Review by Frank Plowright

The police are puzzled by a series of murders committed by people who’re otherwise upstanding citizens, claiming they were sleepwalking when the crimes took place. The killings are accompanied by symbols and written demands for the Dream Eater.

No time is lost in identifying this is the unusually named Stetson, who has a business claiming she can free people from nightmares, restoring peaceful sleep. As the sample art shows, her approach may be effective, but it’s hardly subtle when she enters the dreamworld. We gradually learn there’s an entity within with connections to Stetson, and keen to renew acquaintances. There’s a tragic backstory to the connection, but for most of Slumber Tyler Burton Smith minimises that in favour of one wacky and violent dream scenario after another.

These are effectively drawn in a loose style by Vanessa Cardinali who definitely brings the strangeness to the table, and because she uses cartoon exaggerations, even sequences in the real world have something of the weird about them. It all works toward creating a unique atmosphere, while the visually imaginative style ideally suits the anything can happen rush.

It’s only in the final chapter that all the groundwork really pays off with the big emotional finish of Stetson only seeing one way out. However, too much of the underpinning is left too vague, brushed off as a family curse, and it leaves the facilities at Stetson’s disposal just too convenient.

Although labelled “Volume 1”, Slumber is a complete story. There’s the possibility of a sequel, but moving on is the better option as this promising work from a writer who’ll do better.