Another new #1 form Image but does it match the level of most recent #1 launches? You may be dreaming but most likely you’ll simply be entertained.

Official description from IMAGE:

A double-size issue to kick off a new sci-fi series from Nathan Edmondson and newcomer Konstantin Novosadov. Haunted by recurring dreams, a boy named Winslow is hunted by mysterious beings and protected by an old traveler.

Nathan Edmondson is the perfect writer to bring us a new mind bending mystery in The Dream Merchant. His ability to  keep you guessing and deal with matters of the brain are obvious in his work with the Jake Ellis books. The Dream Merchant plays on a different plane but with similar existential scrutiny. The story is based around Winslow who has been plagued by a reoccurring dream since childhood that eventually lands him residence in a psych hospital. He has trouble distinguishing what’s a dream and what’s awakening but that all changes when strange figures start to appear that now hunt him. Winslow is finally given the knowledge that his one singular lifelong dream is also what the rest of the world has been made to forget and why he is now hunted. He gains an ally in Anne, a worker from the hospital, and The Merchant of Dreams who will help him escape.

Edmondson has a knack for this style of story. He has the ability to jumps between realities and still tell a tight, concise story and doing so without dumbing down the complex aspect of dreams and symbolism. Newcomer Konstantin Novosadov‘s art is such that I can see a love, hate reception from readers. For my money, I love it. It’s got a true comic sensibility and distinct character flair. He transitions effortlessly between dreaming and awake states without drastic shifts and which serves makes a story like this even more palatable.

The Dream Merchant jumps and shifts without being shocking or confusing. It’s capable of hooking the casual reader by exploiting the comic medium for maximum story-telling value. There are plenty of books that ask you to think outside the box  and this one does too but supplies you with a road map as well. If you like a title asking you to think a little without being talked down to then The Dream Merchant should be in your weekly stack.

4/5