Boom! Studios 2018
Created & Written by Max Bemis
Created & Illustrated by Michael Dialynas
Lettered by Colin Bell
Max Bemis (Moon Knight writer and lead singer of Say Anything) and Michael Dialynas (The Woods) present a sweeping, coming-of-age fantasy about living your dreams—literally. In her dreams, Lucy is the hero of all her favorite stories, living each night as a grand adventure. These journeys will teach her more about herself and the real world around her than she ever expected.
I have to admit that I still wish my dreams would transport me to wherever it is I am in my dream, well except a select few but that’s another issue. So that this is pretty much the premise behind the book is exciting fresh and done in a way that’s damn near flawless. This is our introduction to Lucy and honestly there’s a lot more going on here than I was expecting, well that’s not true I didn’t know what to expect so I’m stupidly impressed with how much this issue brought to bear.
I like the way this book is structured from the opening to the last page the whole flow of things is so enjoyable. I like the opening because it’s an immediate attention grabber which is how you hook people in so that they get it. Seeing Lucy and her parents having a conversation about what she’s reading at the breakfast table was pure joy. The conversation has this whole sense of a family that loves each, talks and I mean real communication and it goes against the grain of who Lucy sees herself as and I like that.
I am not quite sure I ever got the idea behind the kind of girl she is. I mean she has this firm grasp of herself and her strength’s and flaws and chooses to distance herself from those around her. So why? This is something I never understood I mean why choose to be the outcast when it’s just as easy to be placed into it as one. That is neither here nor there but it is an example of getting the reader involved in the story in ways that go beyond what is seen on the page and that’s important to keep readers interested and coming back repeatedly.
I am really enchanted by the interiors here. They don’t come across like I would think they should or would but there this mystique about them that draws you in and just mesmerises by the way it makes it you feel. The way page layouts are utilised and the angles and perspective in the panels show off a very unique and talented eye for storytelling. I love the way he’s able to draw the eye and move it around the panels and the pages. Also the transition was handled beautifully and the creativity and imagination really captures the readers own imagination.
I am sitting here after having had plenty of time to digest this and as I go through it again I am just loving and blown away by the writing. Barc Landin hahaha okay suave, debonair and dangerous and I wish sarcasm translated to my writing but regardless that exchange between them when she’s starting to realise what’s really going on but not quite there is spectacular. Almost as good when she’s herself there for the first time.
From the concept of this through it’s execution I have to say my hats off to these gentlemen because there’s nothing negative to say about it. There is no comparison to make to another franchise, book or anything I have read or seen. The interiors are superbly done and the lettering with things like seeing Barc’s name and the differences in who is speaking it all works on every single stinkin level.
A true original these gentlemen didn’t come to play they came to rule.