Doesn’t Nick Fury want his flying car back?

Incognito ends with an abbreviated fight scene (if only Brubaker and Phillips had abbreviated the one in the third issue, when everything started to go bad) and no real resolution to any of the subplots. In fact, it introduces some kind of romance between protagonist Zach Overkill and Zoe Zeppelin. Tension. Romantic tension with the woman who thinks torturing helpless people is okay. And Overkill’s supposed to be a good guy now.

If Brubaker had run twelve issues with this one, he might be able to pull off this ending, with Overkill headed into the bright sky of an anti-hero crime fighting future or something, but he only ran six and he wasted three and a half of those with loose narrative.

There are some decent moments throughout, but some weak ones (the office girl slapping Overkill’s cheap).

A major disappointment.

Wow, did Mark Waid read Incognito before starting Incorruptible or what? I think Brubaker ought to say something–the underage girl villain sidekick is just too much.

That pithy opening, unfortunately, is the most enthusiasm I can get with this one. I could really care less at this point, so when Brubaker turns in an issue like this one, which reads like a summary of a real comic book, what’s the point in getting upset?

Whatever Brubaker had going on with Incognito for the first two issues is long gone here. He’s lost any sense of his protagonist–still well-written narration though, just not enough of it–as he skips from character to character. I think he’s going for memorable names and appearances just because he knows his writing isn’t establishing them on any other level.

It’s a weak series and it could have been strong; very, very disappointing.

Ok, so for whatever reason, I thought Zoe Zeppelin was black (or half-black) and so I was going to do another Tom Strong reference (since Zeppelin’s dad was the one who started the whole science-hero thing in the Incognito universe) and maybe even point out back in the good old (pre-Marvel exclusive) days, Brubaker did a Tom Strong story. I think I’ve decided his pre-Marvel days were his best. He’s really just not putting out the same level of stuff at Marvel.

This issue is another poorly paced, fast read. It’s a setup issue following a setup issue. It’s like Brubaker doesn’t want to have to do his rising action, he just wants to do some action scenes.

The superheroes in Incognito, by the way, are real shits, which he doesn’t explore here, unfortunately.

I’m just reading to get through at this point.

Great art, though.

I’ve read Incognito before so I know it eventually falls apart. I just didn’t remember where it started crumbling. Apparently, it’s this issue.

Instead of his delicately paced narrative, here Brubaker dedicates the majority of the issue to a superpowered fight scene in a mall. Then he brings in Zoe Zeppelin, a superhero (with a name straight out of Tom Strong, though I’m sure he got Zoe from Zoe Bell, who stars in his worthless motion picture writing debut, Angel of Death), for the cliffhanger. There’s about a page of setup for that cliffhanger, by the way; Zeppelin’s only mentioned in passing the previous issue.

There’s still a lot good about the issue. Brubaker’s first person narration for the protagonist is still rock solid (I think Brubaker’s only ever faltered on the first person narration once, on Criminal’s first arc) and Phillips doing superhero fight scenes is real cool.

But….

The way Brubaker weaves his plot and subplots (he uses a modified Levitz Paradigm) is beautiful. There’s so much nuance to it, little things being introduced, percolating gradually then rapidly (this issue introduces a Plot C and heats it to a Plot A, all while keeping other subplots cooking steadily). Brubaker’s “independent” work is so much nicer than his current mainstream output; he doesn’t have time to do his fourteen issue story arcs with only a Plot A and a Plot B (which is why I stopped reading his Daredevil, for example).

However. And there’s a serious however to Incognito. While the protagonist is some kind of cool, hip supervillain, all of the other ones seem like they are out of Tom Strong, like Brubaker didn’t just lift the science-hero and science-villain terminology from it, he took the somewhat goofy bad guys.

And they don’t fit in Incognito.

Am I supposed to think Tom Strong when I read the term science-villains? Brubaker’s take on a “realistic” superhuman villain is nice–well, he does have to do the whole history of this universe thing, which gets tiresome since every new superhero book has to get it established–because it’s not a metaphor for anything. His protagonist in Incognito isn’t a Superman stand-in or a Batman stand-in (or whatever the villainous equivalents would be), it’s just some guy and Brubaker’s telling a story about him.

There’s not a lot of superpowers on display here, instead Brubaker concentrates on a first act. Phillips, of course, does beautiful work, and his static action shots do well. But he captures the mediocrity of “normal” life so well, it’s like too much action would ruin it.

It occurs to me–Incognito is like a well-written Wanted. Intelligent instead of idiotic.

How did Marvel resist putting Obama on the cover of this issue?

It’s actually–besides the awful Luke Ross art, which is just terrible–a good issue of Captain America. Bucky and the Black Widow do their thing, Steve does his (showing up at the White House looking like an Ed McGuinness drawing).

There’s a nice fight scene with the two Captain Americas, the Black Widow and Mister Hyde. There’s some good dialogue between Bucky and the New Avengers and Steve and Sharon (she hasn’t apologized for shooting him I notice)–plus, Steve Rogers has sex. How’s do you like that one, Disney shareholders? Nookie, nookie.

But it’s all just a prelude to Siege, which seems lame. Is Steve going to become Nomad again? That one might be funny. Or U.S. Agent. I always liked that costume.

Or is there going to be a whole other big event summer 2012?

Almost.

Brubaker almost pulls it off.

Who drew the second to last pages? The War of the Worlds future pages? He had some problems but those problems were almost preferable. They had an unfinished, kind of indie feel–as indie as Marvel would get–which would have been something on a flagship title like this one.

But that art isn’t why Brubaker nearly succeeds. He nearly succeeds for a couple reasons. First, he paces this issue better. He resolves the previous issue’s cliffhanger but also has time to do some resolution to those events. The little things make all the difference.

Oh, the other reason. He calls back to his first issues of Captain America with Steve out on the roof, taking a breather. At his best, when dealing with Steve Rogers, Brubaker brings some humanity to the legend. Like he does here.

Too bad it’s too little, too late.

Seriously, an issue-long fight scene? A boring issue long fight scene on top of it? It’s like Brubaker doesn’t understand (or maybe just doesn’t care) you can’t rehash–or modernize–the old Marvel feel and draw out the fight scene. Something has to happen. Nothing happens here. It could have been done in about four pages. The only two people who matter, right now, are Bucky and the Red Skull–though I will admit it’s real creepy to see him in Cap’s body–because it’s where the issue cliffhangs.

It’s also where Brubaker’s going to have to make a decision.

Is Bucky his lead or is Steve his lead? Market forces and Hollywood seem to dictate the latter, but everything Brubaker has done on the series to date suggests the former. Tick tock, tick tock.

I’m really not looking forward to the last issue. It is going to disappoint.

And now I’m completely confused again. If Steve Rogers’s mind is unstuck in time, how come his body comes back at the end of this issue? If you’re going to use “Quantum Leap” science, at least do the reader the courtesy of giving the “Quantum Leap” explanation–it’s okay, no one thinks you’re original anyway (kind of like how Conway cribbed from The Wolf Man in some of his Werewolf by Night exposition).

It’s a terribly paced issue; Brubaker could have done this stuff in a quarter of the room. Even with the revelation from the past I figured he’d wait on more.

For some glorious return of a character (who everyone knew was coming back, so maybe he didn’t need a glorious return), Reborn’s underperforming on all levels.

The pleasure is supposed to be in the trip–from no Cap Steve to Cap Steve. Reborn’s got a major flat.