Curse of the Harvester by Greg Grunberg & Lucas Turnbloom. Art by Lucas Turnbloom. Color byGuy Major. Dream Jumper Book 2. 220 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc. October, 2017. 9780545826082. (Review of a finished paperback courtesy of publisher.)
It is best to have read the first book in this series because Curse of the Harvester begins with a creepy-weird sequence with several characters from the first book, Nightmare Escape. That book had a resolution of sorts, but with some unfinished business. I mentioned in my review of Nightmare Escape that the bad guys were truly terrifying. They continue to be here.
Ben and Jake have gone into the dream jumping business and seem to be doing well. Ben becomes more sure of his ability with each jump and Jake monitors things from the waking world - until he falls asleep. Jake slips into the dream world and brings something back with him. I was tripping along fine until the boys woke up - at a pool party. Who sleeps at a pool party? For some reason, that bothered me.
Perhaps I should've reread Nightmare Escape because I didn't always follow the pivots in the story. Fans won't notice though. Still, I'm eager for the next volume as this one's ending is ominous.
The art continues to impress with vivid, energetic colors and a nice mix of panel sizes. The villains spring to hideous life here, and this is not a book to give to any reader with a clown phobia. Give this to your readers who want horror. While not relentlessly scary, it is unnerving.
Nightmare Escape by Greg Grunberg. Book one of the Dream Jumper series. Illustrated by Lucas Turnbloom. Color by Guy Major. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc.,June, 2016. 9780545826044. (Review courtesy of finished copy provided by the publisher.)
Ten-year-old Ben hasn't been getting much sleep lately. Nearly every night, he finds himself not only having his own terrifying nightmares, but jumping into the nightmares of friends and acquaintances as well. It is only when he becomes totally exhausted that he agrees to visit a sleep clinic with his concerned single-parent mom.
There, he discovers the aptly named, Ward Z, filled with people stuck in REM sleep and unable to awaken. He finds his friends and some old guy who looks vaguely familiar. Ben's vivid dream quickly turns into a nightmare during his own sleep test. He encounters frightening monsters who attack him and has to rescue the very friends who are stuck in Ward Z. He also meets a rabbit who looks vaguely familiar.
This parallel universe is rife with evil and good people with the power to keep the evil at bay are far and few between. Ben discovers that he has a rare power - the ability to dream jump and might be the key to defeating this evil.
This debut was an fast-paced, engaging middle-grade-friendly graphic novel. It is book one of a series. While it does not end in a cliffhanger, there is enough unfinished business to keep the reader interested in the next book.
The art is gorgeous with crisp, clear, uncluttered panels. The color is intense. Ben is a winning main character. There's an interesting and diverse crew of supporting characters as well as humor, action and adventure. All-in-all, a great addition to the middle grade graphic novel section.
