Sleeper, review: is this the real reason Line of Duty's ending was so naff?

Line of Duty viewers could be forgiven for approaching Jed Mercurio’s first graphic novel with a degree of trepidation. Would Sleeper – a tale of interstellar subterfuge from the creator of history’s most confusing cop show – slam the reader over the head with baffling sci-fi acronyms? Should we brace for characters banging on about the Star Trek equivalent of “OCGs” and “CHIS handlers”? And might it flame out with an ending so flat as to make the entire endeavour feel a massive waste of everyone's time?

The truth is that AC-12 diehards will probably put down this slim volume – part one of an ongoing series – long before they have the opportunity to be underwhelmed. Mercurio may have turned the sedate world of the British police procedurals on its head across six seasons of Line of Duty. Sleeper is, however, far more orthodox. If you wasn’t for the hype Mercurio’s name brings, it could easily be mistaken for an obscure 2000AD strip from 35 years ago.

The “Sleeper” of the title is a sort of zero-gravity space marshall. Think Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name spliced with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. In one of many, many nods towards sci-fi’s greatest hits he is introduced floating through space in suspended animation like Ripley at the start of Aliens. Later, there is a wink towards Frank Herbert’s Dune as Sleeper “DS-5” is entangled in a conspiracy around the extraction of a precious fuel-source, “Titan Green”, on Saturn’s moon Titan (the equivalent of Spice in Dune or Unobtanium in Avatar).

Because Sleepers are too dangerous to be in proximity to the general populace, DS-5 is set to be decommissioned with a bullet to the head. But then an explosion rips through the space station where he is being held above Titan. He’s the only survivor and sets out to bring to justice whoever was responsible for the destruction. This leads him into an alliance with the daughter of a scientist who vanished after seemingly making a disturbing discovery about Titan Green.

Mercurio co-wrote Sleeper with actor Prasanna Puwanarajah (he played a colleague of murdered Gail Vella in Line of Duty series six). Neither have previous experience of graphic novels. And, though it feels unkind to say so, it shows.

Line of Duty was all about skewering police procedural cliches. Sleeper takes precisely the opposite approach. From the half-human/half machine law enforcer who becomes unstable as lost memories return (RoboCop) to a shadowy space corporation prepared to kill to protect its secrets (Alien) the tropes arrive faster than it takes Steve Arnott to get in another round. Sometimes it feels as if the only franchise not being riffed on is Line of Duty, though Mercurio does tease fans with an early scene in which DS-5 is interrogated by a scrum of space sergeants.

Sleeper is illustrated by comic-book veteran Coke Navarro, perhaps best known for working on the wonderful Hellboy. Toiling under Mercurio’s instruction he does his best to breath life into the flabby story. Sadly, he’s up against it as it’s a challenge to make DS-5 resemble anything other than Sergio Leone-vintage Clint Eastwood with a wonky circuitboard.

When not handing the BBC record ratings, Mercurio’s pastimes include yelling at journalists on social media. He was back venting this week while promoting his new book. In one tetchy encounter he accused an interviewer of looking for “clickbait” after they had the nerve to inquire whether a future season of Line of Duty might be the cards.

With Sleeper, he may have inadvertently stumbled into a stand-off beyond even his shouty super-powers. Mighty DC Comics – home to Batman and Superman– has a popular series also called Sleeper (which Tom Cruise once considered adapting). Having only just become of aware of Mercurio’s Sleeper, DC and its corporate parent Warner are apparently on the phone to their lawyers at this very moment. So the entire endeavour threatens to become quite a muddle. If only Mercurio had spent the time and care clearly lavished on Sleeper writing a better ending for Line of Duty.

Sleeper is published by Simon & Schuster