"Dream Crasher: Chapters 2 & 3" Comic Review

Written by James Ferguson

Published by Stealing Fire Comics

Click images to enlarge
Written by Daniel Stalter
Illustrated by Reed Olsen
2016, 30 pages each

Review:

When we last left Amalie, she had just murdered her father who had transformed into a hideous monster.  Now she sets off into the world for the first time in years with a young man named Simon to meet other survivors.  The land around them has been decimated and strange ghosts lurk in the wilderness.  This is most definitely not a summer camp trip.

Where the first chapter of Dream Crasher introduces us to this world, these two greatly expand upon it, fleshing out some details of Amalie’s life and the world around her.  This is especially true in chapter three, mostly told in flashback to the time when Amalie’s father came back from the war a changed man.  These facts immediately reframe Dream Crasher as a different type of tale and greatly enhance the story.  I almost wish this segment was interspersed within the first chapter to provide some more gravitas to the barren wasteland setting.  

Click images to enlarge

The flashback adds humanity to Amalie who has, up until this point, been a husk of her past self.  She’s been through Hell and is most likely dealing withsome PTSD.  Seeing how she reacts to her father’s new odd behavior reinforces the decisions she made in the first chapter and shows how strong-willed she is.  

The second chapter works largely to get Amalie from her house in the woods to the group of kids in a cave.  This runs a little long and includes an extended dream sequence that doesn’t pack much of an emotional punch.  It is worth it for an awesome full-page spread from artist Reed Olsen showing a sleeping Amalie where half of her face begins to crumble away into bricks that form the setting of the dream.  

Click images to enlarge

Unfortunately, the rest of the comic has that same sketch-like quality of the first chapter.  The basics are there in terms of form and function, but the characters look rather flat and stiff, as if they were paper dolls awkwardly placed on the page.  This is a shame as Olsen shows a real talent for art direction with some brilliant page design that tells the story in new and interesting ways.  There are a few instances where arrows are inserted to guide the reader to the proper reading order, however those are completely unnecessary.  

Dream Crasher really finds its stride with these two chapters, especially the third one.  It features a terrifying post-apocalyptic world filled with dangers all around.  At its center is young Amalie, a strong young woman who’s struggling to find what little family she has left in this cold, desolated wasteland.

Grades:

Story: fourstars Cover
Art: twostars
Overall: 3 Star Rating

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James Ferguson
Lord of the Funny Books
James has a 2nd grade reading level and, as a result, only reads books with pictures. Horror is his 5th favorite genre right after romantic comedy and just before silent films. No one knows why he's here, but he won't leave.
Other articles by this writer

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