Dreamkeepers: Volume 1 Awakenings

Dreamkeepers: Volume 1 Awakenings #1

The average of all the ratings given to the book by the review panel.

Average Rating:

1/4

Year: 2006
Writer: David Lillie & Liz Thomas
Artist: David Lillie
Pencils: David Lillie
Inker: David Lillie
Colorist: David Lillie & Brad Higginbotham
Letterer: David Lillie
Publisher: Vivid Publishing
Website: http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com
Genre: Fantasy
Description of book: (From the Web-Site) "The dreamworld is a mysterious reality that parallels our own. Humans cannot enter this reality - we can only catch fleeting glimpses of it through our dreaming, unconscious minds.

Dark things lurk in this fantasy world, however - and we are vulnerable while we sleep. They thirst to cross from their world into our unconscious and defenseless minds - using our dreams as the bridge. The only thing blocking their path is the existence of the dreamkeepers. Every last person has a dreamkeeper, an embodiment in the dream world. So long as your dreamkeeper lives, the nightmare hordes cannot enter your mind through your dreams. Everyone's dreamkeeper is completely unique - your personality and subconscious influence your dreamkeeper's appearance and abilities. Just as we are ignorant of them, they have no knowledge of us and our world. Yet despite our separate realities, their lives are tied to ours. If a couple falls in love here, their dreamkeepers will share that love.

One thing we do not share, however, is their peril.

The nightmarish evils of the dreamworld know that the dreamkeeper's life protects us. Their dark minds scheme and strive to destroy the dreamkeepers, to spill their blood, and to utterly end their existence. This is why the dreamkeepers are gifted with supernatural abilities - each dreamkeeper has a unique power with which to defend themselves and their friends. However, There has been no conflict in the dreamworld for centuries. Peace has bred complacency and ignorance. The dreamkeepers have forgotten the darkness of the past, lowered their defenses, even outlawing the use of their powers. The nightmares remain, however, lurking in secrecy - and their dark designs are near to completion..."
Price: $19.95

Writing: It would be easy for some to discount the depth in this book at first glance. While I don't share the view, the cartoonish "manga" style is often stereotyped as a kid thing - good only for bubbly female leads, animal's with large eyes, and space battles. This book completely shatters that stereotype.

While we do have a bit of the cutesy at work here, this is a very human story filled with very believable characters. It was this element that grabbed me by the face from the first page. These are characters I genuinely like and feel an intense draw towards. I really want to see what happens to them next and, given that David Lillie is not a fan of letting his characters live without a genuine threat of danger, I really hope they make it into the next chapter in one piece!

Artwork: While the writing was absolutely golden, the artwork really shone in this book. The distinct and expressive characters, incredibly detailed scenery, and vibrant colors all contributed as well to the story as the characters themselves did.

Overall: 5 stars. I'm dying to see more. This is a great, well-rounded title and an incredible first showing from a new publisher!

Alex Haas

Writing: A lot of backstory was presented in this issue as well as some good plot points that really drug you into the story. I found myself being very entertained and captivated by this issue. Both the story as well as the art served as a great springboard for this comic. I find that with some of the comics we read that I really lose any thought about them a day or so after I read it. This comic didn't suffer from that fate.

Overall: 4 stars. This was just a well put together first issue. Still too early for a five star rating but I can easily see this comic reaching that level as the story unfolds. I'm ready for issue two.

Stefan Haas

Writing: This book has a number of the standard fantasy elements (protagonist from orphanage, bullies in orphanage, beautiful princess that he falls in love with, sidekick type that dies early on, etc) but they're all put together in a nice neat package. There are enough different things going on in the background that we get glimpses of to provide some depth to the experience as well. It was a little darker at spots than I expected from the cutesy animal figures with their big manga/anime eyes.

Overall: 4 stars. This is a quick, enjoyable read with a few undertones that were darker than I expected.

Robert Weiman

Writing: A very enjoyable story. This is a really well told tale where characters are layed out nicely and given purpose. The story doesn't hurry to get somewhere, but gives you enough action and interesting sub-plots to make it interesting and entertaining.

This is a great start for this first time publisher. I really think we will continue to hear from Mr. Lillie in the future.

Artwork: This was an odd mix for me. I loved most of the artwork throughout. Then there were a handful of panels that seem to have pencil lines left behind. Intentional or not, it sort of distracted me because I started looking for it to see if they were a mistake or not.

Overall: 4 stars. This is one of the few books where all four of us made an inquiry about the availabillity of the book when we are all done reviewing it. In short, we love this book.

Close to a five star for me, but I'm going to leave a little bit of room for issue number 2. And maybe by then I'll figure out what is going on with those few stray pencil marks.

Ron Miller