Dream Thief: Escape #1
Written by Jai Nitz
Art by Greg Smallwood
Published by Dark Horse Comics
“I rise and shine hip deep in a Florida swamp. The cranially ventilated corpse floating beside me used to be a dirtbag named Rusty Chamberlin.”
John Lincoln has a rough life. You see, he has an issue. Whenever he sleeps he is possessed by the vengeful spirits of the murdered. When possessed, Lincoln acts as a force of cosmic justice, punishing the murderers and allowing the dead to rest peacefully.
Needless to say, this can mess with a man’s life.
The comic opens by throwing the reader right into the thick of things. John and his partner in crime (or perhaps justice would be the better term) break into the mansion of a mob boss and make him pay for his misdeeds. The rest of the comic is dedicated to the usual first issue laundry list. The main players in the story are introduced, as well as setting up the major story arc for the rest of the series.
The premise is strong. The dead coming back to exact justice on their killers is a story that has been done before, but that does not make it any less enjoyable. As interesting as the story is though, the comic is somewhat hampered by its art style.
The color palette that the artist used seems very dark. Even scenes during the day seem to take place at twilight. Those few bright colors that are uses seem somehow muted. Not to say that every comic has to have the flamboyance of a superhero costume, but when the primary character wear a luchador mask it would be nice to have it pop a bit more.
Overall, the art is a personal choice. Some will love it, others won’t. However, the story the issue sets up is enough to warrant picking the book up.
