Incognito

Incognito by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips collects issues 1 through 6 of Incognito. 176 pages.

I am a big fan of Ed Brubaker. I love Sleeper, I love his Captain America, his Daredevil and the issues of Criminal I have read. Therefore, I had to buy this the instant it came out. Incognito has a similar feel to Criminal and Sleeper, which it is not surprising as all three are crime fiction and all three have the same duo writing and illustrating.

Incognito is the story of a super villain that is now in protective custody because he testified in court against a bigger fish. His powers are controlled by medicine. He realizes he can counter the effects of the medicine by getting high. He gets his powers back, but not wanting anybody to figure it out, he now uses his powers to stop thieves instead of for crime, as the only reason he does that is for the thrill. For three years he had lost his motivation to live and now it was all back.

As usual with Brubaker, the story gets better as it goes along. The twists keep coming and the story just flows perfectly, thanks to the great art provided by Phillips. I had always known that Phillips was the perfect noir artist, but since I hadn't seen his covers before, I didn't know he was capable of making such beautiful covers. The covers of the Incognito series are mesmerizing, I want one of those as a poster.

I like that the book incorporates ideas from pulp fiction (not the movie, but actual pulp fiction from the 30s), being inspired by those heroes and thrusting them into a great noir story.

Brubaker and Phillips are a perfect team and anything they will write, I will read. Check this book out.