Dream Thief #2

written by Jai Nitz
art by Greg Smallwood

The first issue of Nitz's thus-far stellar mini-series relied heavily on disorientation for its effect, protagonist John Lincoln waking to increasingly incriminating evidence of his sleepwalking actions.  With Dream Thief #2, the rules—if we can call them that—of the mask are becoming clearer.  When John falls asleep, the memory of a murder victim possesses his body to enact revenge upon his killers.  Though he has no control over his actions in this state, John is subsequently able to recall them, as well as all other memories of those who possess him, gathering a collection of talents, abuses, and interests.  Seemingly, the mask itself cannot be discarded or destroyed.

His second time behind the mask, Lincoln finds himself possessed by Jimmy Oliver, a gay ex-army man turned stuntman turned porn star, whose lover betrayed and killed him when he refused to participate in their drug-running business.  There's nothing particularly mainstream about Jimmy, but Nitz writes him with sensitivity and ease, and from his perspective there's nothing particularly exceptional about his life.  It's the kind of storytelling sleight of hand that makes Dream Thief such a stand-out.

Though structually Dream Thief is more an action/horror story than anything, it continues to surprise with its healthy sense of humor and whimsy, one Nitz is willing to acknowledge:  "Jimmy changed my ringtone to "Yakety Sax."  Note to self:  The dead still have a sense of humor."  (Dream Thief #2, p. 2)

Lincoln repeatedly struggles to differentiate his identities, slipping pronouns in flashbacks and imagining/remembering some of Jimmy's most intimate moments—conversations with his father, his first on-screen sex scene, his death—and, though he takes this slippage in stride, John cannot help but be changed by it.  After all, who are you when you are suddenly flooded with someone else's memories?