Parasomnia #1
Dark Horse Comics 2021
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Lettered by Simon Bowland
From Cullen Bunn (Harrow County) and Andrea Mutti (Prometheus, Starship Down), comes a new dark fantasy tale of two worlds split between dreams and reality. After his son disappears, a broken-down man braves a nightmarish dreamscape in order to find him—and battle the ruthless cult that seeks to rule the land of dreams as the barrier between realities starts to collapse.
When you see a title and have to look up what it actually means you know that straight away you are engaged and invested in the book. Turns out I have aspects of Parasomnia in my life, I have been known to sleepwalk and talk in my sleep, so you learn something new every day and if you don’t then you really should start trying more as its what makes life more interesting. How this works with the story however is as of yet unknown to me and I like this aspect because it remains something of a mystery and mysteries are what keep us coming back to a story time and time again.
I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of event unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development is interesting and this is thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels. This holds true for both the real world and the fantasy world that we see within these pages and it’s the beginning of seeing the correlation between the two. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story, the characters in this little drama and the worlds they inhabit we’re mesmerised as we try to piece together what’s happening.
I appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and start to grow. These layers are where the bits of stronger characterisation happen as well as where we see the dual worlds coming into play. What this does is add extra depth and complexity to the story regardless if they enhance the main arc or simply swirl around it. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves everything forward is achieved exceptionally well.
God I love Andrea’s work. The man is a sensational visual storyteller and what he can do with the linework and its varying weights to create this level of detail work is utterly astounding. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised throughout to not only enhance the moments but to work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The creativity and imagination that is on display here is gorgeous to see and while mainly in the alternate world with its various species it is so effective everywhere. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant to see. The watercolour painting and how it utilises the various hues and tones within the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is brilliantly rendered. Overall the work on the interiors really is simply bloody mindbogglingly brilliant to see.
This is why I love comics, the level and quality of storytelling is second to none. The creativity and imagination on display is wondrous and it really finds a way to engage the reader and get them invested in the story brilliantly. This is unlike anything we’ve seen in comics that I’m aware of and its also what I’ve come to expect from these gentlemen, storytelling that is par excellence. Dark Horse is lucky to have such a dynamic combination of talent here.
Dark Horse Comics 2021
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Lettered by Simon Bowland
From Cullen Bunn (Harrow County) and Andrea Mutti (Prometheus, Starship Down), comes a new dark fantasy tale of two worlds split between dreams and reality. After his son disappears, a broken-down man braves a nightmarish dreamscape in order to find him—and battle the ruthless cult that seeks to rule the land of dreams as the barrier between realities starts to collapse.
When you see a title and have to look up what it actually means you know that straight away you are engaged and invested in the book. Turns out I have aspects of Parasomnia in my life, I have been known to sleepwalk and talk in my sleep, so you learn something new every day and if you don’t then you really should start trying more as its what makes life more interesting. How this works with the story however is as of yet unknown to me and I like this aspect because it remains something of a mystery and mysteries are what keep us coming back to a story time and time again.
I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of event unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development is interesting and this is thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels. This holds true for both the real world and the fantasy world that we see within these pages and it’s the beginning of seeing the correlation between the two. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story, the characters in this little drama and the worlds they inhabit we’re mesmerised as we try to piece together what’s happening.
I appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and start to grow. These layers are where the bits of stronger characterisation happen as well as where we see the dual worlds coming into play. What this does is add extra depth and complexity to the story regardless if they enhance the main arc or simply swirl around it. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves everything forward is achieved exceptionally well.
God I love Andrea’s work. The man is a sensational visual storyteller and what he can do with the linework and its varying weights to create this level of detail work is utterly astounding. The way that we see backgrounds being utilised throughout to not only enhance the moments but to work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The creativity and imagination that is on display here is gorgeous to see and while mainly in the alternate world with its various species it is so effective everywhere. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as brilliant to see. The watercolour painting and how it utilises the various hues and tones within the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is brilliantly rendered. Overall the work on the interiors really is simply bloody mindbogglingly brilliant to see.
This is why I love comics, the level and quality of storytelling is second to none. The creativity and imagination on display is wondrous and it really finds a way to engage the reader and get them invested in the story brilliantly. This is unlike anything we’ve seen in comics that I’m aware of and its also what I’ve come to expect from these gentlemen, storytelling that is par excellence. Dark Horse is lucky to have such a dynamic combination of talent here.
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