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“Sleepless” #4

By | March 15th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

The tournament is over, which means it is time for feast! Stuck at separate ends of the room how will Poppy and Cyrenic survive the night?

Cover by Leila del Duca
Written by Sarah Vaughn
Illustrated by Leila del Duca
Colored by Alissa Sallah and Gabe Fischer
Lettered by Deron Bennett

After the tournament, Poppy and Cyrenic are pulled in different directions.

The fourth issue of “Sleepless” does what should be expected. It isn’t quite time for explosive revelations and Romantic Action just yet. Instead writer Sarah Vaughn and artist Leila del Duca correctly uses these pages to restage some of the series’ core themes with the after-tournament feast in Sir Cyrenic’s honor. If all this issue did was that, it would be an easy recommendation for those already reading. Yet, it does something more. A late revelation spurred a near instant rereading. Sarah Vaughn and Leila del Duca have managed to create an issue with a sequence that is entirely effective from two perspectives, which made for a surprisingly deeper reading experience.

The major sequence of this issue concerns the post-tournament feast. It’s the kind of sequence that at first seems antithetical to the series’ more subdued chamber piece approach. The creative team however turns the sequence into a form that fits the established formal ticks of the book while still coming off as a lively party. The main twist involves how artist Leila del Duca uses the heavy paneling to constantly shift perspective. Take the opening page of the feast, it is effectively a slow dolly in to the party, allowing it to be adequately setup as a space. Readers start from the outside and end on the perspective of Poppy’s fox-dog Bini. All the panels in between are how del Duca creates the impression of a lively party, by constantly checking in and out of various smaller parties before gracefully landing on Poppy. While this is a large group sequence, Poppy is still our eyes and ears as she feasts and converses with people. These pages have plenty of panels, but there is little friction as things glide along dropping in on people.

While the party hall is a contained space, del Duca smartly drops the background in several sections. Flat brick walls are annoying to draw and boring to look at, to spice things up colorist Alissa Sallah and Gabe Fischer drop in some moody pigments that slowly shift in color or del Duca inserts symbolic patterns. These do a good job of being visually interesting without distracting from the foreground. Letter Deron Bennett also continues to do a fantastic job building a sense of tone with subtle little shifts in how moments are lettered. The awkward tension between Poppy and the Princess would not be as pronounced without his ellipse.

Eventually, it’s time for a dance or, in this case, a walk around the room for Poppy and Lord Helder. This one-page walk feels like “Sleepless” in a nutshell. Lord Helder gives Poppy the O’ll prowrestling “gentle rib,” as he wonders if she secretly cursed the favor she gave him. This sequence is full of ambivalence on what to make of Helder’s statement. Del Duca makes it clear everything is from Poppy’s perspective, the major emotive beats all come from her with points of view meant to accentuate them. Poppy’s expression is always in the same register but never the same as she goes from shock to desperation and eventually side eyed concern. These choices lead to Helder being bisected or minimized by the paneling, ironically objectified in these moments. We see more of his grin and the multitudes it could mean than his actual face. This presentation helps to reinforce the sense of tension within Poppy as we can’t quite read what that grin on Helder’s face really means. Is Helder just a privileged asshole lording over someone or is he something more sinister?

What this page does is reinforce or remind the reader in how much of “Sleepless” is being told from Poppy’s perspective. This knowledge is key to the reveal later in the issue. There has been another, subtler, attempt on her life. This knowledge helps to recontetualize the earlier party sequence. On second read, it becomes clear how well Vaughn and del Duca have constructed a sequence around perspective without making it obvious. Once she realizes that poison is in play, Poppy slowly begins to test the objects around her. The paneling in this sequence of eating consistently cuts between her and other feasters. She’s watching them all eat looking for clues, the paneling in sequence follows the shot reverse shot pattern. It turns the party into a personal Hitchockian suspense thriller. At the same time, if you weren’t really considering site line tracking, this sequence still played like a normal party. The insert of other feasters makes the page seem lively and follows the patterns that had previously been established. This is such a beautifully layered sequence, you can read it with that knowledge and see her slowly test things but at the same time everything still plays like it’s just a lively party.

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This issue isn’t entirely the Poppy show, Cyrenic did win a tournament after all. Something about his predicament is slightly less interesting compared to Poppy. While both are pushed to the margins of court for different reasons, Cyrenic’s story is the one that is (so far) propelled by fantasy. As one could imagine not sleeping for three years will eventually catch up to you. Until the nature of the Sleepless Knights are more fully fleshed out, his predicament doesn’t have a clear emotional hook the way Poppy’s does. As bland as he is on his own, with Poppy around and her teasing everything is plainly better. Del Duca has a knack for expressions, particularly the eyes, so seeing Poppy’s varied expressions juxtaposed Cyrenic’s unflinching gaze makes for some effective tête-à-tête. Dropping out the background and replacing it with a patter also makes a moment land and hang in the air effectively.

“Sleepless” has been a quietly good series. Sarah Vaughn and Leila del Duca nail the character interactions and emotional subtext of brief moments. This however is the most technically dexterous issue they’ve yet made. It takes all the things “Sleepless” is already good at and puts them in a setting and sequence that you wouldn’t really expect. It’s a quietly deep issue as the drama slowly begins to reach a boil.

Final Verdict: 7.5 – With the effective use of perspective, “Sleepless” #4 becomes a minor suspense thriller and lively party all at the same time.


Michael Mazzacane

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