Customer Reviews

Sleeper, Season 2

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(No Spoilers)

When I did my review of the Sleeper: Season One trade earlier this year, I had someone make a comment that it was nothing but a fan gush. I know I have a bias towards Wildstorm stuff but I still try to give all their WSU releases a fair review (and if you look back, you'll see there have been several that I didn't care for). But Sleeper as a series is more than gush-worthy. I'd go as far as to call it the "Watchmen" of Wildstorm. Only Wildcats 3.0 comes close to Sleeper as far as quality and overall story. When Brubaker did the Point Blank mini-series, it was clear he had the whole Sleeper arc planned out. Point Blank was a tease of things to come and Sleeper: Season One showed us a dark and dirty side to the WSU (thanks to the mature-rating). He made us care about Holden Carver's plight and made us root for him, even though his story is far from a happy one.

Another thing that I think people take for granted about this series is how Brubaker turned the character of Tao into a true villain. He'd already shown how intelligent he evil Tao could be. The tone Brubaker set for the character is still felt even in the recent World's End storyline where Tao plays a heavy part.

Lastly, this is also a great gateway book into the WSU. Since it can be read as a stand-alone, it allows the reader to decide whether to continue looking into the WSU afterwards or stop when this story ends. And speaking of endings, this one has a great ending which people still talk about as one of the best resolutions to a comic, regardless of how bitter-sweet it is. So if I've gushed again with this review, so be it. This series more than deserves it. I just hope the movie they're planning on doing will do this series justice and hopefully motivate a new generation of fans to go back and check it out.

This collects all of Season Two which includes issues 1-12(Originally collected in Sleeper-Book 3: A Crooked Line & Sleeper-Book 4: The Long Way Home). It also includes the prequel story from Coup d'Etat:Afterword, collected here for the first time.

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' groundbreaking Wildstorm imprint series "Sleeper" returns for its second `season' of twelve issues (proper comics terminology would label this a `volume', but that would conflict with the labelling of the original four trades that collect the series in six-issue chunks; `series' might have been a better alternative, but the infiltration of TV terms into comics continues). The first volume chronicled Holden Carver's descent from undercover agent to outright criminal (one thinks of Alan Moore's Moriarty, wondering whether he is a spy masquerading as a crimelord or vice versa). Volume two picks up from that and runs with it. Some spoilers follow.

There was a nominal bridge between the two volumes, "Coup D'Etat: Sleeper", part of a wider Wildstorm event that saw the superhero team The Authority take over the United States government; this story is best ignored, as this series works best in isolation, not yoked to the wider Wildstorm imprint, increasingly a creative dead-end (though Brubaker's own run on The Authority concurrent to this is recommended). It has minimal bearing on the story, which finds Holden now trying to adjust to being an unrepentant bad guy; (perhaps) unfortunately for him, his former handler, John Lynch, has woken up from a year-long coma, and he's now out to recover his most important agent and bring down the criminal mastermind Tao once and for all. The rest of the surviving cast of the first volume returns, most notably Holden's ex-wife Veronica, still an agent of the government and unwilling to believe Holden is wholly bad; and Gretchen (Miss Misery), Holden's current supervillain girlfriend.

There are some distinct changes in tone compared to the first volume. The extensive look at the "secret monarchy" and related conspiracy theory global power structures is gone (indeed, the sole mention is the brief return of the ex-ruler of Africa, who meets a bad end at Holden's hands). Instead, the focus is on a duelling match between two great chessmasters, Tao and Lynch, while Holden desperately grapples between them for a way out. Also complicating things is his increasing attachment to Miss Misery, his sociopathic (yet largely by biological necessity) love interest, and seemingly the only person he can really feel any empathy towards. Miss Misery is the series' breakout character, the one most likely to stick with the readers long after the series is over. She's a peculiarly warped character, and you're left to decide for yourself how much of who she is is a result of circumstances and to what extent she can now be separated from those circumstances (Holden, really, is the object of similar questions).

Brubaker and Phillips are one of the great comics teams of the 21st century, this being the first of a number of collaborations that has since included two series for Marvel's Icon imprint, "Criminal" and "Incognito" (the latter of which has a lot of similarities with "Sleeper"). Brubaker has since established his reputation at Marvel thanks to such gritty projects as "Captain America" and "Daredevil" - with "Sleeper" you see a much bleaker picture than he paints elsewhere in his more conventional works. His writing of the three-way battle of wills between Lynch, Tao, and Carver in nothing short of brilliant. The ending of the series is flawless: it's a bit of a downer in one respect, but, by the last few pages, it becomes bittersweet that Holden has in a way arrived at his fondest desire: to be out of the action.

Highly recommended.

last night around 1.30am i finished reading Sleeper, Season 2
when i took it to read several hours earlier i just could not put it down
i can safely say that it is one of the best comics i have ever read
Brubaker's story is great, with a number of twists, turns and surprises. it's moving forward all the time and it barely gives you time to take a deep breath before you plunge in it again
Phillips' art is also great. it is very consistent and makes Brubaker's story that much better

both Season 1 and 2 are must for a serious comic reader

Wow. What a trip. Being submerged into Sleeper's world is a dumbfounding experience. EVERY issue is a page-turner that leads you helplessly into the next. For the most part, Season 2 continues the brilliance of Season 1. However, Season 2 is imperfect in that it falls into cliches, the art is sometimes contrary to the written mood, and sadly, the ending is nearly substandard compared to the excellence of what's come before.

Season 2 starts off strong and continues the same for the majority of the book, but by issue 9 (of 12) the book begins to fall apart into itself in a negative way. All the triple-crossing coupled with Holden (our anti-hero, the protagonist) promising he has a plan to destroy his puppet masters begins to ware the story down when you begin fear there's no wait out ahead. The book carries a bittersweet Hollywood-ending that leaves you empty. It is good to see the book loop back around to its "prequel" (Point Blank), but as that book is less available, the end tail of Sleeper may even be less satisfying to someone who hasn't read it.

The only other gripe I have is about the art. I had always been a fan of Sean Phillips until I read this book. I believe there must've been a communication breakdown between him and Brubaker because there are too many inconsistencies with the art and the text [i.e. an unaffected Holden bolts from a tent in which his woman is screwing someone else, as he thinks "It doesn't even make me angry"]. Another annoying art discrepancy is the looks on the characters' faces. Lynch, Holden, and Tao, all emotionless men without conviction, are consistently drawn with grave, ill-fitted, sorrowful faces.

***SPOILERS FROM SEASON 1 AHEAD*** Season 2 of Sleeper is a book that Ed Brubaker was positioned into writing. His original vision for Sleeper ended ambiguously with Holden joining Tao. But the heads of Wildstorm wanted another series, so he wrote Lynch to wake from his coma, making room for a second series. To me, that explains Season 2's empty ending.

Get this if you're a fan of Season 1, just know that its greatness doesn't get as high.

writing: [7.5/10]
art: [6/10]

I just recently reread the whole Sleeper series and it was a very entertaining read. I usually don't like rereading books I've read before, but Sleeper is a complex story that can be enjoyed in multiple readings. In this particular book, we find Carver in an interesting situation as he seems to have decided to be a villain. However, his undercover handler, Lynch, is out of a coma, so he wants to use him to get him out. The story just gets better and better.

Brubaker does a great job of giving us cool stories here. Besides the main plot being very exciting and interesting, there are little gems here and there, such as a hilarious origin story for a villain that parodies Spider-man's origin story.

One thing I really like about this volume, is that we get to know a lot more about Tao. Tao is one of the most interesting villains I have seen. I always enjoy villains that are very intelligent, and Tao really seems like the most intelligent man on Earth. I enjoyed reading any time he was on a panel. Brubaker did a great job of writing intelligent dialogue for Tao. I am always amazed by how some writers can do a great job of doing this, while other writers fail at it.

The book gives an ending to the Sleeper series, and what an ending it is. I highly recommend this comic, comics like this are why I read comic books. Fantastic book.

second season of the sleeper. It ended the series with a bang. Highly recommend it.