You can never tell what comic you will miss when it goes on break. Not that I didn’t love The Dream Merchant, but I had a lot of other good comics keeping me occupied. Well I missed this comic. I missed the story, I missed Nathan Edmondson, and I especially missed those vivid colors running along the comic that made me feel in a dream state through the issue every time I read it. Konstantin Novosadov brings that exact art and color scheme back with Dream Merchant #4. It really captures the reader and when starting each issue you don’t know if you are in reality or a dream state until someone states it. Even things that happen in reality that are out of the ordinary can’t place you in a dream, because in this world the two are colliding right into each other. That is what makes Novosadov’s art so perfect for this series.
Let’s start from the beginning for a quick summary. Winslow dreams a lot. So much in fact that it lands him in a mental hospital. It seems like the only person he can trust is Anne, who thinks that Winslow’s dreams seem like truth and not some fairy tale. It isn’t long until Winslow and Anne break out meeting up The Merchant. This man explains that Winslow’s dreams are something of a reality. The two sides of our world are coming together. But these dreamers aren’t good, instead they want to take over the world and Winslow with the power to search his dreams for answers can stop them.
I have to admit that I am a sucker for reality-play comics. I love when two places cross and reality seems so much bigger than we think. The comic touches on this subject very little, which makes it more intriguing. Winslow’s character is perfect for the role, because he is that boy next door. There isn’t anything special about him, and until a couple of days ago he thought he was crazy, actually part of him still thinks he is crazy. Winslow is weak with his mind, and that makes it more interesting since he isn’t sure of himself.
His mind isn’t the only thing in his way though. The FBI is after Winslow and Anne in order to find answers. They have no idea about these dream people coming for us, but they think these two were planning a terrorist attack. Again, the FBI wants to question them because it all sounds a little crazy. Then you have the Regulators. These are the dream people coming after Winslow because of his powers. They hunt down people who remember when the ancient days when the dream people lead this world. The Regulators are pretty creepy because they can morph into nightmares all sticking to these black and rich pink colors. It is amazing to watch.
Now I pretty much ran down the whole comic for you, so go get yourself this Edmondson special. It has lots of plot movements and will progress when Winslow dives into pure sleep mode. He will no doubt be in a different world, but I think it will be reality for him and for the world he is saving.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Nathan Edmondson Artist: Konstantin Novosadov Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 8/13/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital