By Cat Wyatt

The third installment of Lucy Dreaming is here, bringing us past the halfway point of the series (it’s a five-part miniseries). This has been an imaginative and unique series so far, and now that we know what’s happening to Lucy and why we should be free to dig into the real plot of the story.

The last issue left us off with Lucy realizing that Welsey was also dream hopping (what I’m choosing to call it until we’re given a better term). Not only that, but they learned that they could dream hop together (give you one guess on how they figured that one out). All things considered, Welsey is taking it pretty well.

Granted he’s mostly focusing on the ‘cool’ and fun aspects of this, like how they can go on epic adventures in their sleep. He seems pretty intent on having Lucy along for the adventures, even though it appears that he could simply dream on his own (I’m actually assuming here – for all I know her proximity to him was what caused the dream to affect him too).

There are still a lot of things that Lucy would like to resolve before she goes off on another adventure…though I don’t think that’s an option for her. It seems like every time she sleeps she has these dreams, and sleeping is kind of non-optional. Especially for a teenager.

Obviously one of the things Lucy would like to figure out is how Welsey is dream hopping as well. Since his parents had been working with hers (before his father disappeared – more on that in a minute) it feels safe to assume that he also got infected (that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean) in utero just like Lucy.

The other concern has to do with Welsey’s dad. Remember that guy we saw in the first issue? The one that kind of looked like Darth Vader, and that appeared to be a dream hopper as well? Well, …pretty sure that’s his dad. Which means he isn’t the deadbeat that Welsey thought he was. According to Lucy’s mother, he got pulled into the Storyscape (that’s what they’ve been calling it) they invented because he overused and abused it. I can see why they didn’t file a police report or tell Welsey about that…however…to let a kid think his dad just abandoned him like that? That’s harsh.

Welsey and Lucy aren’t at risk of being pulled in like the father was – their connection to the Storyscape is more organic. It’s also limitless. At least according to her mother. I’ve got to say, I really want to like Lucy’s mom, but I’m having a bit of trouble. She seems so cavalier about everything that’s going on. I’m not saying she should be coddling Lucy, but she really doesn’t seem to be taking the girl’s feelings into account.

Actually, her mom seems more like a big sister to me. Maybe that’s why their relationship comes off as so odd? She has no problem teasing Lucy about her crush, but she’s also not parenting all that much. Granted, considering what’s going on Lucy seems pretty well adjusted, so something here is working at least (you’ll notice I’m not really talking about the dad; I feel like he’s barely been part of this series, more like a background piece than anything. Hence why I’m ignoring him here).

Due to her frustration (thanks to her lovely conversation with her mom) Lucy caves and agrees to try and meet Welsey in the Storyscape. I’m not sure how easy or difficult that sort of coordination would be, but I think we’re about to find out.

Lucy ‘wakes up’ in the body of a werewolf…and she’s doing something werewolves have a bad rep for (ie: eating somebody). I probably would have thrown up on the spot, so credit to Lucy for not completely freaking out (or is that a bad thing, in this case? I’m not really sure).

I actually kind of loved the light teasing that the authors were doing here. They kept having secondary dream characters state the obvious as well as their long, convoluted backstories like it was no big deal. People don’t talk like that in real life, and yet these guys are. I’m convinced this was intentional – they were totally making fun of series that legitimately do this, and I love them for it.

And before you start to worry, yes Lucy does end up finding Welsey. Things don’t go as smoothly as they would have liked, but on the bright side it’s not like they can get hurt here (when they die they just get ejected from the dream; none of that ‘if you die in your dream you die in real life’ bunk).

This has been an interesting series so far. I wouldn’t mind if the pace was a bit quicker, but mostly I’m saying that because there’s only two issues left, and I still have so many questions. I’ll admit that all of the characters come off as a bit juvenile. I’m okay with that for Lucy and Welsey (because duh) but it’s a bit off-putting when the adults talk just like the teenagers. Thankfully we don’t see many adults (that aren’t in the Storyscape) so it isn’t a big deal.

Score: 4/5

Lucy Dreaming #3
Boom! Box