Jumping-on Point: "Dream Thief" #1 by Nitz & Smallwood

- by Señor Editor, 7 June 2013

„Dream Thief” is a brand new 5 issue mini series from Dark Horse. The first issue came out last month, and I’ve been meaning to check it out earlier, but only got around to it now. Written by Jai Nitz and with art by Greg Smallwood, “Dream Thief” started with an issue that’s bound to get people instantly hooked.

So what’s so great about this dreamy comic and how is it different than, say, “Sleep Walker” or any other dream-related book that isn’t “Sandman”? Well, for one thing, it’s good. And for another, it’s pretty damn fresh and not at all just a rehash of old themes.

Cover by Alex Ross (click!)

In order to give you a decent idea of what this book is about, I’ll have to spoil some things. But don’t worry - I certainly won’t spoil the whole issue, pretty much just the stuff that was in the preview.

John Lincoln isn’t exactly the most successful guy. He’s currently “between jobs”, he and his girlfriend have some relationship issues, and getting drunk and smoking weed are his main activities. He’s also a bit of a douche (but he’s a fan of “Road Warrior”, so I like him anyway). One night John and his friend are at a party in a museum, where they get a little stoned. Fast forward a couple hours. John wakes up on his bathroom floor, on his face is an aboriginal mask that was part of the exhibition at the museum. He’s not quite sure what happened, but it’s coming back to him – he killed his girlfriend, and she deserved it.

DUN DUN DUUNNNN!
So that’s where you’re supposed to get hooked, and this is what got me interested enough to pick #1. There’s a lot more happening in the issue, though.

I just love "Road Warrior"... Oh, and that's the mask I mentioned. (All images here © Dark Horse)

The things I just summarized get resolved and a whole lot of new plot threads appear, seemingly forming a much larger story. There are cryptic notes from John’s father (more about him is revealed at the issue’s end) appearing as part of the narration and helping add another dimension to the already interesting story. Falling asleep and waking up in very weird circumstances seems to be a theme, too. There’s really a lot of stuff happening here, and the issue still manages to end on an interesting cliffhanger. This isn’t one those “decompressed storytelling” comics. The pages aren’t completely covered in word balloons a la Chris Claremont, it’s just smart storytelling on Jai Nitz’s part, using the strengths of the medium to push an interesting story forward.

Speaking of using the medium’s strengths, Greg Smallwood’s art in this is really, really cool. Other than having a nice, clean style that’s easy on the eyes and making for a smooth ride, Smallwood’s got some interesting layouts here and a few tricks up his sleeve. For reasons I won’t even go into here, John sometimes has the thoughts of other people in his head, knows what they know etc. This is shown in the usual flashback/vision sequences etc, but it’s the coolest during action sequences. For example, check the panel below, in which John uses boxing abilities that are not his own, and it’s shown to us in a clever way via the sound effect:

See? That's cool stuff.

I love stuff like this. The comic definitely has a lot of things going for it as a piece of sequential art. I didn’t see a coloring credit, so I assume that’s Smallwood’s work, too (and so is the lettering), so great job all around.

“Dream Thief” started out really well and I’m looking forward to see how the story develops. There’s a lot of good things going on here, and I’m very interested in seeing what happens the next time John wakes up. I’m not sure if it’s a mini series because it’s been created in that format in mind or if it’s testing the waters for an ongoing, but it’s well worth picking up and supporting. Dark Horse has really been the undisputed leader on the comicbook market when it comes to minis lately, putting out a lot of fantastic stuff (“The Creep” & “Colder” being some good examples), and it looks like they got another great one in “Dream Thief”. Can’t wait for #2.

I’ll be keeping an eye on Nitz & Smallwood’s comic. I advise you do the same!


Already reading it? Planning to? Drop us a line below!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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