Review: ‘Knight Terrors’ #4

Ok, maybe the exuberance I espoused in my review for the previous issue was premature. Joshua Williamson teased me into thinking things were about to get good and then put me through the 25-page whiplash of an issue that was KNIGHT TERRORS #4. So many different things happen in this final issue of the main “Knight Terrors” event (next week’s KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END is the event’s epilogue) that it should have come with a warning that it could cause the reader to become disoriented.

Let’s check off all the moments that happen here that clogged up the issue (**spoilers ahead**):

• Damian Wayne has one last mini-nightmare while walking up a flight of stairs

• Deadman gets tempted by former flings

• We find out why Insomnia hates the Justice League

• Insomnia sacrifices himself in a dream to claim the Nightmare Stone

• All the DC heroes wake up

• Batman and Damian realize the nightmares have invaded reality

That’s SIX semi-major scenes that were crammed into the book. Do the math and that means none of these last for more than a couple pages making it insanely hard to get invested in any of them. By the time you realize what’s happening, you move on to another bit without looking back. The biggest disappointment in all of this was Insomnia’s rushed backstory and reasons for turning evil all of which bordered on inane. How did Insomnia go from angry fanboy to a villain worthy of his own event? Did Williamson forget he only hand four issues to tell his story? We may never know the answer to either question.

Thankfully, the art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, and Caspar Wijngaard continues to be the saving grace of this event’s main series for all the same reasons as I’ve discussed in my previous reviews. Deadman’s asides & flashback scenes standout perfectly and provide a nice contrast to everything else that’s happening on the pages.

After this issue, I’m definitely itching to move on from this event and get back to each character’s individual series. The exciting new debuts on the horizon can’t come soon enough.

Rating: 4/10