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Dreamtoons
Anyone who has ever had a weird dream—and the desire to tell it to others—will enjoy this collection of dream cartoons. It features the best of a weekly comic strip illustrating dreams that real people from all over the world have sent to artist Jesse Reklaw. Reklaw takes written descriptions of dreams and turns them into three or four cartoon panels. The result is a surreal excursion into the underworld of the psyche—just for the fun of it. These concise, hilarious little stories are strangely familiar, showing that whatever our external differences, at night we were all united in the absurd world of dreams, where we can quietly and safely go insane.
126 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 27, 2023
Fantastic 4 panel (1 page) representations of dreams; some are funny, some are weird and some are disturbing - but all will have you recall dreams that you have had. The way the pages are laid out fits the dreams perfectly; no time is spent trying to explain the dreams - they are manifestations of something that is deeper but fleeting.
October 7, 2007
Marvelous collection of people's dreams condensed into four-panel comic strips..
January 16, 2008
A bunch of these really made me laugh out loud. Truly captures the randomness that is our dreams...and kudos to the artist for interpreting them into comics. :)
December 26, 2011
Not quite as good as The Night of Your Life, but still entertaining.
January 9, 2019
1. This was an interesting read. I would have liked more scandalous dreams.
2. Dream I found funny or liked:
Bunny Love
The one about the rabbit who never talked until it was interviewed.
“I asked her why she never spoke before.”
“‘Well, I’ve never been interviewed before.’”
-Love and Darth
Someone was fighting Darth Vader and their batteries ran out on their lightsaber, but they were able to defeat him using the power of love. HAHA
-Mathematical Love Fax
The love letter in a mathematical language. “I can’t read a love letter in algebra.” HAHAHAHA
-Motherly Advice
Making sure your cabinets are always full of cereal.
-O.J Simpson Roller Coaster
Just a roller coaster about OJ murdering Nicole.
-Scrap Food
Eating batteries. They are below the junk food category on the scrap food category. “I still ate them ‘cause I was poor and worried about not having any energy.”
-Attempted Murder
The gun whose bullets “feebly drops onto the floor” instead of actually shooting.
-Alternative Communion
I want that bacon communion!!!
-Muppet Witness
Elmo in the bottom of the pool filled with mayonnaise.
-Stage Failure
“You can only fail so many times.”
3. Quotes I liked:
”Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?” -Leonardo Da Vinci
“If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time.” -Marcel Proust
“You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’”
-George Bernard Shaw
2. Dream I found funny or liked:
Bunny Love
The one about the rabbit who never talked until it was interviewed.
“I asked her why she never spoke before.”
“‘Well, I’ve never been interviewed before.’”
-Love and Darth
Someone was fighting Darth Vader and their batteries ran out on their lightsaber, but they were able to defeat him using the power of love. HAHA
-Mathematical Love Fax
The love letter in a mathematical language. “I can’t read a love letter in algebra.” HAHAHAHA
-Motherly Advice
Making sure your cabinets are always full of cereal.
-O.J Simpson Roller Coaster
Just a roller coaster about OJ murdering Nicole.
-Scrap Food
Eating batteries. They are below the junk food category on the scrap food category. “I still ate them ‘cause I was poor and worried about not having any energy.”
-Attempted Murder
The gun whose bullets “feebly drops onto the floor” instead of actually shooting.
-Alternative Communion
I want that bacon communion!!!
-Muppet Witness
Elmo in the bottom of the pool filled with mayonnaise.
-Stage Failure
“You can only fail so many times.”
3. Quotes I liked:
”Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?” -Leonardo Da Vinci
“If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time.” -Marcel Proust
“You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’”
-George Bernard Shaw
June 1, 2016
Dreamtoons is both an interesting look at the human psyche, as well as eye opening realization that our imaginations are our most powerful ally. While not actually present a story, Dreamtoons is an artists interpretation of people's submitted dreams, showing off the silly and serious side of humanity's subconsciousness. It is a very funny book, often putting me in tears from the sheer silliness of some people's dreams, and is very enjoyable to read. The art is also very good, and kind to the eyes.
June 1, 2016
Really weird book, made me rethink my dreams actually. Yet it was an excellent book honestly. I love the fact that it was just other people's dreams and its always been a cool thought of mine if you could record you dreams and then play them the next day so you could remember them forever. and this book is kinda like that except its other people's dreams. Great art style, best word I could describe it was funky but in a good way...... Like outkast the band. I would recommend if you like a great entertainment to have beside you anywhere.
September 4, 2008
Not for everyone, I guess, but, being interested in dreams and "dreamwork," I really enjoyed the concept of this oddball book. Sometimes dreams are just dreams and not Profound Messages From The Universe -- this book celebrates "just dreams." Whether or not they had meaning to the dreamer is beside the point. Great fun, quirky, amusing.
May 9, 2011
I have intense interest in dreams, probably because I’m constantly being awed, disturbed, confused, and terrified by my own. The Dreamtoons series was a perfect fit for me. (Although, to be perfectly honest, I think some of these were made up or embellished.)
And if you think your dreams are weird, it might be comforting to realize you have plenty of company.
And if you think your dreams are weird, it might be comforting to realize you have plenty of company.
November 29, 2012
Unique take on the inner life. Jung would have appeciated this, I like to think. If you like Dreamtoons (and Austin, TX or Punkrockers, or have ever worked in a video store) try My Life in a Jugular Vein by Ben Snakepit who breaks his own life into three panel segments in a somewhat similar fashion, although nothing to do with dreams...
February 1, 2008
There's some pretty hilarious stuff in here, both in the way the dreams are described and the illustrations of them. Not a huge fan of the drawing style and I wish there could've been color, but I do love this concept!
Grade: B+
Grade: B+
April 13, 2008
I got $10 and a signed first edition because Jesse Reklaw used a cartoon based on my dream about driving a pickup to the moon. (It involved jumping it off a really long ramp).
December 30, 2009
I can only say that this is absolutely my kind of humor. A couple of these made me laugh until I cried.
January 8, 2011
This is an odd book -- the illustrator takes people's dreams (they send them in) and turns them into illustrations. Pretty freaky stuff here. But fascinatingly freaky.
February 14, 2012
Wonderfully entertaining, and great for anyone who has ever wondered if other people have as weird dreams as they do!
January 12, 2024
Interesting look at many dreams submitted in the 1990s, which give not only a look into the human subconscious in general, but into the zeitgeist of the time. The four panel comic is the perfect format for telling a dream; the reason dreams are often boring to listen to is usually because the dreamer takes too long trying to remember the dream or tells it in a disjointed, rambling way. Dreams are much more interesting in short doses.
May 25, 2020
Absolutely awesome. I want more!!
January 28, 2009
Dreamtoons is a short trade paperback collection of four-panel daily comic strips drawn by Jesse Reklam. All of the strips are based on dreams submitted to Reklam by readers. His strip started online and is now syndicated in several print newspapers.
It's a pretty neat idea, but in practice it gets old really fast. Some of the dreams are intriguing, others just plain boring. All of the dreams get the same four-panel setup, which is too bad when one of the dreams is really interesting and you just know there is more. Many of the dreams could really benefit from being expressed more thoroughly in the language of comics, rather than the limited conventions of newspaper cartooning. Also, some of the wonder of a really weird dream is lost somehow in its retelling by someone other than the dreamer.
The book is peppered with grey-tone pages containing large print quotations from various sources on the nature of dreams. That's actually the best part of the book.
While it's not a bad end table or bathroom book, I think I would much rather read these strips as strips. Sadly, there just really isn't that much to them.
It's a pretty neat idea, but in practice it gets old really fast. Some of the dreams are intriguing, others just plain boring. All of the dreams get the same four-panel setup, which is too bad when one of the dreams is really interesting and you just know there is more. Many of the dreams could really benefit from being expressed more thoroughly in the language of comics, rather than the limited conventions of newspaper cartooning. Also, some of the wonder of a really weird dream is lost somehow in its retelling by someone other than the dreamer.
The book is peppered with grey-tone pages containing large print quotations from various sources on the nature of dreams. That's actually the best part of the book.
While it's not a bad end table or bathroom book, I think I would much rather read these strips as strips. Sadly, there just really isn't that much to them.
April 21, 2025
A book of four panel strips, where the artist draws the dreams people send to him, sign me up.
Some of these are weird, and some are very weird and surreal. They remind me of Perry Bible Fellowship strips. The art is really great, and there's a page in the back where you can send in a photo and get included in the dream toon
Some of these are weird, and some are very weird and surreal. They remind me of Perry Bible Fellowship strips. The art is really great, and there's a page in the back where you can send in a photo and get included in the dream toon
April 22, 2011
Better in small doses, but still very fun. I will now probably try to remember my dreams in witty 4 panel comics.
August 20, 2012
"I love you, dreamwoman"
May 29, 2015
Very interesting concept. Love knowing I'm not the only one with messed up dreams.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews