‘Slumber #1’ Review (Image Comics)
Written by Tyler Burton Smith | Art by Vanessa Cardinall | Published by Image Comics
Always found it quite ironic that when Image Comics was founded, its aim was to out-Marvel Marvel. Sure, there was the important issue of creators rights and giving people more creative freedom, but the main idea was to earn the money Marvel was earning and put more of it into the pockets of the writers and artists. it was always for me more a business decision than anything else. Then, somewhere along the way, Image became the place to go if you had a unique idea, a specific vision. Prior to that, Dark Horse Comics had been the go to place, but as they went all-in on licensing publishing, Image became the place to take new ideas. They still are. Image are easily the best publisher in terms of the range of genres and of creators, and I can almost guarantee that when I pick up a book I know nothing about, it’ll be great.
Which brings us to this book, Slumber issue 1.
I’ve deliberately come in cold on this one, I know nothing of the creators or the book itself, and I am going to test my theory. Let’s take a look.
We open, as every good indie book should, with a murder. Seems there has been a series of murders called the sleepwalker killings, in which the supposed murderer each time claims they were asleep when it happened. Seven murders, seven killers, seven people claiming innocence. All, however, used the same method of killing and left the same signature and symbol behind. Each murder left a message scrawled in blood on the wall, ‘I Seek the Dream Eater’. The detectives aren’t sure but think it makes reference to Stetson, a dream helper who claims she can make nightmares go away. Handy skill right there. Time to call her in. Or not. The Police don’t like admitting they need help at the best of times, so for now they decide to find and keep tabs on Stetson.
We get to do that as well, as we drop in on Stetson in the middle of helping a client. She enters her client’s bad dreams, in all their Technicolor glory, and helps eliminate the problem. Effective she is, if not subtle. Her repartee needs a little work too. What seems a typical job takes a slightly sinister turn when Stetson notices something odd. The same symbols found in the real-life murders are here too, and she seems to know who they relate to. Valkira, the shadow walker. Now we are getting somewhere. Try as she might, Stetson can’t get any of the dream beings to talk, and a hasty retreat has to be beat. They use a dream door, reminiscent of Monsters, Inc, to exit the dreamscape.
Stetson, it’s fair to say, has seen some things. Goblin kings, spider turkeys, zombie Beatles among other things. Valkira is clearly someone, or something, that is a big part of her past, and Stetson is eager to catch up with her. It won’t be too difficult to find her, she’s managed to ‘infect’ one of the detectives investigating the sleepwalker killings. In his mind he’s trying to fight back against Valkira, in reality he’s just committed the latest sleepwalker murder. I’m guessing now that phone call to Stetson won’t be too far away in the future. Especially as she seems to have a face now to go with the name.
This was an interesting blend of new ideas, of interesting premise and main character, of humour and horror, blended with some very familiar tropes. There was a bit of Monsters, Inc here, a little Nightmare on Elm Street there, a dash of the classic Eighties film Dreamscape. As a first issue this was a good scene setter, but I hope the originality of the concept isn’t overwhelmed by the bits it has borrowed from elsewhere. Stetson is an interesting main character, though I don’t actually ‘like’ her yet, and the supporting characters are still to be fleshed out. The art was a little loose for my personal taste, but the scrappy style suited the story, and lends itself to the dreamscapes well.
Although I think the book will take an issue or two to find its feet, this has a lot of promise, but the omens are good.
Sweet dreams.
