The Dreaming: Waking Hours

Hey everyone, it’s G. Willow Wilson’s new nightmare!  Or, Ruin, as he’s known to his friends and to his creator, Dream.  He’s at the center of this twelve-issue maxiseries, which is really two five issue arcs connected by a two-issue transition.  As his name implies, things fall apart in the character’s wake, starting with the dream of a young priest-in-training who Ruin falls immediately in love with.  Before he can get back to this boy and try to fix things, the nightmare has to find a way out of the Dreaming.  Which he does, by way of the dreams of struggling single mom undergraduate Lindy who is trying to finish her dissertation on Shakespeare.  Now she’s stuck in the Dreaming with SO MANY versions  of the Bard and Ruin has to take care of her kid.  It could always be worse, though.  I mean, they could be dealing with the Realm of Faerie, which is currently under new management after a magical revolution saw its monarchy deposed and… something else put in its place.

“Waking Hours” suffers in comparison to the three volumes of “The Dreaming” that Simon Spurrier and Bilquis Evely (and friends) did in that it’s not some grand statement on the world and characters created by Neil Gaiman.  No, this maxiseries is all about having fun in that playground while introducing some new characters into it.  In that regard “Waking Hours” is a resounding success as Ruin, grumpy exiled angel Jophiel, vivacious mage Heather After, and even her thuddingly straightforward boyfriend Todd make for winning additions to this particular fictional world.  There is the fact that I like the opening arc better than the closing arc, but both boast dazzling art from Nick Robles who has the style to stand with the best artists who’ve worked on these characters.  Javier Rodriguez also delivers some fantastic and impressively designed work in the two-issue transition, while M.K. Perker pitches in ably in the back half.

Even if it isn’t a grand epic like the stories that came before it, “Waking Hours” is a fun romp that respects and adds to what has come before in the Dreaming.  I wouldn’t have minded another twelve issues from Wilson, Robles, and co., but I’m glad we got these issues nonetheless.