Doktor Sleepless 2

Tesla Boy Gangsta
Written by Warren Ellis

The first page of the comic seems to be a satirical look at possible future medical advancements ... or a way to keep check on people. At the Heavenside Police Department, Commissioner Stoker is worried about the new character Doktor Sleepless broadcasting on the airwaves, saying he is John Reinhardt. The reason he is worried is because Reinhardt is suppose to be locked up. We are next shown Sleepless dictating on the air waves about his trip to the Amazon. He was lead to believe he would be communing with a shaman, but actually the shaman is as well off technologically then just about anyone else. Even though he berates Reinhardt, he agrees to hear him out when Reinhardt says he wants to change his mind, since it isn't big enough. Sing is at the bookstore with her boyfriend talking about how she fears it might be Reinhardt. She is worried he is still as crazy as he was when he left ten years previously. Sleepless is then shown talking to Nurse Igor about her agenda, which is still kept a secret. He then describes how he made the Shrieker Girls, a hivemind-like group of women who feel everything every other Shrieker Girl feels. He also reveals to Nurse Igor that he created Clatter, the IM eye communication enhancement, before being secretive about various H signs around Heavenside. At Saint Thomas, Commissioner Stroker and Mayor Mingozzi arrive to see for themselves that Reinhardt is indeed still in his cell, where he has been for the past three years. At a local club, Sleepless has a conversation with himself about his various "Reinhardts", including the one in the mental institution. He starts to remember something about his parents and what he saw one night. He commences to go ballistic and smashes the mirror. Nurse Igor comes in and hurries him out of the club, wanting no one to see him in a panicked state. Before he gets in his car, though, he and Sing make eye contact.

I am now starting to get the comic a bit more and I am certainly intrigued by what may or may not be going on. Reinhardt/Sleepless is a very mysterious character and I find very interesting, especially since I want to see what he is planning. How will Sing be connected? He has now seen her, so it will be interesting to see his reaction in the next issue, if he has one. The multiple Reinhardt angle is something else ... perhaps he is doing something like astral projection. Perhaps the man in cell 23 is a stand-in. Looking forward to where this may be going.

Score: 3 / 5

Doktor Sleepless 1

Issue 1
Written by Warren Ellis

John Reinhardt has returned to Heavenside ... a bit different. He hasn't slept in a year and his angst has reached a peak. He has become the "character" Doktor Sleepless and he wishes to bring salvation to those he feel jipped of a future. DJ Amun is confronted by a former lover who has kept his aborted child/fetus with her in a vial around her neck. He freaks out, Sleepless takes his Pronoia, and he ends up killing himself. His friend, Sing, finds out the next morning while Sleepless begins to size up Heavenside with his nurse. At Sing's bookstore, a shipment shows up unsolicited from Reinhardt and Sing wonders it Johnny is back in town when she sees his address, but Doktor Sleepless' name. Sleepless pays visit to a local grinder bar where he revives a man everyone thinks is gone for good. Doing so, he proclaims him self the "Future Science Jesus". Back at Sing's bookstore, she and her friends enjoy a drink in DJ Amun's honor, putting on his radio show hoping a pre-taped show would be playing. Instead, Sleepless has taken over the airwaves, proclaiming what is on everyone's minds: "Where is our future? The one we deserve."

I wasn't really sure about this comic at the start. I started to read it and stopped after the first couple pages, thinking I was completely lost or missing something, an inside look. Today, I read some preview stuff on the internet about what this is "suppose to be" and, reading it right now, I came to a better understanding. If nothing else, this is a primer for things to come. A quick read through again before reviewing, I started to see things coming together, especially how Sing is somehow connected to Sleepless/Reinhardt. To me, this first issue was intriguing, but nothing spectacular. I will, however, read the next issue or two to see where this might be going and then decide if I will continue to get/read it.

Score: 2 / 5 first impression, 3 / 5 second read through