Invisibility, telekinesis, and teleportation are common superpowers you’ve probably wished for at some point; but what if you could control people’s dreams or even put people to sleep? DC Comics recently revealed a new supervillain, Insomnia, a villain that not only puts its enemies to sleep, but leaves them in their worst nightmares. Oh and not to mention, he’s trying to put the entire world into a deep slumber.
“I’ll make sure you never sleep again” Insomnia tells Damian Wayne, Batman’s son, in the new Knight Terror series. But who exactly is this new villain and what can he do?
Who Is Insomnia?
Created by DC writer Joshua Williamson, Insomnia first appears in Dawn of DC: Knight Terrors Special Edition FCBD Special Edition. Here we get our first glimpse of Insomnia, a villain that can summon dreams, conjure illusions of others, travel between the real world and Nightmare Realm, and alter his physical appearance while in the Nightmare Realm.
Warning: Some spoilers ahead for Dawn of DC: Knight Terrors Special Edition FCBD Special Edition
The comic starts with Damian realizing he’s in a nightmare, one which he can’t get out of until his father, Batman, shakes him awake. Although it’s not actually Batman; instead, it’s Insomnia imitating him. Damian, trying to get out of the nightmare, yells at himself to wake up.
Insomnia takes heroes and villains into their worst nightmares, unleashing scary versions of their friends and family, making his targets unaware if they are in a dream state or not. One thing’s for certain: his nightmares can scare anyone into not wanting to sleep again.
The sleeping disorder, insomnia, is commonly described as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or falling back to sleep. DC’s latest villain fits that description pretty well. One of his goals is to scare his prey so badly in a nightmare, they never want to sleep again.
Nightmares can come from stresses and anxieties in our day-to-day lives, often emulating things we are already going through. This DC villain does the same thing, showing heroes and villains moments, places, or memories they want to forget. Insomnia’s ultimate goal is to recover the Nightmare Stone which has the ability to disable all good dreams and the powers of the Dreamstone. Only nightmares can live on.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about this character. We’ll learn more as the Knight Terrors series progresses, with the official release of Knight Terrors #1 coming out July 11th and individual releases following until the end of August. This first comic follows Batman and Deadman trying to uncover the truth about Insomnia, figuring out how to save their world from an unlimited slumber, and ensuring the Nightmare Stone is not found.
One thing’s for sure, Insomnia is going to be in comic fans’ dreams, or nightmares, soon enough.
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