DREAM WARRIORS

A plucky 12-year-old boy slips into the realm of dreams and nightmares in this series opener.

Floating on a cosmic river, young Khi wakes up, only to fall right into Cloud 9, a realm in the afterlife full of celestial heroes known as Dream Warriors tasked with keeping slumbering humans safe at night. Thrust into the warrior ranks without a choice, Khi immediately begins training while also learning about the action-packed perils that Dream Warriors face. When Khi is assigned to protect his younger sister Lo-Lo’s bully, he resolves to get reassigned to Lo-Lo instead by proving he can become the hero she needs. Meanwhile, nightmarish creatures known as Fears plot to overthrow the Dream Warriors and conquer Cloud 9 amid whispers of a prophecy that all dreams will be plunged into darkness. As the prospect of an invasion looms, Khi discovers how he ended up in the dream realm. Injecting levity into rather weighty subject matter, Byrd establishes an intriguing premise through compelling worldbuilding, but underdeveloped characters and a bewildering pace (breakneck battle scenes that end abruptly; a plot point that seemingly comes out of nowhere) deflate the impact of this adventure. Santiago’s zany, frenetic illustrations translate the dream realms into battlefield landscapes rich in varied colors. Khi is Black, and the characters around him are culturally diverse.

Inconsistently spellbinding.