DC's Knight Terrors crossover event continues with more heroes and villains getting the two-issue spinoff treatment. This week Superman, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Punchline all get new Knight Terrors #1s.
Meanwhile, over in the core book, things have taken a very interesting turn - and continue this event's close connection to The Sandman. Spoilers for the issue ahead.
In Knight Terrors #1 by Joshua Williamson and Caspar Wijngaard, Deadman - currently possessing Batman's body - grapples with new villain Insomnia. Their confrontation leads to Deadman finding out some vital info about the architect of the nightmare wave.
While we'd previously speculated that Insomnia would turn out to be an old enemy, we learn in this issue that he is, in Deadman's words "just some dude" who has been infected with Lazarus Rain - water cursed with magic when Lazarus Island exploded. Why he has such a vendetta against superheroes remains, for now, a mystery.
Insomnia's goal is to find the Nightmare Stone - a dark cousin of the Dreamstone that John Dee (R.I.P.) once possessed. Deadman is also looking for it and so he makes the drastic decision to resurrect someone who might be able to help: Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman.
Dodds is a Golden Age DC character who first appeared in New York World's Fair Comics #1 in April 1939. Created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman, the original Sandman fought crime by using a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was also one of the founding members of the Justice Society.
Neil Gaiman later drew inspiration from the character when he was creating The Sandman. It was retconned that Dodds had unconsciously taken on the identity (and some of the looks, notably his gas mask) of the Sandman during Morpheus's extended absence from the Dreaming.
Dodds was killed off in 1999, leaping to his death rather than reveal vital information to the villainous Mordru. This is not the first time he has been resurrected, however. He was also briefly brought back as a Black Lantern in 2009's Blackest Night storyline.
This is also another direct link to Gaiman's Sandman. The event's opening issue, Knight Terrors: First Blood #1, killed off John Dee and playfully referenced the sibling nature of both Dream and Death. At this rate we wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the Endless showed up before Knight Terrors' end...
Find out how Hal Jordan and Sinestro are doing in our interview with Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #1 writers Alex Segura and Jeremy Adams.
