The Dreaming takes an even darker turn.
Creative Staff:
Story: Simon Spurrier
Art: Bilquis Evely
Colors: Mat Lopes
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
The Dreaming has a new master.
As its rightful steward, Lucien, wrestles with the slow decay of his mind, the realm of wonders slips into totalitarianism beneath the thunderous gavel of Judge Ezekiel Gallows.
But as the gates are fortified and the citizens terrorized by a foul new form of execution, something far greater and more terrifying slouches toward the Dreaming to be born.
With nowhere else to turn, it’s time to seek the counsel of the Endless…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There’s been a lot to like about The Dreaming so far but it’s also been a bit of a struggle in getting a stronger narrative to work with. Simon Spurrier comes closer to that this time around, building on the introduction of the Judge the last time, and that’s helping to move us into more interesting territory. It does continue to look great as Bilquis Evely has such a great eye for layouts and character designs with some really neat elements at work here when it comes to Cain and his journey. The flow of it is neat and just that opening page in showing the names and forms he’s taken over the millennia is a great piece that looks fantastic.
His dealing with the puzzle that is in front of him has him on a new journey going into an other space to deal with whatever it is there but this kind of turns on its head as it gets him to question himself more. Seeing the way he’s frustrated that Abel has taken on a new role in securing the Dreaming for the Judge and isn’t the usual cowardly and sniveling self grates on him because tormenting Abel is Cain’s job. His story does take some odd turns as it progresses and ties into what the Judge is doing and that has me intrigued for what’s in story for him and his House of Secrets. The Judge is definitely working everyone over in a way that fits his binary view of everything and with him having taken on the sigil of the Dreaming with the mask, well, he’s flush with more power and a sense of authority that can’t be challenged, hence his torment of the devil that Nora was seeing.
The Judge’s story is fairly simple here as he seeks to secure the borders of the Dreaming, protect the inhabitants that are doing right, and punish the others. He’s intent on making an example of the Blank that threw things at him with a death as opposed to being turned back into dream-stuff. And that’s the intent with the rest of the Blanks as well, which is really unsettling to Mervyn in the way that it could happen to him someday. While he doesn’t get directly involved, at least not yet it seems, Matthew and Raven are doing their best to fix things when it comes to the Judge and his blunt fascist tendencies. It’s a neat little look at some of what has come before with Dream’s siblings but also showing just how little the Judge knows as he wasn’t aware they were truly real and not just dream-stuff itself. Of course, that has him fearing them as a way to lose his authority here and that opens him up to Lucien’s machinations…
In Summary:
While some of what Spurrier is doing with the Judge and the Blanks is just too blunt it’s also something that does fit within this dream-like nature of how the place works and views things. It’s distilled down to its base elements and worked from there instead of the complex ways of reality. I really liked seeing Mervyn question things and then watching as Matthew does his best to get Nora to act, which in turn leads to Lucien’s ambitious plan – especially for someone like him. It moves well throughout with a lot of areas covered and put together with some really beautiful pages that Evely and Lopes provide together. It’s a great looking book that has me more and more eager to read arcs in full to see how they come together.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Vertigo Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 5th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
