Comic Review #33: Sleepwalker #4 (1991)

 

I had a lot of fun talking about Darkhawk #1 a few days ago so I felt it was just natural to discuss my other favorite Marvel guy from the 1990s. Another rather obscure character that I'm sure will be turned into a movie. Speaking of obscure Marvel properties why the hell haven't they milked the hell out of Power Pack? Like that would be a damn hit if they made a cartoon of that. Note to self, review a Power Pack comic. Anyway todays review is of a Sleepwalker comic. So come join me as we talk about some crazy shit. It's always fun!

So here is the paragraph that's usually longer than anything else because I talk about the creators of this fine comic book. First up is the man who co-created Sleepwalker and wrote I believe every issue of his series (all 33!) Mister Bob Budiansky, most famous for his work on the Transformers, both the comic and toy line. Wrote 55 of the 80 issues of the comic and came up with the names for pretty much every Transformer. Except Optimus Prime, that was apparently Denny O' Neil (RIP). I enjoy his stuff as it's wild and weird but still has that realistic touch to it (the relationship stuff between Sleepwalkers host and all that kinda stuff). The second person is the artist of this comic Rick Leonardi. The man's been working on comic books since 1981 with Thor #303. I like his art. He makes Sleepwalker look creepy and weird like the character should. We will get to what you should never make Sleepwalker look like one day. Another note to myself: Review Thor #303 and a Transformers comic.

I'm not actually sure what the full origin of Sleepwalker is. You see I'm lazy when it comes to my blog, very lazy so I didn't read issue #1 I just read issue #4. Apparently every intelligent mind  is connected to this dimension called the Mindscape and that's where Sleepwalker comes from. He gets connected to a guy named Rick Sheridan and whenever he goes to sleep. A nice little blurb you can put on the top of each page near the STAN LEE PRESENTS. Why doesn't Stan Lee Present these comics anymore? Anyway you get a good enough idea about the character from this comic. 

So the character that Sleepwalker fights this week is called BOOKWORM. I picked this comic just for this reason. He gets his powers from a sleeping Rick Sheridan because Rick is connected to the Mindscape more closely than other living beings I guess. He amplified some stuff with his computers and got a electric shock. He gets powers to take heroes and villains out of any book and here's the reason I picked this comic. This reminds me of Meteor Man and I wanted to be the only blog on the internet that still updates to mention that Robert Townsend classic. Meteor Man gets powers to get any information out of a book for 30 seconds. Yeah, so that's about it. Thankfully this is still a fun enough comic that I don't feel like it was a slog to write about. Note to self: Review Meteor Man.

Of course getting his powers he finally decides to go and get revenge over being picked on by Whitney Cooper III (a preppy asshole) and Whitney gets freaked the fuck out when he pulls out some fucking Amazon women out of a book to wreck his shit. It's amazing. I love it. He doesn't get killed because you know the hero of the comic saves him but the ordeal has freaked him out so badly that its all he can talk about. Don't fuck with the Bookworm. Sleepwalker leaves a telephone message (having learned about them from Rick leaving HIM a telephone message) and then he learns about Bookworm always going to the library. Bookworm somehow got a sexy 90s babe to date him and they go to the library. He and Sleepwalker fight for a bit and then The Sexy 90s Babe Whos Name I Forgot trips up Bookworm giving Sleepwalker enough time to capture him. 

FINAL VERDICT: This comic was a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed the weird mix of bronze age comic and more modern stuff. I like Sleepwalker and his design. I haven't read all 33 issues because only random issues of this comic ever showed up at the local stores around here. Same with Darkhawk. and New Warriors (note to self review New Warriors to bother portnoyd) and if I ever get a job at Marvel Comics writing Howard the Duck or something, expect Bookworm to make a return! He hasn't been used since this issue and I think that's a shame honestly. He's a fun goofball villain and you know that I love me some of them.