Sleeping Beauties, Vol. 1 (Graphic Novel) by Rio Youers, Stephen King , Owen King

​     I’ve heard of this book when it came out, but that’s about it. At 721 pages, it’s about twice the size a book ought to be, and (for me) a turnoff. In graphic novel form, though, it’s perfect. Well, for now anyway, we’ll see how long it’ll take to adapt a novel that prolix. The graphic novel certainly appears to be taking a leisurely approach, but it’s a more forgiving genre in general.
     And so, I ended up really liking it. Wasn’t sure what to expect and Owen is the lesser of the King’s sons, talent-wise, but as a duo, they are pretty dynamic. And the art was very good, great portrait drawings, real faces with real expressions, so much more than a cover would lead you to expect.
     Y The Last Man did a gender apocalypse. Excellently. By killing off all men. Sleeping Beauties went in the opposite direction. In this story something’s affecting women only, cocooning them, taking them away to an Edenic world in their sleep. Unless they are woken from their sleep, in which case they become unreasonably and uncontrollably violent. There’s only one women, Evie (to continue the Edenic theme) who seems to be unaffected by it all. She knows more than she’s telling, but this is only the beginning of what appears to be a drawn-out story, so just wait…
      It’s almost a certainty that the entire production will have a strong politically correct message, King and his offspring are known for that, something pro feminist and timely. We shall see. Message or not, it’s a pretty entertaining story off to a promising start. Recommended.