(No Spoilers)

The title Dreamwar works on a couple of levels with this trade.  First off, it could refer to “dream” match-ups between the two universes which pits characters against each other that fans have wanted to see.  But the later explanation is not as simple as “it’s all a dream” because it isn’t exactly.  However, when Keith Giffen first announced the project, he promised he had found a way to have the heroes from both worlds have a reason to fight each other.  And in that, he did deliver. 

“The Good”

 I have to start by mentioning Lee Garbett’s art which was solid throughout the whole series.  He was given such a huge toy box of characters to play with and he did a great job with each one.  And we do get fights, LOTS of fights in this series.  And the level of brutality for some of the fights hit surprising levels.  Especially for a fight in issue 3 that lit up the online message boards with its conclusion.

“The Bad”

Unfortunately, Dreamwar suffers from the trap that many crossovers do: relevance.  There really is no relevance to this story in the grand scheme of things for both universes.  And what compounds this further is that Giffen himself in interviews promised it would have lasting effects for the Wildstorm Universe.  But I challenge the reader to find what it is. 

“Overall”

Dreamwar’s ultimate goal is met in that it brings the characters of the DCU and the WSU together in a story.  It pairs characters that I’m sure fans always wanted to see paired.  Once again, I will remind you that Lee Garbett’s art is fantastic in this series and all characters from both universes are given amazing representation by his art.  It does have an overall summer movie blockbuster feel where you just grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the special effects without worrying about the story.