Knight Terrors: Knockturnal Creatures

Knight Terrors (DC)

by Tini Howard, Triona Farrell (colorist), Ben Templesmith (inker)

In Knight Terrors, DC’s heroes and villains are engulfed in their own dark and twisted nightmares by new villain Insomnia and his Sleepless Knights. This frightening companion collection reveals the bleakest horrors in the minds of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, The Joker, Punchline, and Zatanna! Enter the Harley Quinn Zone as Harley is confronted with the surreal and unsettling consequences of her choices! It’s a suburban nightmare as Poison Ivy wakes up in the life that she never wanted! The Joker’s worst fear becomes a he’s got a day job! Punchline confronts her long-suppressed fears in true horror-movie fashion! And Zatanna teams with Robotman of the Doom Patrol to defend the world from Insomnia’s Sleepless Knights! Collects Knight Harley Quinn #1-2, Knight Poison Ivy #1-2, Knight The Joker #1-2, Knight Punchline #1-2, and Knight Zatanna #1-2.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Superheroes

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my ‘review’ of the core title for my thoughts on the Knight Terrors crossover overall. The spin-off books are just getting broken down and totted up:

Harley Quinn: 2.37 stars
The Joker: 4.25 stars
Poison Ivy: 2.25 stars
Punchline: 1.5 stars
Zatanna: 2.5 stars

Overall: 2.5 stars, rounded up.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I’ll rate these books individual for how much I enjoyed the mini-series within each book, but I’ll bring this review over to each of the five books in this series. I read the entirety of this event over a weekend in the single issue order that these were published in.

This event gets a lot of bad reviews everywhere I look and while I don’t necessarily agree with those reviews, I couldn’t push too hard against those opinions either. Most of these stories were okay. Some of them I actually really enjoyed (Main storyline, Batman, The Joker, Detective Comics, Shazam, The Flash, Nightwing) and some of them I actually just found to be nothing but a chore to get through (Angel Breaker, Ravager). I don’t see a problem with an event like this taking over a comic line for a couple of months for a quick refresher, but that’s seems to be a lone opinion for these books. I thought a lot of the art was the best parts of some of these stories and that art gave us some horrifying things to look at where we may never have seen in any other circumstance. I enjoy Joshua Williamson’s storytelling for the most part and I’m actually glad he was able to be the architect for something very experimental and different within the DC Universe.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would've been a 4/ 5 as a solid collection that while never terrible does have it's best at it's start but it ends with a real stinker that gives it more of a 3.5/5 that's just easily rounded up. Don't be fooled though this is a fun varied collection of Knight Terror tie-ins that seems to carry some of the more colorful tie-ins while still doing what I think the best Knight Terrors tie-ins do: focus on the characters personal fear over traditional horror becoming a character-driven spooky time that makes me love the character I know and find new love for the ones I don't. But I will admit it starts with its best material before settling down into more general good/fine material but the varied stories here make it well worth it.
Individual reviews below average is a 3.7/5 but if you include the only stinker of the collection its a 3.3/5.
Harley Quinn - Extremely fun beginning with Harley unmoved by her personal nightmares because she's been crazy for so long she's done with it. Then it goes into multiversal debug fun (tying into her multiversal deal that I think was going on in her run around the time) and an interesting existential horror of your actions having consequences and being forced into becoming someone your not ans wanting to live a simple life but not being able to. And trying to “keep it together.” just a lot of stuff and messages juggles extremely well. The art is fun and I like that Harley jumps between different outfits she's worn over the years. 4.5/5. I think if I read the Harley Quinn run this would be a perfect 5/5 as it seems to be in conversation with it heavily but with little reference point a chunk of the ending is sorta lost on me.
Poison Ivy - Just a fun comic with wonderful gonzo unsettlingness that more creepy fun than terrifyingly scary. It also touches on Poison Ivy's struggles with herself as well which gives it good weight. I enjoy how it focuses on her fear of losing herself for a loved one in such an oh so Poison Ivy way of creepy-cute suburbia and Harlivy. There's also some neat stuff with Janet having a fear of being in someones way / interfering with their dream or success from Janet. The art is impeccable with creepy cute stepford wives suburbia that just oozes unsettlingness. Atagun Ilhan can draw some cartoon-y faces a la the Thing(tho it can be a bit much at times) which really pops off especially once the nightmare or truly revealed and the silly suburbia version of Gotham individuals get crazy balloon-like exaggerated faces. They also can have some very thick outlining but I enjoy it. 4.25/5
The Joker - There is good comedic corporate horror in the first half but the second half kinda killed it. I like the idea of What's the point of the Joker without his duo in Batman and the idea of him repressingly becoming Batman and sleep fighting is cool. But idk the execution and the ending was eh. 3/5 for the strong first half.
Zatanna - I was not expecting her to have a dynamic with Robotman here but it's great and is reinforced well by the both the fun banter and use of battling each other's demons. Also ties a bit into JL Dark which I always enjoy seeing in these events. I do think the Zatanna's fear is a bit weak. I don't really know Zatanna's deal enough as a person to get her fear. As someone who's not into Zatanna it felt oddly weak. Like it was a personal fear but it seemed like sorta weak with her Dad just shit talking her. Maybe if I knew more about her and her Dad or related more to that (thankfully I have loving parents) it would have a bigger impact. The art is a really good and has some fun paneling choices with the maze. 3/5
Punchline - Punchline deals with her fear of having to put on a bravado and be fearless and not letting stuff get toys you. The internet stuff was cool, fun, and tongue in cheek. The Batgirl thing was a bit more weird and if meant to show her having to put on ego even in victory and as a segway to the Internet stuff is still odd. 3.75/5
Presque Vu - Harley Quinn and a biker grandma version of her future self go beyond time to repair time. Its chockfull of convoluted stuff about time and stuff and its all just eh. the cynical clincher of it all being a neverending cycle seems to be what its building to but its still all eh. I guess the fear is tied to her multiverse deal? Its just a lot of purple prose. It seems to tie in to Harley Quinn's multiverse deal with her being some fourth dimensional being that as such can power time by sacrificing versions of herself. The art's not my fave. It's grimy and reminds me of Invader Zim but in a poor way. Like Invader Zim is charming and nice. I don't have Invader Zim I promise uwu. 1.5/5

[Raluca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally bought this volume for the artwork on the cover, not gonna lie, but I actually did end up enjoying some of the stories, as well as getting to know new characters that I knew nothing about, like Punchline. The theme of the stories is that these villains (are they all villains?) are all succombing to the powers of this new super villain and his knights, which makes them all live their worst nightmare. For some, like the joker, it’s about finding out that they’re nothing without their arch nemesis (but we already knew that), for some it’s really just coming to the conclusion that they could never be the good ones because playing by the rules isn’t really in their nature. But I have to admit that I mostly enjoyed the artwork…I can only hope to draw like that one day

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knight Terrors: Knocturnal Creatures was better than some of these Knight Terrors tie-in books. But when Harley Quinn is the main character in a couple of these stories how could you go wrong. So anyway to the reviews!!

Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1 & #2: Figures Harley was batty enough to have some control over her nightmares. She “hacks” the universe for reasons and off she goes to save the day. The multiverse travels were kind of fun.

Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy #1 & #2: Having the person who seems to get Poison Ivy best write this was great. Poison Ivy’s nightmare is living in some weird assed Valley of the Dolls life. If not for Janet from HR all would be lost. Weird story and trippy art makes for a good read.

Knight Terrors: Joker #1 & #2: Well anyone who reads recent Batman books would know that Joker’s worst fear would be a world without Batman. So guess what Joker’s nightmare is about? You guessed it. Living without Batman in a world gone sane. While often clever and well written this could have been a single issue story – lots of filler.

Knight Terrors: Zatanna #1 & #2: Team-up time! With Robotman. Not that interesting, just a two volume filler. Art was good. But just another in the series of unresolved issues being the nightmare of both heroes in this event.

Knight Terrors: Punchline #1 & #2: The new smart genius not Joker and definitely not an Asian Harley Quinn in less clothing! Not even sure what this nightmare was all about. She is winning because of Social Media? Minus stars for this crap.

The Backup story from Knight Terrors Harley Quinn. No wonder I was confused reading the HQ story back when it first came out. Sooooo… spoilers?…. This is just the plot of an old Twilight Zone episode or the first Terminator movie. Not bad, just filler.

[Geo Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Harley and Zatanna stories were so interesting and Zatanna’s actually got me to seek out more doom patrol content ! I also like the multiversity references they put in the Harley book and all the comic critiques they hid in her second issue.

Never got around to the punchline arc cause I Fundamentally Disagree with Her Character. The Ivy arc lacked any real substance and why is the quality of horror in the main line better than that in the “horror 2-part spin off” ?

[Serena]

did i read this because of the cover? yes. Was some comics better than others? yes. it was a good time ig

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book built around nightmares shouldn't be this boring. Harley's story was such a slog that it felt way longer than two issues. Ivy's didn't feel like it fit her character at all, and the art was awful. Joker's nightmare started in an interesting direction, but then lost its way in the second half. Zatanna's was fine. The best in the book, but that isn't saying much. Punchline fought internet trolls? At least it was a fast read. Overall, I felt like the potential of the concept was squandered.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that I picked up from the library on a whim, looking for something spooky or at least spooky-adjacent. I'm not much of a comic book reader, so maybe I would've gotten more out of this if I'd read more of the surrounding issues that this seems to tie into. But, it was presented as a sort of standalone book, tying together storylines from a handful of different DC characters, grappling with nightmares brought on by a new villain who put the entire world to sleep. The premise sounds great - the execution, less so.

For a book that is purportedly about the nightmares of superheroes, there's not a whole lot here that's particularly scary or even engaging. Some of the stories were good - The Joker's descent into a nightmarish everyday life when Batman dies in an accident was probably my favorite, but others just seemed to not have a whole lot to say.

For the most part, I enjoyed the artwork, but there just wasn't a whole lot here, and what could've likely been a book that I finished in one sitting was stretched out into a few days of reading - not usually a good sign for me.

[Michael Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knight Terrors is a huge 47 issue summer event that was published by DC in 2023, that had all the heroes and villains trapped in nightmares. This event brought two forgotten heroes to the forefront Deadman, and the golden age Sandman. Deadman is the narrator for the main event books and is refreshing to have a big event centered around a ghost superhero that has to possess bodies to walk around and fight the villain Insomnia. Insomnia is a forgettable villain for me and the main series I would rate 3.75 stars out of 5. However the ties in which we get to see the nightmares people are trapped in save this event. Some stand outs are the: Batman, Poison Ivy, Joker, Detective Comics , Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Flash, Superman, Catwoman, & Titians. These are just the ones that stuck out to me. Over all I think the tie ins when they hit really hit and bump this read up to a 4 out of 5 comic book read. I recommend this for anyone who wants a spooky read, and the beauty of tie in is that you can read as many or as little as you want.

[Jacob Shaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harley Quinn 4⭐️- pretty good, I love when they use the multiversity guidebook inside DC’s comics because it adds that fun layer of “I own that; this is one step closer to real”

Poison Ivy 2⭐️- not very imaginative, great artwork, 2 issues was 2222 long

The Joker 3⭐️- cute, got stale before the end of the first one. Second issue breathed new life, and then made a meta joke about a rushed ending, and gave us a rushed ending

Zatanna 2⭐️- special guest Cliffe Robotman Steele, two great characters together, in a really boring story. Booooo
Cliffe gets transformed in to something else at one point, and that design is also really boring, boooo

Punchline 3⭐️ - I think this is the second Punchline story I’ve ever read, she fights a nightmare Batgirl and Anon’s across a blog and YouTube. It’s iiiiiiight

Presque Vu 1⭐️ - this one just sucked I didn’t enjoy it. At first it’s like “oh this book is gonna have something to say” but it ain’t sayin noooothin. Time does crazy time stuff ooOoOoOooHh the end
I hated the poison ivy story less than this one

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy the biggest Gotham villains, Id really recommend this!

Huge props to the Poison Ivy crew for making a story so eerily hard to read and look at, easily the scariest!

Lots of fun and beautifully presented stories in here especially with Harley Quinn's as well as The Jokers!

Huge Doom Patrol fan, so real happy with Robotman appearing in a big way in this!

As someone who despises Punchline as a person, Im surprised how above and beyond her story goes in here with a peak antagonist and the most clever meta and paneling out of any Knight Terrors issue.

Definitely has the most learning curve on you should be reading most of these character's recent runs. Which, hell, if this makes you do it, youre in line for peak stories anyway!

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yadda yadda...
Knight Terrors miniseries...
individual nightmares of some heroes and villains...

Mostly meh.

This volume? Harley Quinn takes on the multiverse...so notsomuch nightmare fuel. Punchline also fights through her dream and comes out, largely, unscathed. She does get to fight the internet(?)

Bonus: Zatanna and Robotman...hex and violence? seriously

[Belfry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn - 1.5 stars
Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy - 3.5 stars
Knight Terrors: Joker - 3.75 stars
Knight Terrors: Punchline - 3.25 stars
Knight Terrors: Zatanna - 3.75 stars

3 stars

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others. Punchline and Poison Ivy felt a little more forced into the mix. Joker was an interesting take but would have loved to see something more twisted. Harely was ok and zatanna was fun

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the Poison Ivy story of an idyllic life but with weird neighbours. The Joker story was great with Joker playing a normal company man that occasionally is homicidal. The Sleepness Knights and their members are great play on words.

[Luke Costin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the Joker and Harley Quinn stories in this collection but not a particularly strong collection for these villians

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot going on here but very little of it was interesting

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.75 stars. There is nothing of any interest here. It's not bad per se I guess, just so much of a nothing burger that it's a waste of time

[alejandro galvez · Rating 2 out of 5]

More bad than good.

Only enjoyed Punchline and Zatannas story. The art is great and all but man this was like drinking liquid Ambien for breakfast. Snoozefestapalooza.

[Scott Waldie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halloween 2025 Marathon, Comic 11/13.

[Fiore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The highlight of this was Joker's nightmare involving Batman dying in a very silly accident being both very silly and believable. The second best part were the variant covers...so yeah.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

And now we begin to wade into the remanants of the Knight Terrors tie-ins.

Harley Quinn's two issues, by Tini Howard and Hayden Sherman, are messy and nonsensical, and not even in the fun way that her solo series is. Punchline, by Danny Lore and Lucas Meyer, seems to play with the Knight Terrors rules in an entirely different way to the rest of the tie-ins, which makes it stand out, but not in a good way.

On the flip side, G. Willow Wilson and Atagun Ilhun bring Poison Ivy into the mix with a decent affair, with some truly terrifying artwork, while Dennis Culver and David Baldeon's Zatanna/Doom Patrol issues are surprisingly fun. The cream of the crop though is very clearly Matthew Rosenberg and Stefano Raffaele's Joker tie-in, which is totally bizarre and different in the way Punchline wishes it was - easily one on of my favourite tie-ins, up there with the Detective Comics issues.

Truly a tale of two halves - high heights, but some low lows.