Even though it deals heavily with dreams, the last thing you’ll do when reading Somna is fall asleep. Creators Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay not only write together but also trade off drawing different portions of the comic. Out in comic shops on November 22, Somna is like nothing else you’ve read, dealing in an underused setting, and leaning into erotica you just don’t see with the best creators.
Published by DSTLRY, a brand new comics publisher with one series already launched, Somna is a great example of maximizing the format and letting its creators cook. When you open this book you’ll realize this was meant to be read in with two large pages wide open.
Lotay’s pages, which focus exclusively on a dream world, maximize the space crafting beautiful layouts that blend into each other. It’s at once trippy and surreal. She creates a sense of wonderment, and a little bit of evil, as our main character fantasizes about a man who comes to her in the night.
Courtesy DSTLRY
Intercut with these scenes is Cloonan’s, who brings a more conventional comic style via layout and detailed art. This feels more grounded as her scenes take place when our main character is awake. And yet, Lotay’s is so painterly and near-photorealistic that it’s surprising Cloonan’s pages are so grounded. That is until you realize there’s something almost mystical about Lotay’s pages while Cloonan’s plays in a world of realism.
Together, these creators are crafting a story that’s filled with lust, fear, and betrayal. After Ingrid is harshly woken from her dream–or is it a nightmare–we learn her husband is relied upon to find witches and evil that lurk in their town. It becomes very clear Ingrid’s dreams are not only dangerous to her as she doesn’t know what exactly is happening, but if her husband begins to realize something evil may be happening he could easily burn her at the stake too.
This push-and-pull occurs with a fellow townsperson as well as within Ingrid’s dreams. She’s being manipulated in different ways in a world at a time when women have very little say or agency. There are themes at work that many will relate to and connect with. The only gripe I have is Ingrid is a bit of a blank slate with her reacting to things, so the reader never gets to know her very deeply. She serves as a surrogate for the reader, but not much more at this stage.
Courtesy DSTLRY
The erotic elements work very well, never feeling over the top or gratuitous. Nudity is sparse, with some sexual acts taking place that are sexy, but never pornographic. That’s in part because Lotay captures Ingrid’s humanity so well. She needs to be sexual while during Cloonan’s scenes in the day, we see she can’t be.
Then there’s the supernatural element of the man in Ingrid’s dreams. The mystery of the man is well crafted in how much we see of him, At first he’s barely a figure and almost a shadow. By the end, there is something far more sinister about him, like he’s a vampire awakened. This adds intrigue that’ll make many come back for more.
Somna is an excellent first issue, mixing the dream world and the real world that establishes mystery, intrigue, and tantalizing eroticism. Not since Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula has there been a horror that feels so unique, sexy, and hypnotizing.
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