undercover work, particularly when your boss is in a coma and can't pull you out.
One of the traps that Brubaker fell into with Point Blank, the lead-in to Sleeper, was that it was too grounded in the Wildstorm universe, and thus felt a little more impenetrable on first glance than it actually was by the end. That hasn't been a problem with Sleeper, as the characters are mostly new and the focus is on developing Carver, the lead, and the realities of Tao's organization, which he has infiltrated. So we get interesting tidbits like the unusual organization of Tao's group or the disgusting quirks of some of the more powerful members, not to mention a general sense of how dangerous it is to work for Tao.
What really impresses me is that only two issues in, I already really feel for Carver, despite his moral ambiguity and (let's face it) f'ed up head. Part of that is due to the first-person narration, so we're getting a de facto sympathetic view of Carver, but a lot of it is due to Brubaker and Phillips convincingly portraying the tough job he's doing, and how it's not just about busting the bad guys. Carver's friendship with Genocide is a solid and important bit, showing that while these guys may be criminals, they're not necessarily inhuman.
The plot of this one is fascinating, drawing the reader in as Brubaker parcels out the information, showing us a dead body and then going back in time to show us how it got that way and what the ramifications are, and at the end, we're left with not only a changed status quo but a solid little crime story besides. Though there are plenty of questions left, they're of the "what happens next" variety rather than the "what the hell just happened" variety that is all-too-common in new series these days, especially those that try to have a little ambiguity or darkness to them.
Phillips's artwork is perfect for the book, working on realistic clothing and characters rather than spandex numbers, and he brings a lot of life to the flashbacks in particular, showing some of the action-oriented tasks that Carver had in his past despite a general focus this issue on a more talky style. Once again, the colors are drab, a common failing of those who try to do dark and moody, but that's about the only area where I can see that the book needs any work. Otherwise, the creators are firing on all cylinders.
