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Lucy Dreaming #1-5
Lucy Dreaming
A coming-of-age fantasy/sci-fi adventure about living your dreams—literally—by the writer of Moon Knight/leader of the band Say Anything.
Lucy is a grumpy, emotive, full-of-life 13-year-old girl who goes to sleep each night, only to wake up in the shoes of various archetypal female heroes from her favorite stories. One night she’ll wake up as a space princess turned rebel fighter, another night she’ll be a reluctant heroine who becomes the leader of a nationwide revolt. But as fantastic as these “dreams” are, they carry the same life-and-death stakes as the waking world, and it’s up to Lucy to uncover the truth behind her multiversal travels…
Written by Say Anything frontman Max Bemis (Moon Knight, Polarity) and illustrated by GLAAD Award-winning artist Michael Dialynas (The Woods, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Lucy Dreaming is a vibrant coming-of-age tale about living your dreams—literally.
Lucy is a grumpy, emotive, full-of-life 13-year-old girl who goes to sleep each night, only to wake up in the shoes of various archetypal female heroes from her favorite stories. One night she’ll wake up as a space princess turned rebel fighter, another night she’ll be a reluctant heroine who becomes the leader of a nationwide revolt. But as fantastic as these “dreams” are, they carry the same life-and-death stakes as the waking world, and it’s up to Lucy to uncover the truth behind her multiversal travels…
Written by Say Anything frontman Max Bemis (Moon Knight, Polarity) and illustrated by GLAAD Award-winning artist Michael Dialynas (The Woods, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Lucy Dreaming is a vibrant coming-of-age tale about living your dreams—literally.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 29, 2021
This was a fun, creative little graphic novel that I read as a palate cleanser between heavier books. It was a bit sci-fi adventure-ish and a little coming of age-type and it never took itself too seriously, so it was light-hearted and fun. I suspect there were a lot of teen culture references that flew straight over my head, but that was fine.
Our leading character is Lucy, a grumpy, emotive, 13-year-old who is less of a leading lady and more of a leading grrrl. She comes from a non traditional family, her parents are scientists and when one night her eyes start glowing yellow and she starts tumbling into 'real' dreams of mayhem and adventure, it turns out Lucy's parent's experiments may have had something to do with that.
Meanwhile, Lucy gets to be a space princess turned rebel fighter, a reluctant heroine involved in revolt, a superhero werewolf and others. But her biggest surprise is when she realises she is not the only person from the real world in those dreams.
Like I said, heaps of light-hearted fun and the artwork was interesting, often non-traditional and Lucy herself is a much more nuanced character than girls are often allowed to be in trade paperbacks.
Our leading character is Lucy, a grumpy, emotive, 13-year-old who is less of a leading lady and more of a leading grrrl. She comes from a non traditional family, her parents are scientists and when one night her eyes start glowing yellow and she starts tumbling into 'real' dreams of mayhem and adventure, it turns out Lucy's parent's experiments may have had something to do with that.
Meanwhile, Lucy gets to be a space princess turned rebel fighter, a reluctant heroine involved in revolt, a superhero werewolf and others. But her biggest surprise is when she realises she is not the only person from the real world in those dreams.
Like I said, heaps of light-hearted fun and the artwork was interesting, often non-traditional and Lucy herself is a much more nuanced character than girls are often allowed to be in trade paperbacks.
September 1, 2018
I liked the first three issues but the last two were reductive and didactic. Fun, some great lines, but not great overall.
December 7, 2020
Started out grounded and interesting.. ended up as a wild incoherent mess.
February 24, 2021
Lucy Dreaming is tasting new fruits.
March 28, 2020
Lucy, the titular character is a sullen, anarchic 13 year old who seems largely disillusioned with the people and world around her, preferring the company of the characters from her YA books. Suddenly she discovers when sleeping she can awake in the body of an archetypal female hero from the world of fiction. Several popular properties are riffed on here including Star Wars, Buffy, Hunger Games and comic book superheroes. She soon discovers she is not the only person to have this ability and there are greater stakes at risk than just her fictional counterparts.
Max Beamis does a decent job with the pastiches of popular franchises, which are fun in the few pages they exist and Lucy becomes gradually more engaging as the book progresses. While not an entirely original concept, as the story develops and he is forced to come up with an explanation and conclusion and the narrative falters slightly (particularly with the introduction of the Alice in Wonderland/Matrix Architect-like 'Mouse Man'). As a self contained story Lucy Dreaming is enjoyable, but would work better as a longer story with her visits to each fictional world more explored. Michael Dialynas delivers consistent art, as he is given the scope to cover several different genres and the book ping pongs from graphic violence to light high school drama, to a vast battle royale scene. Hopefully Beamis and Dialynas will get to return to Lucy's world and deliver additional fantasy roles for her with more proactive protagonists.
Max Beamis does a decent job with the pastiches of popular franchises, which are fun in the few pages they exist and Lucy becomes gradually more engaging as the book progresses. While not an entirely original concept, as the story develops and he is forced to come up with an explanation and conclusion and the narrative falters slightly (particularly with the introduction of the Alice in Wonderland/Matrix Architect-like 'Mouse Man'). As a self contained story Lucy Dreaming is enjoyable, but would work better as a longer story with her visits to each fictional world more explored. Michael Dialynas delivers consistent art, as he is given the scope to cover several different genres and the book ping pongs from graphic violence to light high school drama, to a vast battle royale scene. Hopefully Beamis and Dialynas will get to return to Lucy's world and deliver additional fantasy roles for her with more proactive protagonists.
January 19, 2019
Warning; I'm a huge Max Bemis fan.
I love Max Bemis. I've been listening to his music for over 10 years now, Im a huge fan of his wife, I've been following both for some time so when Max said he was getting into comics, I was pretty excited! He has worked with marvel a hand full of times, but Lucy dreaming was a all new, all original series. And I liked it! The art was really good, I really liked the hero tropes they had picked and how they approached them. It has a sweet and positive message. It was funny! And even though, its written by a dude, Id say it nailed the teenage feminine angst pretty well!
Now I know a lot of people didn't really care for this book, their main complaint being the pacing. Which I will admit, can be a little off at times. BUT its also only 5 issues with a lot of ground to cover. There were a few times where we were being told what was happening instead of being shown, but overall I think they did a great job for getting the point across. Their point being that girls can save the world. That's right, its a feminist comic. He made it for his daughter who is also named Lucy and I think he did a great job.
I love Max Bemis. I've been listening to his music for over 10 years now, Im a huge fan of his wife, I've been following both for some time so when Max said he was getting into comics, I was pretty excited! He has worked with marvel a hand full of times, but Lucy dreaming was a all new, all original series. And I liked it! The art was really good, I really liked the hero tropes they had picked and how they approached them. It has a sweet and positive message. It was funny! And even though, its written by a dude, Id say it nailed the teenage feminine angst pretty well!
Now I know a lot of people didn't really care for this book, their main complaint being the pacing. Which I will admit, can be a little off at times. BUT its also only 5 issues with a lot of ground to cover. There were a few times where we were being told what was happening instead of being shown, but overall I think they did a great job for getting the point across. Their point being that girls can save the world. That's right, its a feminist comic. He made it for his daughter who is also named Lucy and I think he did a great job.
February 17, 2019
I'm a big Max Bemis fan and really wanted to like this book.
Granted, it's clearly written for children so I'm not really the demographic. The book is fairly meta - there are times they note that there are plot holes or more exposition would fill in gaps as an attempt to explain why those things aren't addressed in this book, but to me that doesn't make up for not actually answering those questions. Lucy also comes to terms with what's happening to her really quickly and the message wasn't entirely clear, and if it's one of the latter is sort of dangerous and puts the burden of responsibility on women, which I can't imagine is the point that Bemis is trying to make in this book.
Overall this is a story of empowering young women, but doesn't seem to quite get there.
Granted, it's clearly written for children so I'm not really the demographic. The book is fairly meta - there are times they note that there are plot holes or more exposition would fill in gaps as an attempt to explain why those things aren't addressed in this book, but to me that doesn't make up for not actually answering those questions. Lucy also comes to terms with what's happening to her really quickly and the message wasn't entirely clear, and if it's one of the latter is sort of dangerous and puts the burden of responsibility on women, which I can't imagine is the point that Bemis is trying to make in this book.
Overall this is a story of empowering young women, but doesn't seem to quite get there.
March 24, 2019
Not bad. Fun. Good artwork.
I don't normally like meta, self-indulgent wish-fulfillment stories. I'd rather read a story that makes me want to disappear into it versus a story about a character who disappears into a story. That extra layer of fiction just reminds me of how impossible my fantasy really is.
That said, this book had the right balance of over-the-top nonsense and tongue-in-cheek metaphor. It didn't take itself too seriously.
Our protagonist Lucy is an awkward teenager who would rather read then spend time in reality. She has a dream which feels more real than it should. Turns out her parents a mad scientists who once tapped the essemce of ideas, a higher reality that feeds our stories. This happened while Lucy's mom was pregnant, so Lucy now has this power in her genes.
There's some geat lines here. And the artwork does a good job of fitting the different stories Lucy visits. Overall, this was fun.
I don't normally like meta, self-indulgent wish-fulfillment stories. I'd rather read a story that makes me want to disappear into it versus a story about a character who disappears into a story. That extra layer of fiction just reminds me of how impossible my fantasy really is.
That said, this book had the right balance of over-the-top nonsense and tongue-in-cheek metaphor. It didn't take itself too seriously.
Our protagonist Lucy is an awkward teenager who would rather read then spend time in reality. She has a dream which feels more real than it should. Turns out her parents a mad scientists who once tapped the essemce of ideas, a higher reality that feeds our stories. This happened while Lucy's mom was pregnant, so Lucy now has this power in her genes.
There's some geat lines here. And the artwork does a good job of fitting the different stories Lucy visits. Overall, this was fun.
December 20, 2022
At first, I thought that this book was an interesting and fun high concept piece about multiverse shenanigans. But the book just ruined the earlier good vibes by having insipid Joss Whedonesque dialogue and puts forth a dangerously regressive view of gender by stating that men are inherently destructive and dangerous while women are superior because of their warmth and compassion.
Such a disturbing antifeminist message is exceedingly dangerous for everyone of any gender identity and feels like the type of deranged ranting that you would find in the minds of many self-proclaimed "Gender Critical" types who wish to exterminate anyone who dares break away from society's oppressively rigid ideas of gender roles.
Such a disturbing antifeminist message is exceedingly dangerous for everyone of any gender identity and feels like the type of deranged ranting that you would find in the minds of many self-proclaimed "Gender Critical" types who wish to exterminate anyone who dares break away from society's oppressively rigid ideas of gender roles.
June 24, 2020
Wow, this is extremely bad! I’m sure the pitch for this series was fantastic, but it is one of the worst executed concepts I’ve ever read. It’s basically Unwritten, but condensed into five issues of straight exposition and mashed into a reductive moral box. This is the furthest thing from subtle I’ve ever seen. And before anyone says, “well clearly you just don’t get it,” I get it. It’s literally impossible not to get. It’s spelled out in big block letters. Gotten. Very not good book!
Art’s decent, though.
Art’s decent, though.
July 31, 2018
I truly enjoyed reading this. It was spunky and sassy, but it also felt rushed. I find I feel this way more often than not with shorter graphic/comic series. The idea was great, and the MC was great, but the story felt pushed and rushed and not as fleshed out as I WANTED it to be.
However, still worth the read!
However, still worth the read!
August 28, 2019
This started out so good, then it threw a bunch of science stuff in there and kinda lost me. The story started getting some depth and then lots of events happened too fast. I know it doesn't sound like it, but I did like this story. This spoke to the age old teen problem of feeling all the feels and not knowing what the hell to do about it.
March 2, 2021
Found out Max Bemis, one of my favorite musicians was writing comics, so wanted to check it out. The art isn't terrible which is a good start! There were some okay points and I wish it had been fleshed out a bit more. More time spent in the different areas and such. The ending was quite rushed, I could see it working for a younger reader than myself.
December 24, 2023
The art was unique and very fitting for the story. I thought the points made were pretty excellent and, it's probably because I'm around the same age and have had similar interests as the writer, but, the social commentary was pretty on-point for me.
Overall it's a pretty simple story, but I enjoyed the messages and getting there.
Overall it's a pretty simple story, but I enjoyed the messages and getting there.
August 7, 2018
A by-the-numbers sci-fi romp for the first three issues and a highly awkward attempt at wokeness for the last two. I'd probably dislike this even more if it wasn't for the lovely art and a genuinely fun protagonist.
May 20, 2019
It had so much appeal to be a good series, however, the confusing storytelling and the lackluster animation caused this graphic novel to fall flat on it's face. And also the "feminist" ideals felt more like a plug and to make the book more relevant than actually providing sustenance to the plot.
February 4, 2020
Fun, original concept. I liked that in each "dream" not only was the story line different but the art was slightly different too. There were a few things that didn't quite make sense but Bemis set up the ending for more books. All in all I enjoyed it.
December 27, 2021
Weird and funny. While I appreciate the "girl power" stuff there could have been a less 'biological gender'-heavy way to approach it than, for example, all the period jokes. Amusing but lacked nuance.
April 14, 2023
I definitely enjoyed this more on my second reading. This tale of extra-dimensional empowerment is a fun romp, with sparky/snarky dialogue throughout with a straightforward unsentimental moral at its heart.
October 27, 2023
Well-drawn but ham-fisted and awkward. Also, I know what they were going for with Wesley, and I understand the intended message, but the actual specifics of the execution just felt way too mean-spirited.
January 11, 2019
Great start, weak rushed finish. Would love to see this as an ongoing series.
February 24, 2019
I didn't like it
April 7, 2019
I think the over the top 4th wall breaks and nods to tropes and over the top narration are great for younger teens, but the appeal is limited for older kids. Grades 8-11.
April 10, 2019
Completely average
September 21, 2019
I LOVED this comic book! Lucy is a badass girl, wise beyond her years. Also there’s a lyric from No Doubt that is used in the most PERFECT way.
April 20, 2020
This started off as a generic sci-fi coming of age story. It ended by telling all men they really don’t deserve to exist and all women are perfect queens. So... that was a thing I read.
May 28, 2021
Another weird one I wanted to like but didn’t really. It got kinda oddly girls vs boys there at the end? Was I supposed to find that empowering instead of annoying and headscratchy...?
December 3, 2022
Graphics? Stunningly beautiful.
Story Concept? Okay?
Plot? A shaky mess that never reaches its full potential.
Story Concept? Okay?
Plot? A shaky mess that never reaches its full potential.
December 5, 2023
A really fun and engaging story! I wish there were more books...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews