REVIEW: Dream Police, #1

[CBR News]

In J. Michael Stracyznski and Sid Kotian's "Dream Police" #1, Joe Thursday and Frank Stafford have been policing the Dreamscape since they can remember -- or have they?


Full review here.

[matt levin]

I pretty much agree with this CBR review--

I really want to like this title—the concept’s interesting, the possibilities seem open, much like the recent, now much-missed Dial H for Hero.
But unlike the world of Dial H, where there seemed natural ‘rules of the world’ binding on the characters, the rules of the Dream Police world, (Thursday says there are rules), are very cloudy to me; truly the most dream-like thing about this first issue.

And for a dream world, so much seems so linear (the cat dream, the restaurant, the cops even clock time off for lunch): in my experience, dream experiences are rarely so straight-forward. And I also question that (even) a dead parent, or a naked member of the opposite sex in a dream is necessarily cause for fear, yet Thursday states these are as if A Rule in the dreamscape.

The Sargent Friday/Dragnet pastiche was fun at first, but grew rapidly tiring, perhaps because ol’ Jack Webb’s narration’s been done so often. I’m hoping this might lessen before it becomes flatter than a tire when you’re in a hurry.

My real problem is deeper than pastiche, though, or incipient world-building: by the end of the first issue, there’s still nobody I care about.

I really did like the songs on the juke box: sure are a lot of ‘dream’ songs--. And I like it that Joe doesn’t notice his partner changes: this more than anything seems to bode well for an interesting series. I do really want to like this title and look forward to seeing the concept deepen and the world take shape. And maybe even the characters become likeable, interesting, genuinely individuals.