Sleeper (Comic Book): Difference between revisions

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* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Supervillains often get groupies who are “young girls who need to be close to bad for a few hours at a time.”
* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Supervillains often get groupies who are “young girls who need to be close to bad for a few hours at a time.”
* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: Mostly made up of [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives.]] In TAO’s Backstory, he tracks them down and, disappointed with their venality, completely screws them over by becoming a [[Treacherous Advisor]].
* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: Mostly made up of [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives.]] In TAO’s Backstory, he tracks them down and, disappointed with their venality, completely screws them over by becoming a [[Treacherous Advisor]].
* [[A Party Also Known As an Orgy]]
* [[A Party - Also Known As an Orgy]]
* [[Bad Boss]]: Lynch and TAO
* [[Bad Boss]]: Lynch and TAO
* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: The [[Signs of Disrepair|Tird Street Arms]] and the Alter Ego, with such trappings as Hero-faced dartboards, masked strippers and portraits of “Old-School” villains like ''Dr. Mind'', ''The Undertaker'' and ''Hugo Lark'' on the walls.
* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: The [[Signs of Disrepair|Tird Street Arms]] and the Alter Ego, with such trappings as Hero-faced dartboards, masked strippers and portraits of “Old-School” villains like ''Dr. Mind'', ''The Undertaker'' and ''Hugo Lark'' on the walls.
* [[Bad Powers Bad People]]: Several characters but Miss Misery is especially notable. There is ‘’no’’ good way to use her particular talents.
* [[Bad Powers, Bad People]]: Several characters but Miss Misery is especially notable. There is ‘’no’’ good way to use her particular talents.
** There sort of is, but you have to convince her it’s a totally reprehensible thing to do.
** There sort of is, but you have to convince her it’s a totally reprehensible thing to do.
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Veronica St James and Miss Misery. In that order, actually.
* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Veronica St James and Miss Misery. In that order, actually.
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* [[Blessed With Suck]]: Miss Misery and Holden Carver
* [[Blessed With Suck]]: Miss Misery and Holden Carver
* [[Bullet Holes and Revelations]]
* [[Bullet Holes and Revelations]]
* [[Card Carrying Villain]]: Tao’s organization.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: Tao’s organization.
* [[Civvie Spandex]]: Villains will often wear [[Conspicuous Trenchcoat|jackets]] over their costumes when they aren’t on the job.
* [[Civvie Spandex]]: Villains will often wear [[Conspicuous Trenchcoat|jackets]] over their costumes when they aren’t on the job.
* [[Cloak and Dagger]]: International Operations/Internal Operations
* [[Cloak and Dagger]]: International Operations/Internal Operations
* [[Cluster F Bomb]]
* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]
* [[Continuity Nod]]: To the Wildstorm universe and more specifically [[Alan Moore|Moore’s]] run on [[Wild CATS]].
* [[Continuity Nod]]: To the Wildstorm universe and more specifically [[Alan Moore|Moore’s]] run on [[Wild CATS]].
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Impressively so, even by [[Wildstorm]] standards.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Impressively so, even by [[Wildstorm]] standards.
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* [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten]]: Turned on its head. The mission to get Tao is so important, Holden will do anything and everything to keep his cover, including mass murder. A lot of his character arc revolves around him reconciling how he deals with eating so many kittens and can still be considered a "good guy."
* [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten]]: Turned on its head. The mission to get Tao is so important, Holden will do anything and everything to keep his cover, including mass murder. A lot of his character arc revolves around him reconciling how he deals with eating so many kittens and can still be considered a "good guy."
* [[It Got Worse]]: Many times, notably for Carver when Lynch, the only one who knew he was really an undercover agent, was shot and put in a coma.
* [[It Got Worse]]: Many times, notably for Carver when Lynch, the only one who knew he was really an undercover agent, was shot and put in a coma.
* [[Laser Guided Amnesia]]: Part of Lynch and TAO’s power sets.
* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Part of Lynch and TAO’s power sets.
* [[Leave No Witnesses]]
* [[Leave No Witnesses]]
* {{spoiler|[[Luke You Are My Father]]: Lynch [[Its All My Fault|commissioned the experiment to create TAO]], so TAO refers to him as “Dad”.}}
* {{spoiler|[[Luke, You Are My Father]]: Lynch [[It's All My Fault|commissioned the experiment to create TAO]], so TAO refers to him as “Dad”.}}
* [[The Mentor]]: Lynch to Carver, although Holden would deny it.
* [[The Mentor]]: Lynch to Carver, although Holden would deny it.
* [[MacGuffin]]: TAO often sends his people on missions for meaningless things just to [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten|test their loyalty]]/[[It Amused Me|fuck with them]].
* [[MacGuffin]]: TAO often sends his people on missions for meaningless things just to [[If You're So Evil Eat This Kitten|test their loyalty]]/[[It Amused Me|fuck with them]].
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* [[Superpowered Mooks]]: Many henchmen on both sides are described as having “low level cybernetic enhancements” that [[Informed Ability|serve no purpose but to spark]] when the characters are hit.
* [[Superpowered Mooks]]: Many henchmen on both sides are described as having “low level cybernetic enhancements” that [[Informed Ability|serve no purpose but to spark]] when the characters are hit.
* [[Super Hero Origin|Origin Story]]:In-universe villains use it to kill time between missions, and it’s the done thing to tell your origin story in third-person.
* [[Super Hero Origin|Origin Story]]:In-universe villains use it to kill time between missions, and it’s the done thing to tell your origin story in third-person.
* [[This Is for Emphasis Bitch]]
* [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch]]
* [[This Page Will Self Destruct]]: And often the messenger, too.
* [[This Page Will Self Destruct]]: And often the messenger, too.
* [[Title Drop]]: The [[Vanity License Plate]] on Lynch’s [[Flying Car]] reads “[[SLEEPER 1]]”. The dialogue hilariously lampshades this, to boot.
* [[Title Drop]]: The [[Vanity License Plate]] on Lynch’s [[Flying Car]] reads “[[SLEEPER 1]]”. The dialogue hilariously lampshades this, to boot.

Revision as of 16:36, 8 January 2014

A comic book series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, set in the Wildstorm universe, combining Noir and superheroes. Originally introduced as 12-issue mini-series (March, 2003-March, 2004). It spawned the one-shot "Coup D'Etat: Sleeper" (April, 2004) and the sequel "Sleeper: Season 2". The later was another 12-issue series (August, 2004-July, 2005). Sleeper was preceded by a 5 issue miniseries called Point Blank that effectively acts as a prelude, so tropes present in Point Blank are discussed here.

Holden Carver used to be a black ops operative for the American government agency known as International Operations. When his late father was revealed to have been a traitor, Carver stole a retrieved alien artifact and went rogue, eventually joining a syndicate of super-powered criminals run by supervillain Tao (formerly of the Wild CATS).

Except that's not true. Carver unintentionally became bonded with the artifact while on a mission; he was recruited to infiltrate the syndicate by his mentor John Lynch. The preceding is just a cover story.

That is until a failed assassination attempt sent Lynch into a coma, and the cover story became, for all intent and purposes, reality. Carver then has to find his own way out while doing more and more questionable things to maintain his cover.

Has a character sheet.

Not to be confused with the Woody Allen film.

Tropes used

 Veronica: He's a terrorist, Holden. He's destabilized governments across the globe. He's killed innocent people, and God knows what he's done that we don't know about.

Carver: What kind of black ops do you think I did for I.O.? Destabilizing governments, killing innocent people and lots of stuff you really don't want to know about.

Veronica: That's not the same. With I.O. there's a greater purpose...

Carver: Is there? Or is it just covert imperialism? Dead children are still dead children at the end of the day, Veronica... they don't care about the reasons behind it.

 Holden: “I hate flying cars. I really do. They’re so super-spy.”

{{quote| “There was a hierarchy. TAO, of course, was at the top of the pyramid, and just under him were the Prodigals – his three closest agents. If anyone knew TAO’s motives, it was probably them. Beneath the Prodigals were the Torpedoes. Which is what I was, sort of a lieutenant in the organization. There were maybe 30 of us. In between missions we did as we pleased, answering only to the four people above us. Under the torpedoes were the Blackguards – Our soldiers. These guys[[Mooks followed orders and kept the peace among the rank and file.}} Higher level Blackguards, like the ones that caught me and Genocide red-handed, reported directly to TAO. And below them was everyone else – the Quislings. These guys were small-time post human crooks, some working just the odd mission here or there, and some eventually moving up the chain.” }}

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