In this review of Sleep #5, Jon and Tabby find another potential solution to Jon’s monstrous problem. But will it be enough?
Sleep #5
Writer: Zander Cannon
Art and Main Cover: Zander Cannon
Variant Cover: Brian Hurtt
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: September 24, 2025
As Sleep #5 begins, Jon wakes on Thursday morning in the middle of the high school, surrounded by yet more destruction. The first person he sees is Tabby, who’s bringing him his glasses. He hopes that the plan of driving him to a remote area was helpful. Not only did it not resolve his problem, but he finds out that he’s actually killed someone (possibly finishing what he’d started with the pastor?).
Wracked with guilt, he breaks down before Tabby slaps some sense into him. She brings him to the lab, gets him something dry to wear, and reveals that the mess around the lab wasn’t a result of his rampage, but from her trying to find some answers.
She’s found something in the past week’s paper that could help: a story about a mine collapse. Feeling that some kind of infection may have found its way out before the mine was resealed, they plan to head to the mine to see if whatever ore it contains could possibly weaken the beast. As they head out, Tabby’s boss shows up, doing a preliminary sweep and wondering why she and her friend are there at the moment.
When they head to the mine, Tabby tells Jon of Hipp’s theory that this may be part of God’s Plan to cull the wicked. When they get there, Jon heads down to the sealed-off area, surrounding himself with that ore. He asks Tabby if she thinks it’ll work. She’s not entirely sure, but still gives her reassurances. And he makes her promise that if it doesn’t work, she’ll get as far away as possible.
A lot of breadcrumbs in Sleep #5, in terms of theories. Story-wise, we get a natural progression of the situation, with Jon and Tabby having to find a new solution to the problem. That new solution comes up at the lab (where we’re treated to more scenes with that splash of blue that…yeah, still very curious about that), after what looks like an all-night answer-searching binge.
The focus in the newspaper is the story about the mine collapse, but also on the front page is something about the anniversary of the death of a local girl. When Jon woke up in the school, it happened to be right there in front of her memorial setup in the trophy case. There isn’t a lot mentioned about her, but the name “Lawson” is mentioned beneath her picture. The last name of the town pariah? Lawson.
So that’s making me wonder if 1) he’s related to the girl (father or grandfather? It’s hard to tell, given that he looks a bit older…but grief can also age a person, so a bit up in the air on that), 2) if he’s been blamed for her death in the first place, and 3) is he even responsible for it in the first place and everyone’s just hurling the accusations at him because he’s not as pious as they feel he should be?
I’m also still wondering if there’s something up with the lab. I’m not sure how commonplace these sweeps are, there, but when someone’s boss rolls in with a geiger counter and asks why they haven’t cleared out yet, it makes you wonder.
Also, Tabby foregoing sleep and working all night to find answers to her best friend’s own sleep problems? An awesome way of showing her dedication to those she cares about.
Very curious as to what the next plan would be if weakening this thing falls through. Jon’s already had a couple of breakdowns over this issue (particularly after finding that the destruction and maiming has resulted in someone’s death), and Tabby’s also feeling a bit of that pressure. Nowhere near the extent that Jon is, of course, but as she points out earlier, this whole thing is everyone’s problem.
Final Thoughts
I’ve been hooked since issue one of this story, and it shows no sign of letting go just yet. Sleep #5 is an excellent progression of the story that may provide some hope (and provides some fertile ground for theorizing).
