By: Ed Brubaker (writer), Sean Phillips (art & letters) and Val Staples (colors)
The Story: Zack Overkill continues his dive into ethically troubling waters by playing a super-villain who went into witness protection and now is back undercover with the bad buys.
What’s Good: This comic just exudes pulp and noir goodness. Even on a page where not a whole lot is happening, Brubaker’s narration boxes make you feel like you’re watching some old pulpy movie with gangsters around every corner. It is a joy to read Zack’s deep dive back into the world of villainy and see how he is both enticed and disgusted by his old lifestyle.
This issue has lots of little goodies in it: the bar for super-villains (as distinct from a true “hideout”), well choreographed fight scenes, the always entertaining psychic interplay between the imprisoned alpha-villain Black Death and his attorney and even a seriously screwed up bloodfight between two children for the amusement of the villains. Just read it and enjoy.
Phillips does a great job of telling the story with his panels. I don’t think you ever look at a panel in Incognito and are confused about what is going on. The fight scenes are all well done and the action makes sense. His characters always have a lot of energy about them even if they are merely walking. And, again, I love the colors by Staples in this issue. He does such a good job of establishing the mood for a scene that it is easy to take for granted, but the real star from a coloring perspective is a psychedelic scene at the end where Staples gets to play with a lot of colors bright greens, pinks and yellows that wouldn’t ordinarily show up in Incognito.
What’s Not So Good: A couple of nagging problems. One is story related in that I’m a little confused about what is going on right now and where this issue leaves things. I do understand the basic theme of the series, but the specifics of precisely who some of these bad-guys are is escaping me. It is likely that I probably was tired when I read some previous issue and didn’t quite internalize a key plot point, but if a plot point is that fundamental, it should be readdressed. This issue also felt a little like “too much Act II”. As I get older and get my brain gets more information overloaded, I start to wish all comics would just flow from Act I directly into Act III because I almost never enjoy Act II. And, there is a certain amount of doing a comic book review on what is clearly a single chapter of a larger story, but hey, if you want to release it as single issues, that is how they are going to get reviewed.
I’m a tremendous fan of Phillips (never a good sign when a sentence begins that way), but I thought the art in the second half of this issue was much sharper than the first ~10 pages. None of it remotely is “bad”, but there are a few stray panels of Zoe Zepplin and Black Death that just aren’t as crisp as we’re used to seeing. Some of this is having high expectations…. I literally get excited to read Incognito and Criminal for Phillips’ art, so I get kinda bummed when I think even one panel looks kinda squirrelly. Perhaps that is unfair, but that’s just how it is. You will notice that it doesn’t affect the final grade too much.
Conclusion: I’m a little confused by a few plot elements, but the generally good writing and very good art pick this issue up. This is also very much an Act II story where nothing too huge will happen… I’m already ready for Act III.
Grade: B-
-Dean Stell
Follow Dean on Twitter.
Grade
Conclusion