This book had a somewhat interesting premise (I hesitate to say original). But I spent the entire book with this overwhelming feeling of dread, so much so I wasn't really interested in the plot hooks being dropped.

I thought the premise of this was amazing. It mostly delivered all that I wanted in the plot, but I must say that the dialogue was a little on-the-nose and stiff. Maybe it's a failure of translation and nothing more, but I kept being annoyed at the dialogue, and since this is a graphic work... ALL of the text is dialogue. The Art makes up for what the text is lacking. The art is interesting and unique. The characters have these big eyes that feel almost alien in quality... and I love it. The fact that we are dealing with dreams means that they could have pushed the art even more, but what they do give is nicely solid and evocative. I also must say that the actual action in the comic is fun and the events keep you engaged. I want to keep reading the story. The setups are well done so that you don't feel overwhelmed by exposition even if it does feel that in places you are being told things that could have been shown. This first story does what it's supposed to do, let the reader know what kind of world they are in, set up the main character dynamic, and leave you wanting to read more.

First, I really enjoyed the polished visual style of this book. The Nightmare Brigade promises to be an engaging series, full of twists and turns. The story is supernatural but not so dark that young readers couldn’t enjoy it.

It was only a sample, so I didn’t get a full experience from the story. It was also blurry with the weird exceptions of some headlines or signs having a very clear and sort of fake looking text on them. 🤔
The plot itself was intriguing - two youngsters adventuring in strangers’ nightmares and helping them overcome their fears, even if it’s a bit implausible because of the father of the story putting his disabled son into very real danger. Still a great idea and sufficiently creepy outcome!😉
I would have liked a bit more information about our main characters Tristan and Esteban, and also perhaps a bit longer introduction to their more ordinary part of life. I think we got thrown into the bizarre and extraordinary a bit too fast…😅

Nightmare Brigade is a scientific group helping young people to recover from their terrible dreams.
Esteban couldn't remember his past, he lives with professor Angus and his son, Tristan. Tristan and Esteban go to Sara's dream to protect her from the nightmare. Professor Angus watches for Sara that wouldn't wake up while they are there, then something goes wrong and they are stuck.

This was an interesting story with nice illustrations, I look forward to the next book to see who and how they going to recover.

Many thanks to Papercutz and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read The Nightmare Brigade #1 (The Case of the Girl from Deja Vu) by Franck Thillez, Yomgui Dumont in exchange for an honest review.
Published Date 01 Feb 2022
My review on 19 Nov 2021

So far, I'm giving this a solid four stars. This graphic novel has a really interesting premise, interesting art, and the first one I've seen where one of the protagonists is disabled.
I'm giving it four starts but the writers need to listen to the disabled community. We have, at large, for decades been telling people not to use the word handicapped. The word is DISABLED. That is what we want. Handicapped is insulting.

Unfortunately, since being disabled is such a traumatizing experience, I know a few readers I can't recommend this to because that language is triggering. All they needed to do was use the word disabled. It isn't hard.

One good touched as the disabled boy was able to walk when he was functioning in other people's dreams. That's smart, As a wheelchair user myself, dreaming is the one time I can walk without any problems.

I hope the creators learn from this and stop using the word handicapped. That's a big slap in the face honestly. It isn't hard to not use it.

I have more to say about this on my blog theworldsbetweenpages.wordpress.com

I received this sample for free in return for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. We follow two teens who jump into other kids nightmares to see if they can be helped. An interesting premise with interesting art to match. Looking forward to the next volume.