Incognito



A comic series by Ed Brubaker.

In a World where superheroes are based on the pulps rather than The Golden Age of Comic Books, Zack Andersen was born on the wrong side of the law. Eventually turning state's evidence, he sells out his villainous allies and goes into witness protection. However, he's still, well, a super-criminal, so some government scientists give him a medication which he must take to nullify his superpowers. Zack gets a job in an office, and that's the end of it.

Except...

Zack is bored out of his law-breaking mind. He turns to drugs to numb the pain, only to discover that they negate the effect of the medication. Zack can't go back to being a criminal, since his old pals will kill him if they find out he's still alive. Similarly, he can't stay a normal person, or he'll go all crazy-like. So he grabs a Domino Mask, puts on a leather jacket, and becomes a super-vigilante.

I mean, he's horrifically screwed up, but so are the rest of the heroes.

Meanwhile, his criminal fraternity realizes that someone with his powers is active. And then things get interesting...

A sequel miniseries, Incognito: Bad Influences, was released around late 2010/early 2011, detailing Zack


 * Bed Trick -  Disturbingly, it is never mentioned again.
 * Being Evil Sucks / Being Good Sucks - Zack gets the worst of both.
 * Captain Ersatz - Professor Zeppelin seems to be Doc Savage with the serial numbers filed off.
 * Meanwhile, Black Death's original nemesis, Lazarus, wouldn't look out of place among the like of the Spider, the Shadow and the Green Lama
 * And the origin of Black Death will have any true geek shouting "Wold Newton!"
 * Ensemble Darkhorse - Ava Destruction.
 * Evil Twin
 * Les Yay: In-universe: Amanda's fascination with costumed folk started when she was taken hostage by Ava Destruction, at which time Ava made a pass at her.
 * Mad Scientist - Doctor Lester. Seems fond of saying, "We built you well." In fairness though, he did actually build/grow these people. He's just a jerk about pointing it out.
 * Meta Origin - the meteor that gave Black Death his powers created the first generation of supers. Everything else snowballed from there.
 * Modesty Bedsheet - Zack and in Bad Influences.
 * Raygun Gothic - seems to be SOS' preferred style.
 * And the Black Death's organization.
 * Shown Their Work - Each issue so far has included a short-but-sweet essay by Mister Jess Nevins on one pulp character, say people like Doc Savage, Fu Manchu...
 * Shout-Out - Zack Overkill's cover job as a file clerk is supposed to be a reference to Harvey Pekar in American Splendour. To paraphrase the writer said in an interview, "If you put a guy from superhero comics into witness protection, logically he'll go to the world of alternative comics, right?"
 * And Zack's jerk workmate's name is Phileas Farmer. Not Philip Farmer, but still...
 * Tyke Bomb - Ava Destruction, thanks to her Powers At A Price.

With the following specific to Bad Influences

 * ]
 * Modesty Bedsheet - Zack.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe -
 * Nietzsche Wannabe -