One Punch Reviews #25: Dreamless
August 18, 2009 at 10:00 am | In 3 Stars, One Punch Reviews, The Webcomic Overlook, dramatic webcomic, romance webcomic, webcomics | 5 Comments
There are many ways a webcomic can catch my attention. In some cases, a webcomic will hook me in with its concept. A ninja who is also a doctor? Awesome! In other cases, a webcomic will grab me with the art. And in very few cases, a webcomic will attract me due to the creators behind it. This was the case with Dreamless, which features an unlikely team-up: writer Bobby Crosby of Marry Me (reviewed here) and artist Sarah Ellerton of The Phoenix Requiem (reviewed here at ComixTalk).
The story is set sometime before the break-out of WWII. Our heroine, Elanor, is sick in bed and being tended to by a priest. She has a secret. It’s the sort of awful secret that she will defend at gunpoint. The story swtiches to flashback mode, and we discover that she has a strange psychic connection with a man named Takashi from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. A man that she has known since childhood, even though she’s never met him.
Kinda reminds you of The Lake House, huh?
In many ways, the mental connection is ruining Elanor’s chance for a normal life. Her perils start at an early age, when she begins speaking in Japanese. This scares her parents out of their wits (though I find it strange and unlikely that her father can repeat her words verbatim to a colleague). Yet, in other ways, her life is more fulfilled. Because she and Takashi share each and every thought, the two experience a remarkably intimate closeness. The two become her soulmates. Elanor even shares her “first kiss” by smooching the mirror. Even this small concession, though, is a little depressing since it makes her too upset to look at the ocean, reminding her that she is not physically together with the man she loves.
Despite some criticisms I’ve leveled on Crosby in the past, I have to say that the guy is at least an energetic storyteller. Sadly, little of that energy is on display in Dreamless. Part of the fault can be attributed to Ellerton’s style. In The Phoenix Requiem, she strives for something that looks like cell animation. For Dreamless, Elletron discards the dark outlines and the illustrations, as a result, look more painterly. I suppose the result looks more dreamy, and it is very attractive, but it’s also mutes emotions to the point where it sometimes seems lifeless. However, even if Ellerton had gone with her earlier style, there is another problem: the characters just are really quite bland. We get pages and pages of longing and our protagonists wishing they could be with each other etc. etc. etc., but not much reason for us, the readers, to care. By the time I got to the last page, the two still felt to me like strangers (or at the very best, fraternal). They did not come across as inseparable lovers separated by space that not even war can divide.
But, you know, I’m a big cynic when it comes to these things. I didn’t like Serendipity either (a similar set-up where two would be lovers let fate determine if they’d be together in five years), but apparently that movie grossed $77 M worldwide. So I guess if you’re a fan of movies about metaphors for long distance romance like The Lake House, Serendipity, and, oh, The Time Traveler’s Wife, you might like Dreamless. Then again, those movies had some initial conflict that unleashed all sorts of passionate emotions, while in Dreamless you’re supposed to accept that the two are in love, and that’s it.
Final Grade: 3 stars (out of 5).
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*Psst!* Just to help, the young man’s name is Takashi. “Aishiteru” is Japanese for “I love you.” Takashi’s name isn’t mentioned on every single page, but he IS referred to by name quite a bit in the comic!
Comment by DKM Marlink — August 19, 2009 #
You know, I originally had written “Takashi” in my review, and then after I posted that image I thought I got the wrong name. Thanks!
Comment by El Santo — August 19, 2009 #
No problem! Glad to help.
Comment by DKM Marlink — August 19, 2009 #
[...] The Webcomic Overlook, Larry Cruz reviews Dreamless (written by Bobby Crosby and illustrated by Sarah Ellerton) and David Reddick’s Legend of [...]
Pingback by Digital Strips: The Webcomics Podcast : Links: Creator-o-rama — August 21, 2009 #
[...] Despite the fact that all of the comic is online for free, I think that, especially for younger readers, it’s easier and more rewarding to read the The Dreamland Chronicles in book form. I mean, the print version is an incredibly attractive package. There’s a map of Dreamland in the inner covers to give that extra oomph of fantasy flavor. The appendices of the book is crammed full of goodies, too. There are pages of Krajenbrink’s wonderful sketches that have a great Walt Disney feel to them. Also, there are a few pages of Sava’s initial attempts at a hand-drawn Dreamland Chronicles before he went the CG route. Sometimes I wonder if there’s an alternate universe out there where The Dreamland Chronicles came out as a traditional hand-drawn effort rather than a CG comic … but then, where’s the pioneering spirit in that? The appendices also include pages of fan art, some of them from comic vets like Mike Wieringo and practicing webcomic artists like Sarah Ellerton (of Phoenix Requiem and Dreamless, reviewed here and here)! [...]
Pingback by The Webcomic Overlook #107: The Dreamland Chronicles « The Webcomic Overlook — February 8, 2010 #