Knight Terrors
"Knight Terrors" is an American comic book line-wide crossover event published by DC Comics from July to August 2023. The event is headlined by Joshua Williamson writing the opening and ending one-shots along with the core 4-issue miniseries. The event starts off in Knight Terrors: First Blood, with art by Howard Porter, and ends with Knight Terrors: Night's End. The entire event received positive reviews from critics, with critics praising the story and tie-ins, although there was criticism on the pacing.
Publication history
Knight Terrors is a 2023 DC Comics crossover event written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Howard Porter. Other creators include Guillem March and Chris Bachalo. The event was announced in February during a ComicsPRO convention on Pittsburgh.Williamson said: "I love horror comics, and it's been a blast bringing the energy to Dawn of DC. Knight Terrors showcases the horror side of our heroes as a brand-new villain confronts them with their worst nightmares. It's a fun and horrific event that brings together all of the heroes and villains of DC, along with some surprises!"
Along with the core 4-issue miniseries there are various 2-issue tie-in miniseries focusing on different characters during the event. These titles replaced the main ongoing series, with many written by the same creatives working on the ongoing series.
Plot summary
Prelude
dreams of himself, his mother, his father, his girlfriend and Connor Hawke at a beach having a good time. However, his family suddenly attacks him and he sees a giant eyeball in the sky and visions of the Justice League and Teen Titans in trouble. Damian wakes up from his nightmare, revealing that he passed out while he and Batman were chasing Firefly and Killer Moth. Damian is relieved, telling himself it was just a dream and he had nothing to worry about.Main plot
is attacked in his dream by a mysterious being in a twisted version of the Hall of Justice. Deadman observes a funeral happening and feels a strange presence coming from the Hall of Justice. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman meet up to discuss what is happening recently between the three of them and an alarm that just happened. Batman tells them he did not call any of them and sees a mutilated corpse of Doctor Destiny. Harley Quinn calls Batman to tell them that Doctor Destiny's body is still in Arkham; Deadman tries to possess Destiny's fake body but it doesn't work, so he possessed Batman's body to tell Superman and Wonder Woman that someone is trying to merge the Realms of Life and Death together.Batman expels Deadman's soul out of his body, and Wonder Woman decides to go to Zatanna to ask for her help while Superman goes to Supercorp. Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Detective Chimp observe the fake body, with Zatanna saying that the fake body is a powerful dream construct. Batman and Deadman head to Arkham Tower where Doctor Destiny is killed, but gets revived by a mysterious being who wants the Nightmare Stone and the Dream stone in the Hall of Justice. The mysterious being calls himself Insomnia and summons nightmare constructs to invade the world, and proceeds to cause the entire world to fall under his slumber, including heroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Joker, Nightwing, The Flash, Ravager, and Green Lantern.
Deadman reveals that he hid the Nightmare Stone from Insomnia, but does not tell him if he hid it in the real waking world or in the dream world. It's revealed that the Nightmare Stone is in Arkham Tower, and when the Lazarus volcano exploded all around the world, it infected a man who was turned into Insomnia. Insomnia expels Deadman out of his body, and Deadman realizes Insomnia murdered John Dee when he would not tell him where the Nightmare Stone was. Deadman possesses Batman's body again to escape, and goes to the zombified corpse of Wesley Dodds for help.
Wesley Dodds explains he met Insomnia when he was a human leader of a cult who sought the Nightmare Stone by offering sacrifices. Wesley Dodds stopped Insomnia from acquiring the stone, while Insomnia tracks down John Dee's grandson on the Nightmare Stone's location, but John Dee's grandson does not know. Deadman and Wesley Dodds go to Mister Terrific's headquarters where they meet Red Tornado and learned that majority of the world has fallen under Insomnia's spell. Deadman accesses Insomnia's memory, but they are attacked by Insomnia's forces called the Sleepless Knights.
Damian Wayne arrives to help Deadman and Wesley Dodds fight against the Sleepless Knights, and they manage to escape. Deadman goes into Insomnia's memory again to find out that Insomnia's real name is Christopher who blamed the Justice League for turning him into a monster. Damian Wayne deduces that the Nightmare Stone is in a realm between the dead and the living, so Wesley Dodds creates a chemical concoction to put Damian and Deadman to sleep while the Sleepless Knights attack. Damian and Deadman arrive at a place call the Reality Stream where Deadman realizes the Nightmare Stone wants him to find it. Deadman manages to acquire the Nightmare Stone and escape the Reality Stream.
Deadman, Damian Wayne, and Wesley Dodds head to Arkham Tower to find Insomnia. While walking, Damian Wayne is nearly tricked by Insomnia to let his guard down, but he sees through the illusion. Insomnia also tries to trick Deadman to join his side by promising to bring back his loved ones, but Deadman refuses. The trio meet Insomnia's real body, where Deadman explains Insomnia's real name is Christopher Lukas, a killer who refused to sleep so people nicknamed him Insomnia, and was locked in Arkham when he saw something in his dreams that drove him insane. Deadman leaves Batman's body and plans to use the Nightmare Stone to cure Insomnia of his powers from the Lazarus volcano, and sees Insomnia's memory where its revealed Insomnia became evil because his family was killed during Dark Nights: Metal, and Insomnia blamed the Justice League for not saving them. Insomnia kills himself in his sleep to trap Deadman, which wakes up the rest of the heroes that were affected by Insomnia's spell, but also brings their nightmares into the real world.
Insomnia brings Deadman back to the real world, and attempts to reward him by giving him a dream of having a family. The Justice League arrive after waking up from their nightmares, and Insomnia summons out the monsters from the League's minds to fight against them. Deadman breaks free of Insomnia's spell after hearing Wesley Dodd's voice, but is seemingly killed by Insomnia. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman go to the dream version of Doctor Destiny's body to find the Dreamstone, which may counter the Nightmare Stone. Insomnia arrives and starts turning Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman into their nightmare versions of themselves, but Deadman arrives to stop Insomnia, revealing he faked his death. Deadman sacrifices himself to stop Insomnia, while Insomnia is forced to relive nightmares of his family killing him over and over. While Insomnia is defeated, as a result of his actions, the world now fears the heroes. Wesley Dodds dies once again, and Batman collapses as a result of Deadman possessing his body too long and overworking it. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller and her henchmen, Bright, steal the Nightmare Stone and Doctor Fate's helmet, and combine it with an unknown person to form Doctor Hate, ordering them to take down the Titans.