What if tomorrow, women all over the world began to fall asleep… and never wake up? And what if the men left behind were left to plan a new future… totally unaware of the world their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters now inhabited? That post-apocalyptic premise already made Sleeping Beauties a best-seller, and is soon to be adapted into comic book form from IDW Publishing.
The publisher made the announcement during SDCC 2019 that the novel, a collaboration between Stephen and Owen King, would be translated into a 10-part comic book epic from novelist Rio Youers (The Forgotten Girl) and artist Alison Sampson (Winnebago Graveyard). The series will begin this year, with Jana Heidersdorf delivering cover art. But Screen Rant is pleased to offer fans the first look at the never-before-seen cover art for Sleeping Beauties #1 by illustrator Jenn Woodall (Magical Beatdown).
The new artwork will hopefully help whet the appetite for fans patiently awaiting the series to begin (not to mention crossing their fingers for a Sleeping Beauties TV show, too). While this certainly won’t be the first comic adaptation of a Stephen King story, the blend of fantasy, horror, fairy tale, and gender politics is ripe for translation into a medium based on words and images. And Woodall’s artwork taps into several of the story’s themes and most evocative imagery. Fans can get their first look at the cover below:
The unfamiliar readers should probably know that in the setting of Sleeping Beauties, women aren’t put to sleep in their beds – but swallowed up in a gauze-like cocoon (not unlike the moths shown in Woodall’s cover). The less said about the plot of the story the better, especially for those who missed any potential spoilers from the novel itself. But if the artwork gets the idea of moth-like transformation or metamorphosis, the larger question shouldn’t be overlooked either: are women truly less violent creatures than the men beside them? Would an entire world made by one or the other be more or less deadly? And if offered a world of their own… would women take it?
When the limited comic series was announced, IDW President and Publisher Chris Ryall voiced his excitement for the adaptation, and the combination of Youers and Sampson in bringing the Kings’ 700-page best-seller to a new medium:
Fans can await more official announcements and a release date for IDW’s Sleeping Beauties soon. But for the time being, the question of which cover to pick up may be the most important.
There was something magical about the combination of Stephen King’s and Owen King’s specific skills on the pages of the Sleeping Beauties novel, an alchemy that resulted in a story so of the moment and yet so timeless. Rio and Allison are fashioning a graphic retelling that synthesizes that same sense of wonder while very much making the comic its own thing entirely. We’re ecstatic to be doing this with all involved.
MORE: Stephen King Isn’t Worried About Doctor Sleep’s Box Office Total
