Advance Review: Sleeping Beauties #1 (of 10)
It’s pretty hard to do an advance review of a comic based on an existing story; after all, anyone who has read the original novel by Stephen King and Owen King will have some idea about what is happening and /or what is going to happen in this latest maxi series from IDW.
The book is a tad topical; it features a strange sickness, a pandemic if you will, that starts of in one small place before moving across the world. The illness in question is a sleeping sickness that is only affecting women. In the small town of Dooling an equally strange woman, apparently not affected by the disease, steps from the woods in a devastatingly helpful kind of way and into the lives of some of characters that we will follow through the ten issues.
Adapted by Rio Youers, this book is a slow burner to be honest. The meandering first issue sets of the environments where the story will take place, along with a small cast of characters, some of which I am sure are only there to chew scenery. As its an adaptation (see the credits in the comic itself), it is difficult to comment on the writing; after all it is just the original transposed. Not having read the original novel, I can’t see what has been added or subtracted from the story. With that in mind, I will say that I found the first act of the comic to be intriguing, though this was diluted by the increase of characters, some of which are readily identifiable from countless other sources making the pacing seem slow. Yes, I understand that there is a mystery to invoke and agree that there has to be time spent on key characters to make the reader care about them; but at this point, this could be an episode of the X-Files! The dialogue flits between fun, spooky and procedural; it would interesting to see how much of the dialogue was taken from the book.
The art is supplied by Alison Sampson whose style matches the mystery, horror tones well. Her work reminds of Michael Gaydos in places, maybe without the photo realism elements that filtered in to his work on Black Hood. Sampson gets to create environments that look creepy; the woods are the prime example. There are others that inherit a sort off-kilter familiarity to them. The book has a lot dialogue to get through, especially as this is the introduction issue. Sampson does well to keep the inertia of movement flowing through some of the slower panels. Sampson is helped out immensely by colorist Triona Tree Farrell who uses unexpected schemes to set the mood and emphasise the darkness of Dooling throughout its various locations. The design and letters are provided by Christa Miesner who takes the bold step to invert the normal black font on white word balloon. It’s possibly a controversial way to go, especially given its constant usage in the book, which detracts from the uniqueness of the characters voices. Of course, the design could be a hint as to what is going on later in the book. Time will tell. Finally, its an IDW book so there are plenty of covers for you to choose from; cover A by Annie Wu is the winner for me!
I am truly on the fence with this book. My knee jerk reaction is that the book is plodding with style greatly outweighing substance. With the pacing issues of this book, and purely based on this issue, I am not sure how the story can support ten issues. Still Stephen King is a big draw, with legions of fans who may get something more out this book, than I, the non-horror fan. I do think that this is going to be a series that you won’t be able to pick up midway and understand what is going on; therefore you may want to get on board before this sleepy train leaves the station.
Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 3.5 Stars
Written / Adapted by; Rio Youers
Art by; Alison Sampson
Colors by; Triona Tree Farrell
Design & Letters by; Christa Miesner
Published by; IDW Publishing
Sleeping Beauties #1 will hit LCBS on 24th JuneÂ
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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