Marvel’s ICON line marches on, and so do the dynamic team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who are taking a five-month break from their acclaimed CRIMINAL to give us INCOGNITO.
What if you were an ex-super villain hiding out in Witness Protection… but all you could think about were the days when the rules didn’t apply to you? Could you stand the toil of an average life after years of leaving destruction in your wake? And what if you couldn’t stand it? What would you do then?
INCOGNITO – a twisted mash-up of noir and super-heroics – by best-selling creators Ed Brubaker (The Death of Captain America) and Sean Phillips(Marvel Zombies) with Val Staples on colors.
The duo have posted a preview of the five-issue series, and Brub blabs more to Newsarama:
Ed Brubaker: Incognito is a dark exploration into the nature of good, if that makes any sense. It’s about a completely amoral guy with super-powers forced to pretend he’s a normal law-abiding citizen, because he’s in Witness Protection, and how that shapes what he becomes. It’s also a brutal noir twist on the super-hero/super-villain genre that delves more into their roots in the pulps, and it’s going to be pretty over-the-top and action-packed.
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I don’t even need to read anything about this.
If Brubaker is writing it and Phillips is drawing it, I’m buying it, period.
Their SLEEPER and CRIMINAL have been two of the finest comics of recent years.
Brubaker is an excellent writer. Hope this one does well.
Damn. Why didn’t anyone else think of this? A SUPERVILLAIN in a WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM! Brilliant! Add some twisted humor, and it’ll be optioned in a heartbeat!
@Torsten
I believe one of the supporting characters in the DC Manhunter book is a supervillain henchman in witness protection.
Yes because Brubaker is clearly in the comic book industry to sell options on his intellectual properties, and this title has nothing to do with his ongoing (and astonishing) love affair with the crime noir genre
Im with Lawson, Criminal and Sleeper are fantastic and, after all, it would be ridiculous for me to cynically disregard this title and its creator before I at least read the first issue
Sounds cool!
However, I think that maybe the idea occurred to Brubaker after watching “The Incredibles”.
;)
Orreading “Living in Infamy”, about a number of supervillains confined to a small town in AZ.
Yeah, people living in Witness Protection isn’t a new idea, and there have been a few comics with supervillains in Wit Pro, but I don’t think any of them approached the story from the same angle we are.
I’m there…in a heartbeat!
Brubaker is tops, and I’m not sure people realize what a talent Phillips is.
Poor bastard … now he’s gotta stand in line, like everyone else ;)
Am I the only one distracted by the Comic Foundry typeface?
…Thought so.
Ideas are easy. Actual content is not. That’s why copyright law protects the articulated expression “on the page”. Patents protect ideas and they don’t give em to “creative works”. I’m sure Brubaker has had some little idea of this percolating in his mind for years, regardless of all the other works that use kind of the same hook.
Yes, LIVING IN INFAMY did in fact tackle the “villains in Witness Protection” concept back in 2005… But as its co-creator — and an old acquaintance of Ed’s — I look forward to his take and wish him all the best with it! I’m sure it’ll be great!
Best,
Benjamin Raab
Aintitcoolnews said about a book called LIVING IN INFAMY, every once in a while a comic comes along that makes you scratch your head and say “damn I wish I’d thought of that” apparently Brubaker did too.
Because Living in Infamy is about a super villian witness protection program.
http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=3353
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if things weren’t dealt with like they were the Second Coming.
My biggest complaint is the bloated tagline treatment everything gets like its the bloody Second Coming.