Knight Terrors #4: Don’t Dream It’s Over

Knight Terrors #4 picks up with Deadman/Batman in possession of the Nightmare Stone as he returns to Arkham with Damian and Sandman to confront Insomnia and wake up the world from the nightmare realm. The final issue of the main event series does not resolve the story, it merely sets up the bookend issue Knight Terrors: Night’s End. This is not a bad thing since the event was structured with the Deadman and Sandman main story thread being told along with the various two-issue tie-ins; it begs the question: Can Williamson close out the event strong, or will the ending be a convoluted mess.

In this issue, readers finally learn about the events that complete Insomnia’s origin, which is a bit on the nose, and feel like there was more that Williamson wanted to do with the character but didn’t have the space to do so. It was a cool reference that Williamson has Insominia’s origin going back to the Dark Knights: Metal event and not his own, Dark Crisis. Williamson also does a good job of tying the main series with the Batman tie-in he wrote. The issue ends with the same scenes of Knight Terrors: Batman #2, with Batman regaining control of his body and Damian informing him that Insomnia has and reality is now the Nightmare Realm. Williamson briefly also acknowledges that the other heroes featured in the limited series are waking up from their nightmares but provides no clues as to how they will rally and defeat Insomnia.

Deadman continues to serve as the narrator, with the open and closing sequences, as he breaks the fourth wall, speaking to the reader about how he miscalculated exactly what he needed to do to break Insomnia’s nightmare hold on the people of Earth. The return and usage of Wesley Dodds continue to be dismissed and merely a second thought in many of the scenes in which he appears, and is a shame that he is not getting more panel time.

The art on the issue continues to be excellent and solid, with Wijngaard, Nesi, & Camuncoli capturing the nightmare world that Insomnia has created to the flashback sequences. Throughout the main series, this creative team has continually provided panels, action sequences, and character moments in top-notch form. In the art sequence of the various characters featured in the limited series, there does seem to be one mistake: The panel with the Flash appears to be Wally West, not Barry Allen, even though Wally was not featured or appeared in The Flash or Titans tie-in, only showing up to stop Barry and help him escape his nightmares.

It will be interesting to see how this story wraps up and if it will have lasting effects in the DC Universe, as teased in the Catwoman and Harley Quinn tie-ins and solicits.