Sneak Peek: ‘Incognito’ #1
Marvel has provided us with preview pages to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ latest crime caper, Incognito.
The publisher describes the new series as a “twisted mash up of noir and super-heroics will leave your jaw on the floor! 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 is about a bad guy forced to pretend to be good, forced to take pills that make him feel normal, and to live in the world of the people who were like ants to him before,” Brubaker told Wired. “And while it begins very antihero, the arc of our main character is something very different. It’s about identity and morality on a few levels, as well as this twisted noir super-villain explodo fantasy. I described it earlier as a dark exploration into the nature of good. I think it explores some things about heroes and villains that we’ve never seen before in comics.”
Brubaker, who also writes the acclaimed Captain America and Daredevil, noted that it’s the portrayal of the villain that can make or break a story. “I think it’s always about finding the right angle into any character. Incognito began with me wanting to try something I hadn’t seen — the story of a bad man who begins doing good things, but for the wrong reason — and to see how that would affect his life and his view of himself. A huge super-villain revenge story unfolded around that, and this character began growing in my mind, and telling me who he was and why he was in Witness Protection. I think as long as you have a strong central character, that’s really the most important thing.”
Incognito #1 will be in stores January 2 rated for mature readers. The book will contain no advertising and retail for $3.50