THE SLEEPY TRUTH VOL.1
Written by Jason M. Burns
Drawn by Erik Valdez y Alanis
Published by Viper Comics

Sleepy Hollow, NY, is a strange little town. It’s beset by all sorts of oddities: sea monsters, ghostly Native American tribes… and maybe even a space alien who’s taking over the city council. So who can the citizenry turn to in order to keep them in-the-know about these phenomenon? How about the staff of THE SLEEPY TRUTH, the local newspaper dedicated to blowing the lid off it all? Of course, the staff isn’t quite what you’d expect: there’s Suzanne and Thomas Watson, the oddly-birthmarked 15-year old twins who run the show; their friend Grant (age 15), who has prosthetic hands; and Matthias, their portly 14-year old friend who claims to be telekinetic, but can’t prove it.

In volume one of what looks to be a potentially lengthy series, the kids must contend with two threats to their First Amendment rights: the return of the creature the twins believe ate their father, and the afore-mentioned alien and councilman, who are determined (in classic SCOOBY fashion) to put these meddling kids out of their hair for good.

SLEEPY comes across as a gentle, fun little lark, and shows a nice grasp on how to put together entertainment that can appeal to readers young and old. No question, one of the real markets for these books should be school libraries; there’s no profanity, no sexuality, just clean fun all the way around. The kids are interesting, unique characters, their dialogue rings true, and while there’s a “threat” involved, you know that whatever resolution comes will be appropriate. I wish there were more like it.

Viper has made its mark in the field mostly with sharp-edged books like DEAD @17, MIDDLEMAN, and THE EXPENDABLE ONE. But with SLEEPY and EMILY EDISON, they’re showing that the youth market is one they can succeed in.

/Mason