Sleeper #7 Wildstorm (DC) Comics Eye OF THe Storm(Mature) Writer: Ed Brubaker Pencils: Sean Phillips

Sleeper is one of those series that sucks you in. I bought the first couple issues as a "try it and see". By the third, I'm hooked. The set-up is that there is an undercover agent who works for one of the most secret government agencies out there going undercover in one of the most secret criminal agencies. He has attained a very high rank in his organization, and is believed to be a traitor to the government. One man knows the truth, that man has been put into a coma (see the Point Blank mini-series for details).

Since that point no one conscious and alive knows his secret, but now, in this issue, someone is using the old methods to contact him. He is being called to a meeting. After the first set of signals he goes, but stays away, unable to determine who the person is.

Second time he gets their picture and tries to determine who they are. He does, it is a long retired agent.

Third time he follows the guy back to his hotel and then meets with him. The guy tells him he's there to get him out, The End.....

Anyone who knows Brubaker, or especially "Sleeper" knows it isn't that simple. Yes, that tells the meat of the story, but where this book shines is characterization. The worries, the fears, the moves of resources, almost like chess, all these things keep you interested. Not to mention the sex with Ms. Misery. The fact that Agent Carver decides he has to use his rivals computer to do the facial recognition on his picture...

You may well get the feeling from what I've written in the previous paragraph that the devil is in the details and that reading this book is a LOT more than just the story above. You would be right. Brubaker manages to maintain a mood in Sleeper that is part 50's caper/spy movie and part everyday life so that you care about Agent Carver, and th people he interacts with. You even care about the bad guys you get to know, and their petty squabbles. Yes, I feel you get to know the characters through Brubaker's storytelling. I would try to explain further, but I'd just be selling the book short. GO GET A COPY.

The art work is phenomenal, as usual, feeling partly like a James Bond movie and partly like a half remembered dream. There isn't much actual action in this issue, but the tension is more than enough to make up for it. The characterization of known characters is spot on and new revelations about those characters we may not know that well yet is brilliant. In case you missed it above, GO GET A COPY!