I had thought that Sleeper was going to be the story of an undercover agent inside a criminal organization, and had settled in for a bunch of stories along the lines of The Sopranos or Wiseguy. However, with the last issue and especially this one, Brubaker has served notice that he's thinking much bigger than that, and it turns out that Sleeper is as much a conspiracy story as it is a story of crime and espionage, and I'm getting that same feeling I got when I first started reading 100 Bullets, that this creative team has taken a good gimmick and turned it into a potentially great story.
I have to admit that the exploration of a secret society that rules the world is not the freshest thing in the world, and upon first reading, I was a little disappointed that the society and the way it works seems to be playing a much larger role in this book than I had first thought. However, as I read it again, I realized just how much potential there is in seeing such a society in stress, and what Brubaker has really done in this issue is set up Holden in an even more dangerous organization than the one he joined in the first place, as he has just gained even more enemies, and the allies he has are far from stable.
A lot of the strength of Sleeper comes down to the characterization, though, especially Brubaker's ability to make downright evil characters interesting and even sympathetic. Tao is about as close as you get to calculating pure evil in a morally nuanced book like Sleeper, but he still has a charm and style that is hard not to like, and Miss Misery's borderline psychotic behavior has both a strong grounding thanks to the revelation of her abilities last issue and a fascinating aspect to it as well. It's interesting that Holden, stuck undercover, is developing what seems like real relationships, whether it's friendly interaction with fellow mercs or very friendly interaction with a female counterpart. The trick is, it's not hard to see how Misery could hold such appeal for Holden, because he really is stuck in a place where he can't let anyone in to his real thoughts, and any comfort in that probably helps him get by.
Of course, Sleeper also draws strength from the artwork, and Sean Phillips is really on with this issue. The shifting beauty and grace of Miss Misery as she indulges her dark side is creepy but alluring, and I absolutely loved the way that the shadowy appearance of the meeting rooms highlights the shadowy nature of the manipulation that Tao is performing. There's also plenty of bite in the sex and violence, reminiscent of the work that Phillips did on Wildcats, and bringing a similar adult sensibility without resorting to the often adolescent sex and violence that can pass for mature readers style in comics. This is a truly mature read, an HBO original series in comic-book form, not just a book that uses cursing and nudity for shock value.
Only four issues in, Sleeper has developed rich and interesting characters and explored the surface of a fantastic gimmick, the undercover super-villain. Sophisticated characterization and complicated morals make for a challenging and interesting book, and I'm glad to see that these creators can serve up an intelligent read without losing some of the visceral appeal of action and sex at the same time.
