DC’s new summer crossover event, Knight Terrors, kicked off last week with the KNIGHT TERRORS FIRST BLOOD #1. That story introduced Insomnia as the event’s main villain as he put the entire DC Universe to sleep in order to hunt for the Nightmare Stone that Dr. Destiny hid within the nightmares of one of his adversaries.

In addition to that one-shot, DC also released the first batch of stand-alone stories for individual characters. Releasing this past week were KNIGHT TERRORS BATMAN #1, KNIGHT TERRORS THE JOKER #1, KNIGHT TERRORS POISON IVY #1, KNIGHT TERRORS BLACK ADAM #1, and KNIGHT TERRORS RAVAGER #1. Each of these are the first part of a two-part story following each character’s own individual nightmare caused by Insomnia. I’ll be doing shorter reviews for these and subsequent ones as the stories are shorter and lower stakes. Let’s kick it off!

KNIGHT TERRORS BATMAN #1

Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Guillem March, this would have been my least favorite of the Knight Terror stories if it weren’t for Black Adam’s story also coming out this week. The issue picks up right where FIRST BLOOD left off with Batman facing his worst nightmare and in a shock to absolutely no one, it’s reliving the death of his parents for the umpteenth time. It’s really hard to make this story feel unique and Williamson fails to deliver any new elements which makes this issue feel flat. The only new piece of information we get is that Batman seemingly realizes that he’s being trapped by Insomnia and is on a mission to wake himself up to save the day. There’s also a secondary story at the end of the book showing Damian Wayne on a quest to defeat sleep itself. Perhaps the younger Wayne will play a bigger role in the event’s main four-part KNIGHT TERRORS miniseries which kicks off next week?

Rating: 4/10

KNIGHT TERRORS THE JOKER #1

Hands down this story from Matthew Rosenberg was my favorite of the stories we got this week! We’re immediately put into the Joker’s nightmare which follows his downward spiral after Batman dies (in one of the most inconsequential and absurdly hilarious ways) during one of the duo’s confrontations. With nobody around to save Gotham any longer, crime just becomes too easy for Joker, causing him to give up his life of crime for a mindless office day job at Wayne Enterprises. The issue plays out in an Office Space meets Severance type of way, with Joker failing upwards thanks to his complete disdain for anything corporate. Stefano Raffaele’s artistic world building is great and captures Joker’s decaying mood throughout the book perfectly. Overall, the issue showcases that nightmares come in all shapes and sizes and that there can still be a semblance of humor when depicting someone else’s horror.

Rating: 8/10

KNIGHT TERRORS BLACK ADAM #1

In perhaps the most obvious sign that DC’s approach to these standalone stories was to push quantity over quality, Jeremy Haun’s KNIGHT TERRORS BLACK ADAM #1 was a completely forgettable and unnecessary read. Apparently Black Adam’s worst nightmare is losing his powers? Not very deep or complex if you ask me. The book is panel after panel of Black Adam fighting off random druid-like beings with little text to put things into context and a lackluster approach to artwork to help create any sense of world-building. Oh, Batman shows up at the end to try and get us interested for the next issue. Having to read that might be my nightmare.

Rating: 1/10

KNIGHT TERRORS POISON IVY #1

G. Willow Wilson continues her impressive work with Poison Ivy in this Knight Terrors story. After falling into her slumber, Ivy finds herself coming home to a housewife version of Harley Quinn in the middle of a Stepford Wife suburbia where villains and heroes alike are best friends with unsettling grins from ear to ear. After initially being horrified at her surroundings, Ivy begins to transform into a similar mindless state after a romantic romp with Harley and loses her sense of reality. This may be one of the most heart-wrenching entries into the Knights Terror event as we watch the titular character succumb to the alternate reality around her without any ability to control her own destiny.

My only complaint with this story is that it was the only Knight Terror story to depict the title character losing a sense of their free will throughout the process. By the end of the issue, it felt as though Janet from HR was the main character, rather than Ivy herself. Hopefully that’s not the case in the story’s conclusion because it was near perfect for the first two-thirds of the book.

Rating: 7.5/10

KNIGHT TERRORS RAVAGER #1

In one of the more personal Knights Terror entries so far, Rose Wilson, a.k.a. Ravager, meets a younger version of herself, Rose Madison. This version of Rose grew up in a stable home with loving foster parents, instead of the brothel our version of Rose was brought up in. Ed Brisson masterfully writes the story with grace and highlights the inner conflict Rose hasn’t always had the space to deal with. Dexter Soy’s artwork also beautifully captures the raw emotion of the meeting, even with the Ravager mask covering half of our Rose’s face. Combined, it all builds up a touching view into Rose’s sense of self that helps ending’s “surprise” twist land even if it was telegraphed a bit earlier in the story.

While this story still felt like a reach to be labeled an event tie-in, other than the fact that it all happens inside a nightmare, the poignancy elevates it as a strong standalone story regardless.

Rating: 6.5/10