Sleepless #4 Review

Writer: Sarah Vaughn /Artists:Leila del Duca, Alissa Sallah /Image Comics   The tournament has officially ended and the feast begins in celebration. Cyrenic has won and it starts ripples on the pond. His victory brings him under closer scrutiny and makes him a bit of celebrity for his prowess on the field. There are forces that want to separate our Poppy and Cyrenic from each other. In this cut throat environment where you have to watch your words and mind your steps, we see both of them trying their best to keep up and keep out of the spotlight. There’s several lingering gazes on their part toward each other and panels that make you want to burst at the seams with a ‘Who dunn it’ and ‘are they a part of shady doings’? I do appreciate the air of mystery surrounding court life as our duo is attempting to figure out who wants Poppy dead while navigating all the niceties and glares. You see Rellen. You see the King. You see lesser important women and men chatting and living their best lives. Just who do you trust?  

  Something that I’ll probably harp on for the rest of the series but 8OH WHALE*, I love the attention to detail in this book. The bruising under Cyrenic’s eye–a tell tale sign of his Sleepless Knight vows–is a great example. Bini’s, Pop’s little fox-cat pet, curiosity displayed across the pages at dinner which sparks Poppy’s suspicion is another. Facial expressions and body language continue to mark points in each issue that hint at greater emotion…