People are heaping a lot of praise on Dream Thief right now, and while I don't want to say it's unwarranted, though it's fast becoming a victim of overhype syndrome. With the second issue only having just hit the stands last week as well as it being only a limited series, it's kind of jumping the gun to declare its greatness. From my end, it seems a little Crow-esque, with its spirit of revenge schtick becoming clear, and something more akin to the Black Hood from the old early 90's Impact line from DC, which had a heroic legacy passed down through a mask (both of which were the inspiration for a character I developed in high school, which is what I was reminded of instantly when certain tidbits were revealed this second issue). The story has some nice spins on those Crow/Black Hood ideas, but it's not as crafty as I had been led to believe by the overeager comics blogosphere, and it's not blowing me out of the water as it seems it is a great many others... at least not concept-wise. Greg Smallwood's art, on the other hand, is rather fab. In the same line as a Michael Lark or Sean Philips or Terry Beatty (in the Wild Dog strips from Action Comics Weekly) or Steve Lieber (see 365 Comics #185) his figure work takes focus of most panels,body language and facial expressions being key story accents, but his page layouts are exceptionally thoughtful and often clever, and generally quite appealing to follow along with. I'm certainly not writing this mini-series off, but I just want the praise hounds to temper it a little bit... it's a solid, entertaining crime book, people should read it, but it's not going to change any lives and it's not going to cause any revolutions. It's just a fun read, let's not go overboard.
Friday, July 5, 2013
365 Comics...186: Dream Thief #2 (2013)
People are heaping a lot of praise on Dream Thief right now, and while I don't want to say it's unwarranted, though it's fast becoming a victim of overhype syndrome. With the second issue only having just hit the stands last week as well as it being only a limited series, it's kind of jumping the gun to declare its greatness. From my end, it seems a little Crow-esque, with its spirit of revenge schtick becoming clear, and something more akin to the Black Hood from the old early 90's Impact line from DC, which had a heroic legacy passed down through a mask (both of which were the inspiration for a character I developed in high school, which is what I was reminded of instantly when certain tidbits were revealed this second issue). The story has some nice spins on those Crow/Black Hood ideas, but it's not as crafty as I had been led to believe by the overeager comics blogosphere, and it's not blowing me out of the water as it seems it is a great many others... at least not concept-wise. Greg Smallwood's art, on the other hand, is rather fab. In the same line as a Michael Lark or Sean Philips or Terry Beatty (in the Wild Dog strips from Action Comics Weekly) or Steve Lieber (see 365 Comics #185) his figure work takes focus of most panels,body language and facial expressions being key story accents, but his page layouts are exceptionally thoughtful and often clever, and generally quite appealing to follow along with. I'm certainly not writing this mini-series off, but I just want the praise hounds to temper it a little bit... it's a solid, entertaining crime book, people should read it, but it's not going to change any lives and it's not going to cause any revolutions. It's just a fun read, let's not go overboard.
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