REVIEW: Knight Terrors #4 (of 4)

The endgame has begun in Knight Terrors #4. The Nightmare Stone has been found, will this end the nightmare or could it possibly make things worse?

Deadman, Sandman, and Damian Wayne infiltrated Insomnia’s dreams and secured the Nightmare Stone in issue #3. And this one has them entering the heart of the nightmare wave to use the stone to stop Insomnia for good. We get the final pieces of Insomnia’s backstory. This part is a bit hit or miss. The flashback of what drives his hatred for the Justice League is too on the nose and isn’t particularly original. But the revelation of his true masterplan is a stroke of genius that turns the entire series on its head. Deadman as the lead protagonist is a bold move but he is so well written the questions of why he’s the star fade quickly. Writer Joshua Williamson does a great job of keeping the story moving at a brisk pace and continuing to put the puzzle pieces together as we near the conclusion of the story arc.

The art and coloring continue to be fantastic in this series as well. This issue only features a few locations but they are all well done and interesting to look at visually. The Insomnia’s flashback scene is done with faded colors and an almost film grain style to it. The character art is the main highlight though. The lead characters Deadman, Sandman, and Robin are slightly more stylized versions of their classic selves while the real-world Insomnia actually looks more frightening than the nightmare version. Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Caspar Wijngaard, and Frank Martin’s art continues to compliment the storytelling in this series very well.

As the penultimate issue in the main storyline, Knight Terrors #4 has to hit hard and get readers excited to see how it all ends. This issue delivers. The simple plan the heroes have doesn’t go smoothly as any savvy reader would predict, but it goes south in a very interesting way and is a genuine surprise. And the way virtually every side issue in integrated into this issue is truly amazing. Insomnia’s plan may be more interesting than he is as a character but when the twist is this good, that’s not a problem. The final pages are a massive cliffhanger/tease for what’s to come. In a way, things are just getting started in the story so it will be interesting to see how the creative team wraps up the story in the final issue.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4.5 Stars
Coloring – 5 Stars

Overall
4.5 Stars

Written by; Joshua Williamson
Art by; Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, and Caspar Wijngaard
Colors by; Frank Martin and Caspar Wijngaard
Letters by; Troy Peteri
Published by; DC Comics

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Christopher R. Ford

Writer, author, and blogger. Published author of three children's books and also writes for the boy Creators For The Culture. Part-time sneaker head, full time nerd.