Dream Thief #1

John Lincoln’s been in a slump lately, he’s in between jobs, is insensitive to his troubled girlfriend, smokes pot on a regular basis and is often hung over from nights of heavy drinking. His less than perfect life is about to change, as one night at a fancy party held at the museum of natural history, John, high on weed, steals an ancient & unusual ceremonial mask and the next morning strange things start to unravel. He finds his girlfriend dead and starts to experience her most recent memories. Soon enough, these events repeat themselves as John wakes up to more murder scenes unaware of his surroundings, but within seconds the memories of those events start to flood back. John quickly realizes that to stop this cycle of horror he has to never fall asleep again.
 

The Team

Written by Jai Nitz (Green Hornet : Parallel Lives) & illustrated by Greg Smallwood. Cover by Alex Ross (Marvels, Kingdom Come). Published by Dark Horse.
 

The Pros & Cons

Imagine taking the concept of The Mask and instead of turning the wearer of a mask into a green, cartoony force of nature, it gives the wearer the ability to experience a person’s memories through their dreams. It also gives the wearer that person’s abilities, skills and talents making them a very formidable individual. The protagonist of the story is John, a born loser who wears the mask and his life starts spiralling out of control and the bodies start pilling up. He seems to think he’s responsible for the murders or is there a more sinister force at work here? It’s unclear at the moment, mainly because this is just the first issue. The dialogue between the characters is snappy and offers some light hearted moments to counteract with other moments of death & violence.
 
Greg Smallwood’s grainy illustrations are a bit rough, but I love the large white gaps between panels that are dream like, as it adds a sense of surrealism to the comic. And having Alex Ross paint your cover is always a good thing.
 

The Outcome

Part vigilante and part Sandman, The Dream Thief is a curious first issue for a potentially intriguing mini series.