Ed Brubaker

This really isn't an Ed Brubaker fan club blog, but I am struck at just how good his stuff is. I had jumped into Criminal when I was still living in Vancouver, but Theo at Unreal City has been great at helping me along with my Brubaker reading. Aside from Incognito, which is still coming out in single issues, Theo turned me onto Brubaker's run on Captain America and his own series, Sleeper.
I was always more of a DC kid back in my childhood, but sometimes Marvel managed to break through. Captain America was one of those characters who could be pretty bland if done in the typical way you would expect, or pretty damned interesting if handled well. Brubaker handles the character of Captain America well. I am reading the "Winter Soldier" storyline and really getting into it. Theo has also directed me to Brubaker's take on Daredevil - behind bars with his identity revealed.
Sleeper is set in DC's Wildstorm Universe. It is about a man who's power is that he cannot feel pain, but he stores the information and can conduct it to any person he touches. He is a double agent working for a secret organisation and trying to come in from the cold. I am always struck by how compelling Brubaker's characters are and just how much depth there is to his work. Both he and Frank Miller are passionate about pulp literature, yet I would say that Brubaker is the better writer and achieves more depth. I guess I find that his work has more resonance for me.
If you are not opposed to to reading comics, check out Brubaker's work. (NOT for the kids, by the way) Sam Raimi and Tom Cruise are both interested in purchasing the rights to Sleeper, if you are interested. This would be the fifth attempt at bringing Sleeper to the screen.