Greg Smallwood
How dreamy are ‘The Dream Merchant’ and ‘Dream Thief’?
Two comics with “dream” in the title hit stands Wednesday, and although they’re two very different comics and don’t really have anything to do with each other, I naturally thought I’d combine them into one “Chain Reactions.”
On one side of the dreamscape is Dream Merchant, by Nathan Edmonson and Konstantin Novosadov, published by Image Comics. From the solicitation text: “Haunted by recurring dreams, a boy named Winslow is hunted by mysterious beings and protected by an old traveler. Soon Winslow will realize that what is in his dreams is what the rest of the world has been made to forget–and what strange entities will stop at nothing to erase from his mind.” It’s a double-sized issue priced to move at $3.50.
On the other side of slumberland is Dream Thief, by Jai Nitz and Greg Smallwood, and published by Dark Horse. “After stealing an Aboriginal mask from a museum, John Lincoln realizes that the spirits of the vengeful dead are possessing his body and mind while he sleeps! His old problems have been replaced by bloody hands and the disposal of bodies-and now remembering where he spent last night has never been more important!”
So how do the two comics stack up? Here are a few reviews from around the web:
Every comic should be promoted with paper dolls
At a time when an overwhelming number of comic-book teasers consist of a cryptic phrase on black background, Dark Horse took a far more creative approach for Dream Thief, the upcoming supernatural-crime miniseries by Jai Nitz and Greg Smallwood. As you can see, the fun push for pre-orders comes in the form of a paper doll, above, and a papercraft figure — “Zero Points of Articulation!” — both of the comic’s protagonist John Lincoln.
The comic, which debuts May 15, follows the thief as he becomes a vessel for vengeful spirits after stealing an ancient mask from a museum.
“Dream Thief has a lot of superhero tropes: there’s a mask/outfit, there are non-traditional superpowers, there is a need for a secret identity, and there are incredible circumstances,” Nitz told Comic Book Resources earlier this month. “So I think a non-comics reader might easily classify it as a superhero book. But it’s a pretty straightforward crime story, and I think comic book readers will pick up on that. They’ve seen it all before from the cape and cowl set. It’s my hope that Dream Thief strikes a new chord.”
Artist line-up for Ashes takes shape
After the falling out between Ashes writer Alex de Campi and artist Jimmie Broxton, de Campi decided to pursue having multiple artists draw the sequel to the 2005 series Smoke. This week in an update to the project’s backers on Kickstarter, de Campi said the line-up of artists is now complete.
Joining A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran and Smoke artist Igor Kordey are:
- Dan McDaid (Jersey Gods)
- Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants, Elektra: Assassin, Stray Toasters)
- Milton and Felipe Sobreiro (Heavy Metal, Popgun)
- Richard Pace (New Warriors, Pitt)
- Mack Chater (Earp: Saints For Sinners)
- Greg Smallwood (Villain)
- R.M. Guera (Scalped)
De Campi said she plans to begin serializing it digitally in June and publish the graphic novel in December.