Every time that average (by that I mean beautiful, skinny, star of every play, getting hit on by the star QB,) 17 year old high school student Beatrice Whaley dreams she it is of the American Revolution and her handsome savior Alan Warren who fights the Red Coats in 1776. When she wakes she is in 2011 America. Which is real?
The Dreamer, Volume 1
by Lora Innes
IDW
July 2009
The Dreamer storyline plays out like so many others. We supposedly never truly know which is real, yet it to make that true we would need to somehow believe that the real Beatrice exists in 1776 and somehow knows what the future America will look like and the troubles of an American teen and completely ignore that said teen would have no trouble imagining what it would be like to live in a setting she would have learned about in school and probably have books on. Ah, but suspension of unbelief is key to stories like this one - but sometimes it is just so difficult.
Regardless of where Beatrice really exists the issue with this series, which is published as a webcomic online, is that it is so sappily romantic that as an adult male I felt excluded from the intended audience. The first page of this collection is of a breathless underage female pushing her breasts up on the chest of a soldier in full British regalia. Then it transitions to same girl in high school day dreaming of her dream lover while trying not to forget her wannabe lover, the school QB. Bottom line: this graphic novel is part Harlequin romance and part daytime soap. If that's your thing then you will love this well done graphic novel. If you aren't sure then search the web for the title of this review and go read the webcomic (which is now a couple years ahead of this collection and close to releasing Volume 2).
For those of you who are like me and want more story and less teen girl dream lover angst then take a pass. There are a great many excellent graphic novels that are more our speed.
