Two-in-One Review: Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World In another dimension, a solitary figure watches over a multitude of dreams, aided in his efforts by supernatural assistants. No, it's not Neil Gaiman's Sandman... it's the far goofier Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World: The Gods Must Be Crazy. Don: This trade paperback is a real departure for Moonstone Books. I normally associate the publisher with its various monster- and action-oriented licences, but with this collection of a mid-1990s series, they remind us that there's room for a sense of humor as well. Randy: This is a departure in more than one way. It's black and white instead of full color, and it's more of a graphic novel than a prestige format special, weighing in at around 140 pages. In addition, as Don notes, the subject matter was quite different from most of the Moonstone output that we've reviewed, and it was an interesting change. Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World: The Gods Must Be Crazy trade paperback published by Moonstone Books written & illustrated by Dave Ulanski inked by Bill Halliar epilogue illustrated by Andrew Dimitt lettered by Nick Muntean, Rafael Nieves & Phil Rittenhouse Don: Mr. Nightmare is a cosmic entity that collects the nightmares of humanity... just for a kick. He takes his hobby seriously, though, because he knows that if his nightmares were allowed to escape, it would wreak havoc on Earth. Unfortunately, Nightmare's pal -- Real, the bored observer of the waking world -- decides to spice up his life by stealing some nightmares and letting them loose on an unsuspecting world. Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World strikes me as something of a cross between Ambush Bug and Sandman, with an emphasis on the sillier tone of the former. This is primarily a humor book, telling a story that's structured like a standard super-hero title. Sure, it doesn't look like a super-hero book on the surface, but all of the elements are there: hero, villain, super-powers... even sidekicks. Randy: While I definitely see the books you mention in the style of Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World, it actually reminded me more of a lesser known work, Jon "Bean" Hastings's Smith Brown Jones, Alien Accountant. Ulanski has the same wacky sense of humor and appreciation for odd things that I've found in Hastings's work. The book is full of quirky characters and settings, whether it's an army of warlike pigs, a seemingly immortal cow, a pair of dangerous space pants or a bunch of Amish supporting characters. Most of these things are amusing on the surface, but when contrasted with one another, they're even funnier. Don: Ulanski's sense of humor is front and centre in this collection. Mr. Nightmare is a fun character and fairly zany, but Ulanski doesn't go too over the top with him either. One can tell, though, that Ulanski wants to do more than just tell jokes. The story boasts quieter, more human moments that are handled well, but in the context of the book as a whole, don't really work. Those brief, serious moments conflict with the overall tone of the book and characters, interrupting the frantic, fun flow. Randy: In fairness, the serious moments are few and far between, but I do agree that when Ulanski tries to play up the more tragic or horror elements of the story, such as the dangers to children or the reactions people have to nightmares, the book doesn't feel quite right. I think part of this is down to the protagonist, Mr. Nightmare, coming at the story from a point-of-view where reality isn't quite real to him, and so it's hard to take the dangers seriously when he doesn't even give them a second thought. Don: The art is quiet impressive. Though boasting a cartoony tone, there's a strong level of detail and perspective. I love Ulanski's eye for design -- the title character and Oracle are particularly striking figures. There's a professional, polished tone to the artwork, and Ulanski makes excellent use of the black-and-white format. I was also impressed with Dimitt's shadowy, textured artwork on the epilogue sequence. Randy: Again, I'm going to point to Jon "Bean" Hastings as someone who has stylistic similarity to the book, in terms of the art as well as the sense of humor. Ulanski has a cartoonish approach to the characters, with wide-eyed expressive faces and, as you note, some truly imaginative character designs. I found myself wondering how much more vivid and frantic this might have looked in color, but I never felt that the art was truly lacking anything for being in black and white. All in all, Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World is a quirky, fun and fast-paced read. Had Sandman been written by Neil Simon instead of Neil Gaiman, I imagine it might have looked quite a bit like Mr. Nightmare's Wonderful World. For more information about Moonstone Books, visit www.moonstonebooks.com. Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.