” ...Stunning, filled with a kinetic energy. ...A comic series to
look out for.” - The Nerdist
Based on the award-winning animated short film, and
inspired by the Angels&Airwaves album “The Dream Walker” by
multi-platinum recording artist TOM DELONGE (cofounder and front man of the
world-famous punk-pop band Blink-182), this graphic novel collects the
critically acclaimed mini-series written by DeLonge and co-writer Ben Kull
(Father of the Pride, Mission Hill) and illustrated by animation sensation Djet.
The prequel adventure chronicles young Jonas Anderson's first foray into The
Dream World, where he discovers his destiny to become Poet Anderson, a guardian
Dream Walker who protects innocents while they sleep from the horrors their own
dreams could pose in the Waking World.
This beautifully-illustrated adventure is supplemented
with an in depth interview with DeLonge, exploring the many facets of fringe
culture, dream theory, and the philosophy behind his various storytelling
avenues. Also included are dozens of concept and design illustrations created
during the development of the animated short film and current feature film
pre-production.
This hardcover volume will also
include a CD mounted inside the back cover containing a soundtrack of previously
unreleased instrumental and b-side tracks by DeLonge and
Angels&Airwaves.
When I saw this on Net Galley the teenager inside of me got all giddy at the name Tom DeLonge. I was a little bit obsessed with playing Blink 182 out of my stereo as loud as it would go as a teenager.
Page 1-71 is the three-part graphic novel (comic) and Page 72-92 is the interview with DeLonge and concept art gallery.
We follow Jonas Anderson as he discovers this whole other Dream World created by mankind’s shared unconscious thoughts, as well as his destiny to be a “Poet” and Dream Walker. Jonas has his big brother along for the ride, but the catch is with Alan not having any special abilities he doesn’t remember anything when he wakes up. Because of Jonas natural gifts in the Dream World he is a target for REM (the evil villain) and his Night Stalkers.
This comic arc is set at the beginning of the Poet Anderson’s Dream World adventures so we learn of REM’s evil plans to break through and take over the Waking World using Jonas. We see REM start to facilitate his plan with the murder of both Jonas’s parents.
There is a lot of detail packed into the 71 pages, but I don’t want to spoil your fun by going into it further.
I found the interview with DeLonge interesting and intend to look further into the other Dream Walking projects. The multi-media storytelling of Poet Anderson’s world already includes an album by Angels & Airwaves, an animated short film (with a full length feature in production), one Novel and this three-issue comic arc. From what I gather while the stories are linked, they can all be enjoyed on their own without any previous Poet knowledge.
