Listen, I'm not a violent man, but if you're not reading this book, there's a part of me that wants to smack you upside your head. Or maybe that's just me getting into the noir spirit of Sleeper. At any rate, we're very near the end of "season one" of this spy/crime thriller, and I'm left with the same uncertainty about what's going to happen as I've had since the beginning. That uncertainty, combined with absolutely perfect characterization and a deeply conflicted morality, makes Sleeper one of the absolute best books on the stands, month in and month out. Holden Carver, the lead spy, is in a whole different kind of trouble in this issue than the kind he's been in before, and I don't know how (or if) he's going to get out of it. But I'm counting the days until the next issue so I can see the answers.
Carver has had better days. He's imprisoned by someone who might be International Operations, the shadowy "good guys" that he's working undercover for but who don't know that and who are treating him as a traitorous terrorist. Though his powers make him physically tough and damn near unkillable, he can still be tortured, and he's still human enough to wish for some kind of way out. Does he tell the truth and hope someone believes him, even though he himself destroyed all the evidence? Is it IO holding him, or the criminal syndicate he works for, trying to trick him into 'fessing up to being the mole? Is there any way out of this undercover life, or did he just screw himself completely and forever? And what is it all for?
These are just a few of the questions raised in this issue of Sleeper, and more than the action or the terrific supporting characters or the truly wicked villain, it's these questions that make the book such a compelling read. Holden Carver is not a nice guy, and working for the super-hero equivalent of the CIA against the super-villain equivalent of the mob just makes him the lesser of two evils rather than a hero. And yet, I find myself wanting to root for him, because Brubaker has made him an intelligent guy, someone who questions the rightness of his actions, who tries to do what he feels is right and who is honestly trying to make the world a better place, even though he knows in his heart that such a thing might be beyond the grasp of any one person. His intelligence is a benefit to him in staying alive, but it's a detriment to his happiness, as he must willingly sacrifice just about everything for a mission that he's not even sure he still believes in.
It's not every artist who could make this kind of book, and especially this kind of issue, work. There's a lot of talking heads interrogation stuff, and a lot of the really meaty work takes place in the psychological realm that is depicted in the narration and dialogue. However, Sean Phillips does not disappoint on the art score, playing up the dingy nature of Holden's surroundings, the loneliness of his current situation and then the explosive action later on with equal skill. This is a dark, moody book, and that's as much a responsibility of the artist as it is the writer.
Really, though, that's all just continuation of the themes of the book, fascinating as they are. This issue, as with each issue of Sleeper, comes with several surprises, including a revelation about who knew what which throws into question some of the motivations and goals of the supporting cast and the big villain. Holden gets to play the tough guy in his interrogation, but we're privy to his thoughts, and we can see how much the torture is affecting him psychologically. Brubaker does not let his characters off the hook, and there's a sense in this issue that not only is Holden well and truly screwed in his current position, but even if he miraculously gets out of it, he's not much better off. Which, of course, leaves me dying to know what happens next.
