Customer Reviews

Dreamtoons

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4 star:		(2)
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Have you ever had one of those weird dreams that you can't quite explain to people? Jesse Reklaw can help.

This book is a compilation of the internet comic strip "Slow Wave" in which people write in to tell Jesse about their strange and goofy dreams. He in turn creates a comic strip from those dreams and posts it for everyone to see.

Jesse is a visionary as well as a talented cartoonist. He seems to be able to capture the mood and feeling of even the most bizarre dreams. I should know too, the apartment chicken on the cover is one of mine.

I highly recommend this book for cartoon fans and anybody who is into general weirdness. These aren't all funny cartoons - after all, some dreams can be quite frightening - but they do make you think.

Dreamtoons is a collection of comic strips drawn from people's real dreams - those short odd sequences of adventures remembered in the first moments of waking. They pack their own weird humor and truth. The book is a gas.

Highly recommended for the coffeetable or the bathroom library, as the book can be picked up and enjoyed a page at a time or en toto.

Send Jesse Reklaw a description of one of your dreams, and he might make it come to life . . . in his weekly comic strip "Slow Wave."

"Slow Wave" is available in several underground newspapers and on his web site. This book collects the first few years' worth of strips.

Despite being limited to four panels, Reklaw manages to convey the essence of his collaborators' dreams. Some are disturbing; some are very funny;, all have the twisted logic and unsettling creativity of authentic dreams. Reading them is not only a pleasure, but oddly reassuring: It's nice to know that other people have dreams just as, if not more, bizarre as mine.

For maximum effect, savor the strips a few at a time.

Jesse Reklaw gives the reader a fascinating peek into the sleep stories of strangers, four comic panels at a time. Before reading Dreamtoons, I wasn't sure how interesting other people's dreams could be. Now I'm hooked. Quite a few of the comics made me laugh out loud. I hope people keep sending him dreams to draw -- I want to see more!

This is a wonderfully witty and sly book. Reklaw captures the absurdity of real-life dreams in his text and drawings. The book appeals to readers on multiple levels -- the humor is remarkable but it also offers a window to the psyche. This seeminly simple book is a very sophisticated tour of the subconscious mind. Absolutely fascinating!

Jesse Reklaw's Dreamtoons is a strange mix of dry humor and strange situations. Everyone dreams, and those who are fortunate enough to remember some of their more insane dreams seem to have found Jesse. His illustrations are clean and add a lot to the dreams. His editing means no more run-on dream sequences, just great entertainment. I sometimes found myself thinking "Someone just made that up", and then remembered some of my dreams. Yes, they did just make that up, but they happened to be unconscious and drooling at the time. For 8 bucks, you have very little to lose, and a lot of great entertainment to gain. I've read it 3 times now and still enjoy many of the cartoons.

That's what I did. Jesse's deadpan cartoon renditions of people's wacky, surrealistic dreams are hilarious. Don't read this book in bed if your spouse is trying to sleep (although you must admit, it'd be thematically correct).

This is a rare book, and Jesse Reklaw is clearly a rare sort of guy. He adapts and illustrates these dreams once a week for his "Slow Wave" page, and for a few small newspapers, and each one is a lovingly crafted work of art. Frequently hilarious, often disturbingly insightful, and always completely far out, this book and the years of work it represents is clearly a very special labour of love.

This book is great for a coffee table timefiller, but don't be mislead into thinking it as superficial. These little works bear a second or third reading over time. The disturbing night-works of the contributors are full of details and angles that'll have you twisting your neck trying to get into the minds of the dreamers depicted here. Buy it. Love it.

Incredible (third)-eye-opening toons that will appeal to the armchair Freudian or Dadaist in all of us. Floppy logic, zen-like revelations, and surprising celebrity cameos. Salvador Dali, meet Harvey Pekar. Published by Shambhala-- synchronicity or symbolism?