Review: Knight Terrors #4
Artists: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, Caspar Wijngaard
Colour Artists: Frank Martin, Caspar Wijngaard
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Review by Davydh Tidey
Knight Terrors #4 sees our unlikely trio see their plan through and ultimately win the day, right?
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear… now they’ve done it.
Dear Shame, Are You Forever?
In horror stories, there are no victors…”
– Deadman
The Nightmare Stone has been found, and it’s in the hands of Deadman, Sandman and Robin. They follow the logical course of action, and take it straight to the source, to deal with Insomnia once and for all. Needless to say, it doesn’t exactly go their way.
Knight Terrors #4 pulls a pretty spectacular rug-pull on the reader, and finally answers a lot of the lingering questions around Insomnia. We find out his main motivations, how he came to feel the way he does about the Justice League and superheroes in general, and who he was prior to his imprisonment and the Lazarus Rain’s transformation.
Pretty packed issue, all told.
I’ll Never Know What It’s Like
…there are only survivors.”
– Deadman
This issue, and the event in general, feel like Joshua Williamson’s Dark Nights: Metal. Everything seems to suggest that there will be lasting consequences from all this. The Lazarus Rain from Lazarus Planet has already irreversibly changed the DC universe, in so many ways, but this one feels a lot more drastic than the other changes. This one feels like it’s going to last, for a good long while.
As for Insomnia himself, his origin story isn’t the key to the character, it feels largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It’s the way he’s channeled and used it that marks him out. We now know the cause of his insanity, his One Bad Day if you will, but it’s the way his life has gone since then that has truly defined who he has become.
This issue moves quickly, and sets up the events conclusion Knight Terrors: Night’s End perfectly. The heroes of Earth have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that’s when they perform best.
To Keep My Head From Spinning
Gentlemen…? Elevators or stairs?”
– Sandman
This is the issue where I realised the point to Deadman’s little intro and intermission spots in the story. Boston gets very introspective in these interludes in very subtle ways, and it’s only in this last issue that you realise the point of it all; regret. Boston is recounting his regrets.
Caspar Wijngaard does a great job conveying that tone all through the event, but even more-so in this issue. Between Deadman’s sections and Insomnia’s dreams, we see another side to Boston.
Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Frank Martin do a great job with the waking world artwork as well, especially those last few pages. My lord, were they working hard on those, along with a certain page focused on Damian? That one’s gonna be stuck in my head for a good while.
Conclusion
Knight Terrors #4 sees the end to the main event series, but not the end of the event itself. Knight Terrors: Night’s End is coming.
Make sure you pre-order with your LCS, it’s gonna be a big one.
Images courtesy of DC Entertainment