DC Reviews: Knight Terrors — Robin #1, Zatanna #1, Shazam #1, Flash #1, & Green Lantern #1
The next batch of Knight Terrors tie-in #1s launched this week and, similar to last week’s mixed bag of reviews, included a wide-range of success across the five individual titles. Each of these are the first part of two-part stories following each character’s own individual nightmare caused by Insomnia (or the very much awake battle to save everyone if you’re Zatanna).
These complemented the debut of the event’s main miniseries, KNIGHT TERRORS #1, that also came out this week.
KNIGHT TERRORS ROBIN #1
Credit: DC Comics
This story, written by Kenny Porter with Miguel Medonça and Adriano Lucas on art, pulls double duty with both Tim Drake and Jason Todd getting pulled into an Insomnia-caused nightmare. I appreciated the nice balance Porter took in giving each Robin an individual narrative that end up being part of the same nightmare. His depiction of two characters that haven’t always been written consistently from book to book felt natural to how we generally see the two today — Tim’s need to continue proving himself by pushing his own boundaries to the limits, and Jason’s disillusionment with working as part of a team. I especially appreciated the fact that Tim was able to make a connection to Doctor Destiny so quickly, highlighting just how intuitive he can be.
Seeing these two begrudgingly team up through some fun banter was a nice sense of levity in the high stakes situation Porter’s writing built up. It wasn’t oversized, but the amount of story Porter fit into this issue for two characters was impressive. This was all complemented well by Medonça’s designs and Lucas’s colors throughout the book. While not completely different, there was a noticeable nuance to Tim & Jason' individual nightmare scenes that helped create a sense of separation that was lifted via some great lettering visualizations by Tom Napolitano.
Rating: 7/10
KNIGHT TERRORS ZATANNA #1
Credit: DC Comics
KNIGHT TERRORS ZATANNA #1 is exactly what an event tie-in should be. It’s well written, visually pleasant, and provides readers with an interesting side-quest that actually adds to the main event’s plot. FIRST BLOOD and KNIGHT TERRORS #1 set Zatanna up to play a key role in the main event after she was unaffected by Insomnia’s sleeping curse due to her magical abilities and this issue continued to build on that foundation. I’m really hoping that we see more of Zatanna in the event’s main mini-series after this issue.
I really enjoyed Dennis Culver’s interactions between Zatanna and Robotman, after the former conjures the latter to help fend off enemies. The two must work together to get Wonder Woman and Detective Chip (both asleep thanks to Insomnia) to a safe room. While they don’t see eye-to-eye on how to go about accomplishing their task, Culver writes some very fun dialogue that make both characters immediately relatable given their current predicaments. David Baldeon’s art is also a perfect complement to the issue, beautifully drawing up pages that highlight the mysticism of the issue.
Rating: 8.5/10
KNIGHT TERRORS SHAZAM #1
Credit: DC Comics
I don’t particularly keep up with Shazam books, so it took a bit of research to understand the context of this story which made it a bit less enjoyable for me. I don’t get to keep up with every DC character but so far this has been the first tie-in were my general knowledge of characters wasn’t enough to understand Mary Marvel’s POV. Mark Waid’s writing was strong enough to keep me intrigued throughout the book and I was able to relate with Mary once the plot got going, but it’s lack of connection to the main event lowered the stakes for me.
The issue revealed that Mary wakes herself up from Insomnia’s grasp on a daily basis by uttering “SHAZAM!” during her nightmare and it’s revealed via a fun succession of panels by David Baldeon. I’d have been more intrigued if this allowed Mary to engage with what Zatanna and Deadman are doing in the awake world, but it’s quickly glanced over as she’s brought back into her nightmares for the remainder of the issue.
Rating: 6/10
KNIGHT TERRORS FLASH #1
Credit: DC Comics
Alex Paknadel’s story is an interesting twist that we haven’t yet seen in the other Knight Terror tie-ins. Many of the other tie-ins have failed to create enough stakes for our heroes since they know they’re in a dream and confronted with issues we’ve already seen them deal with in other story arcs, but Paknadel subverts that approach with Barry not even aware that he’s stuck in a nightmare. This puts the reader in an intriguing position as we’re witnessing Barry experience events as if he were awake which makes the emotional stress he endures throughout the issue so much more impactful.
The art by Daniel Bayliss and colors by Igor Monti aid in creating a frenetic feeling to the issue with multiple panels that capture motion and Barry’s speed in spectacular fashion. The final page is one of my favorites in the book and it visually captures what I expected from a story about nightmares.
Rating: 7/10
KNIGHT TERRORS GREEN LANTERN #1
Credit: DC Comics
Another week, another DC character dealing with issues related to their parents’ death. Similar to last week’ BATMAN tie-in, Hal Jordan’s nightmare includes a flashback to his father’s death, which has also been told far too many times to be interesting. It’s also not the only past event that Hal must deal with that has also been explored in previous Lantern stories. There was also a Sinestro backstory at the end which serves as a mini tie-in to the Knight Terrors event, which I guess was fine?
I appreciated how Jeremy Adams seamlessly tied this story into GREEN LANTERN #2’s narrative, which hasn’t been the case for other characters who have their own ongoing series paused while the Knight Terror event unfolds. Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, and Luis Guerrero provide a positive visual experience with the artwork and colors. Lantern titles often allow for interesting color choices and expressive designs and that’s apparent here.
It was really hard for me to connect with the stakes of this issue because it didn’t feel like there was anything new. Yes, Hal is trapped in his nightmares like everyone else….so? This comes off as another tie-in that is removed from the event’s central plot and only published to add a major character’s name to a title.
Rating: 5/10
