Knight Terrors: First Blood #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[Rakzo]

Yeah, Dark Crisis wasn't very good was it?

The event itself was probably one of the most unremarkable crossovers that DC had in quite a while (although at least it had some solid character moments which is more than I can say for Scott Snyder's Metal events) so I can understand why people are a bit apprehensive about yet another event handled by Joshua Williamson and I include myself right there. That being said, there are a few things that Knight Terrors does better than Dark Crisis so far.

First of all, it doesn't try to sell itself as "The Next Big Story" that made Dark Crisis look so ultimately generic, instead it opens with a more clear purpose of simply telling a horror story that is affecting the heroes of the DCU. Second, it offers many strong character segments that depict the most recent incidents in their lives and create logical developments for all of them, I appreciate that this was Williamson's course of action here since is one of his strengths (although it does require you to have knowledge of a lot of things that are currently happening in their books). Third, there's a big focus on Deadman of all characters and it seems like he's going to play an important role in this story which is unique in and of itself (although there's also a focus on Batman but at least Williamson does interesting things with their interactions).

This is not perfect though since the "big threat" here is a villain that was recently introduced by Williamson himself and while his power is imposing, his personality and motivations leave a bit to be desired (and this is also a Williamson problem as we saw with Dark Crisis' antagonists). Fortunately, his abilities bring compelling moments for everyone else and the story moves at a fast pace.

Howard Porter's artwork is pretty good since he's able to follow every horror scene with a lot of detail.

Decent beginning overall, let's see how it continues though.

[sifighter]

I have said this elsewhere but its hard to judge since this is just the intro/setup. It's the part of the story that carries us from the main universe to the event. Maybe I'd feel different if I picked up some of the tie-ins as well, waiting for payday before I do that, but for now all I have is a new villain and the overall threat with Waller in the background.

Don't take that as negative criticism though, it has what I like from event stories. Mainly characters and the universe coming together, being referenced, and playing a part into things. I also like how Insomnia reminds me a bit of freddy krueger.

[thwhtGuardian]

I don't understand how Porter gets work, sure he does good with the monsters and Deadman but his regular people(especially women) are beyond bad.

As for the story itself? I think it's a big whiff. The new villain is super generic and his plan to make the heroes "pay" for what they did to him is even more one note. Much like Williamson's other event, if you were to tell me this was going to be a simple two or three part story I'd be more forgiving but as an event with multiple parts and tie ins you need something far more compelling.

[Dr. Poison]

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much due to the solicits but I was pleasantly surprised with how well this was written. Williamson did a great job characterizing Deadman(even touching on the time he spent with Wonder Woman in her solo book). The book really brought the horror element and Porter's art didn't disappoint. I feel like he changed his style for this book but it really worked.

[king81992]

Dr. Destiny should've been the main villain instead of getting shafted to shill Insomnia, who seems generic so far. The only question is if Insomnia is a new character or an existing one that got retooled.

[Marvel Wars]

I don't understand how Porter gets work, sure he does good with the monsters and Deadman but his regular people(especially women) are beyond bad.

Yeah the arts don't even looks finished it was really bad, I feel sorry for the colorist.

[thwhtGuardian]

Dr. Destiny should've been the main villain instead of getting shafted to shill Insomnia, who seems generic so far. The only question is if Insomnia is a new character or an existing one that got retooled.

The whole death of Dr. Destiny bit in the opening almost felt like it was tacked on after someone said, "Hey, why'd you create a new character, wouldn't Dr. Destiny be able to do the same thing?" "Um, no, see my guy is totally better and different. See, he kills Destiny on page one!"

[Rakzo]

Doubt that Williamson forgot about Doctor Destiny considering his attention to history. He probably used him because he was the biggest connection to the theme.

[exile001]

Why would Williamson name a villain, whose power is keeping people asleep and trapped in nightmares, Insomnia, which relates to having difficulty falling or staying asleep?

[king81992]

Why would Williamson name a villain, whose power is keeping people asleep and trapped in nightmares, Insomnia, which relates to having difficulty falling or staying asleep?

Williamson does not think about what he writes, see Shadow War and Dark Crisis.

[sifighter]

Williamson does not think about what he writes, see Shadow War and Dark Crisis.

I liked Shadow war and Dark Crisis….that’s all. Not trying to persuade or argue just throwing it out there

[Dr. Poison]

Dr. Destiny should've been the main villain instead of getting shafted to shill Insomnia, who seems generic so far. The only question is if Insomnia is a new character or an existing one that got retooled.

I agree about Dr. Destiny. Even though he died, his story may not be over and he might even be back before this story concludes. It would have been cool if Dr. Destiny was the main villain for this event to show he's still a credible A-level threat.

On a side, note, I feel like a lot of creators lately want to create new villains while leaving established, similar villains sitting on the shelf in limbo. I'm not totally against new characters but I feel like DC has so many characters already that one or more of them probably fit the story that the writer wants to tell, even if it means making a few tweaks to the character while still keeping them recognizable.

[j9ac9k]

Why would Williamson name a villain, whose power is keeping people asleep and trapped in nightmares, Insomnia, which relates to having difficulty falling or staying asleep?

Maybe the villain himself can't sleep. Or... maybe it's ironic - like a big guy nicknamed "Tiny?"

[HsssH]

He just looked at sleep related terms, thought that it sounds cool and picked it. Maybe he remembered watching a movie with the same name years ago. Anyway, doesn't matter, some time later he'll read on DC fan wiki that maybe it might be ironic name and he'll later claim in some interview that it was totally ironic.