Stumblebum Studios Archives

	Home	Archives	Features

Down But Not Out

by Drew Clements westofmiskatonic@gmail.com

He showed up in Epic Anthology #1 (of 1) in 2004 and just last month appeared briefly in GLA (Great Lakes Avengers) #2. He showed up in this month’s Marvel Team-Up #9 and will be making yet another appearance in issue #11. Who is this mysterious character that's garnering all this attention from the likes of Dan Slott and Robert Kirkman? Sleepwalker! What? You've never heard of him? Sleepy, as he's affectionately called, is one of Marvel's third-tier characters from the early 90s. He just happens to also be one of my favorite characters of all time, which means it was only a matter of time before I covered an issue of bug-eyes' series in this column. Sleepwalker #1 - "To Sleep Perchance To Scream!" Original Release Date: June 1991 Writer & Colorist: Bob Budiansky Artist: Bret Blevins Letterer: Tom Orzechowski Editor: Don Daley Editor In Chief: Tom Defalco This first issue opens up with college student Rick Sheridan having the basketball game of his life. He's passing defenders left and right, making his way to the hole. Finally getting there, he jumps, setting up a layup, only to have the ball halted by a large gloved hand. A monstrous entity in a hooded purple and blue suit hovers in front of the startled student. Unable to fully speak, Rick watches as the hideous creature deflates the ball with a simple squeeze of his hand. The being touches a medallion on its chest, but we don't really see what happens. Eventually able to call for help from his fellow players, Rick suddenly finds himself back in his apartment screaming to the tops of his lungs. A dream. A nightmare. That's all it was. Rick's dog, Rambo, taking a cue from its master being awake, sets about his trained routine of turning the TV and stereo on. Apparently it's a daily thing for Rambo to make sure that Rick gets up and ready for school (I wish I could get my cat to do that). But Rick, not aware of what time it actually is, tells the dog that it's okay, it wasn't time for him to get up. Smart dog that he is, Rambo nudges the alarm clock, which displays that it is actually time for Rick to get up. Next we join Rick on the campus of Metropolitan University in New York City. His mind is still on the nightmare when Alyssa, his girlfriend, surprises him. She comments on his absent-mindedness over not noticing her following him for a block-and-a-half. Rick apologizes, placing blame (lying) on preoccupation with a test coming up in his Medieval Lit class. Whenever a character in a comic book has his/her thoughts so deeply on something else that they are completely oblivious to their surroundings it always reminds me of Stan Lee's Peter Parker. It's almost a classic behavior for comic characters. Alyssa asks if he'll be spending the evening with her, but Rick reminds her that it's Tuesday, so, as usual, he's committed to his tutoring duties. Rick lets her know that "Tomorrow night's lookin' awfully good, though." With that, Alyssa leaves her boyfriend, looking forward to spending time with him the next evening. Later that night Rick returns home after walking Rambo to find his landlord, Mr. Epstein, arguing with two drug peddlers who have made a mess on the front steps of the apartment building. Rick intervenes, telling the two dealers to get lost. He threatens to unleash Rambo, a relatively small dog, on them. The two leave, laughing at the threat. An ungrateful Mr. Epstein hands Rick a broom, putting him to work. Apparently Rick pays for his apartment by being the building janitor. So, our everyday normal guy spends the rest of the evening doing work. Eventually he gets back to his room and collapses on the bed. We immediately jump into his dreams where he finds himself relaxing on a beach. Alyssa, sporting a bikini, comes up from the ocean, letting Rick know that she's there to do whatever he wants her to do (I have many dreams like this... well, not of Alyssa... but... never mind). The oddly garbed creature from before shows up, spoiling what could be a wet dream for Rick. Rick believes the monster is going out to hurt Alyssa, so he leaps at it. Pink beams come from the thing's eyes, cutting a hole in the sand underneath Rick. The two struggle for a bit and Rick makes a connection in his mind that each time the being shows up (apparently it has shown up more than just the previous time in the comic), it touches the medallion, causing things to get crazy. So Rick grabs the yellow, nearly star-shaped medallion, ripping it from the thing's costume. The creature disappears immediately, leaving Rick alone on the beach. The next morning the alarm goes off and Rambo once again starts turning stuff on in the apartment. Rick comments that he hasn't slept that well in days. He figures it's because of the dream and getting rid of the monster. On TV, Rick watches a report on a foiled burglary. The building that was the intended target is only just a few blocks away from his. The night watchman of that particular building is interviewed and he talks about some kind of weird thing showing up and scaring off the five burglars. Apparently it was some kind of bug-eyed monster. A police sketch is shown of the thing and it looks very familiar to Rick; it's the exact same thing that has been showing up in his dreams! Holy crap! Fantastic! Amazing! Later that evening we find Rick and Alyssa at the Coney Island Amusement Park. Rick is once again distracted and Alyssa comments on it. Our hero tells his girlfriend that he's still a bit weirded out by the news report from earlier that morning. Alyssa jokes that maybe the creature dropped in on Rick while it was in the neighborhood. Rick takes it seriously, but Alyssa passes it off and drags him on the Haunted House ride. Inside, a very tired Rick falls asleep while Alyssa enjoys the ride. I guess he's just catching up on all the sleep lost lately because of his nightmares. Otherwise, it would make no sense for him to be tired enough to fall asleep on a ride with loud noises. Then again, maybe I'm examining this a bit too much. Alyssa is shocked to see a monster appear that looks so much like the one Rick described. She shakes her boyfriend to wake him up so that he can catch a glimpse of it, but as soon as Rick wakes up, the thing disappears. She explains the situation and Rick begins to connect the dots. Rick decides to put off sleep for as long as possible for fear of releasing the monster hidden within his mind. In the days following, Rick is completely off in everything that he does: basketball, studies, and janitorial duties. He begins consuming large quantities of coffee in order to stay awake. Four sleepless nights later, Rick visits a food mart with Alyssa to buy more coffee. While there, those two drug dealers from before (remember? Mr. Epstein was arguing with them??) come in and hold the place up. One of them recognizes Rick and pistol-whips him, "Whatsamatter, no puppy to protect you this time?!" Rick hits the ground and passes out. As soon as he does, Sleepwalker is released from the boy's mind. The two perps freak out and one of them shoots our alien hero, knocking him into a wall of groceries. While he's down, the peddlers grab Alyssa and make their escape. Upon reaching their vehicle, the hoods let Alyssa go. Inside the store, Sleepwalker, who seems to walk on air, gets up and goes after the fleeing villains. Catching up with them, he uses his eye-beams to wrap a nearby light pole around the car, stopping it. Sleepy's eye-beams seem to have a reality-warping quality to them, because he is able to seize the light pole and bend it without physically touching it. The bald green, bug-eyed hero flips the vehicle with the light pole and the two fools are thrust through the roof of the car and onto the pavement. Sleepy shifts the beam to a nearby metal post office box, which he uses to capture and secure one of the criminals. The other one still free grabs a metal pipe and slams it into Sleepwalker's stomach, putting him on the ground. Residents of the neighborhood come out in defense of the two criminals, thinking that Sleepy is attacking them for no reason. Cans are thrown and people take swings at him until he uses his beam on the concrete below their feet. The road shifts and turns as concrete tendrils spring up and encase the attackers. From behind, the remaining criminal swings his metal pipe, but bug-eyes catches it and bends it, showing that he does indeed have super-strength. He picks the man up, who cries, "...P-Please don't fry my face off!" Sleepwalker discharges his beam directly into the man's face and suddenly the man disappears off-panel. No, Sleepy doesn't kill the man. The beams were actually aimed at a light pole up and above the man, which, when hit, wrapped around him, securing the crook for the police. Alyssa catches up to Sleepwalker, asking if he's okay. The next panel shifts back to Rick at the store. The clerk stands over his unconscious body asking the same question, "Are you okay?" Alyssa asks our hero who he is and he responds with a simple, "I am a sleep-walker." right before he disappears. Rick stumbles out of the food mart just in time for Alyssa to catch him and explain what had happened. Rick, obviously afraid that he's unleashing a terrible monster into the world, ignores the fact that Sleepwalker actually captured the criminals. The issue ends with Alyssa asking if Rick is okay. He responds, "I... I don't know, Alyssa. I just don't know..." I’ve made a few comments about and emphasized some of the goofiness that occurs in this book, so you may be wondering how and why I have such a love for it. The explanation is really simple: this book is fun. If you look back through five of the past six (last week being the exception) columns, you’ll notice one of the main similarities between each of the books chosen is that I always mention they’re fun. Don’t get me wrong, I have books I really love that take themselves deadly serious (some of which will be covered here in the future), but it’s those that have a layer of humor AND seriousness to them that have really won my heart over the years. These books don’t take themselves too seriously, which is one of the biggest problems I have with comics today. Sleepwalker has a feel to it that is so fun and adventurous that it could have easily fit alongside Marvel’s books from the 60’s. It’s an old-school book through and through and Bob Budiansky deserves a lot of credit, which he doesn’t seem to get, for creating and maintaining this character for 33 issues (and one Christmas special!) without compromising that feeling. The art, however, is nothing too special, but I’ll give Bret Blevins one thing: he’s something of a master at expressions. You know exactly what these characters are thinking just by seeing the looks on their faces. That’s something a lot of artists seem to have trouble doing. The mainstream fans overlooked this book in the 90s, but the character has a cult following that’s rearing its head these days in the form of Robert Kirkman. If you’re looking for a fun book that doesn’t take itself too seriously OR if you’re just trying to see why Sleepy has a cult following, pick this series up. I guarantee you’ll find it cheap.