The Stuff Of Nightmares
You won’t sleep a wink after reading G Willow Wilson and Nick Robles’s The Dreaming comic, Waking Hours
LONG PLAGUED BY INSOMNIA, G Willow Wilson has now drawn on it to provide the inspiration for her upcoming run on The Dreaming. Illustrated by Nick Robles, Waking Hours introduces Ruin – one of the beings who creates nightmares – to the Sandman Universe.
“I sometimes have bouts of chronic insomnia that last for weeks or even months, and during those times, dreams and waking life bleed together,” says Wilson. “I started working on Waking Hours during one such period, and that weird, hallucinatory feeling you get when you’re only sleeping three or four hours a night definitely played a role. The title doesn’t actually refer to insomnia, as it’s more about the ways in which our waking lives reflect our dreams, and the way our unconscious lives affect the people we are when we’re awake.”
Dubbed “the lanky lavender lad” by Robles, Ruin is propelled into the tangible realm after being dreamt into existence by Shakespearean scholar
Lindy. “Ruin is a nightmare, who hates his job, and his attempts to escape from it drive the story forward,” explains Wilson, confirming that Waking Hours ties in with Simon Spurrier and Bilquis Evely’s previous Dreaming series. “Along the way, he encounters some favourite characters from the original Sandman series, as well as from Simon and Bilquis’s run. A couple of key cliffhangers from their series will also be resolved in Waking Hours, while what happens next will have consequences both for the Dreaming and waking world.” Proclaiming him “one of the best character architects I’ve ever worked with,” Wilson is clearly enjoying her partnership with Robles. “Nick is so good with facial expressions and body language, and the way he draws Ruin and the other characters definitely influences the way I write them,” she says. “We’ve had a similar vision for Ruin from the beginning – his personality, manner and quirks.” SJ
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 is out on 4 August.