Graphic Novel Review: Dreams Factory

Title: Dreams Factory

Published by: Magnetic Press
Written by: Jerome Hamon
Illustrated by: Suheb Zako
ISBN: 9781951719524
Ages: 10+

Setting: London, 1892, Heavy Industrial vibe

Making her way through the snow and ice, Indira heads to work in a coal mine. Though she is young, she has to make money to help her and her little brother Elliot to survive. Though thankful for the meager amounts of food and having a place to live, Elliot nonetheless wants one other thing in life: a fantastical clockwork robot toy from the Dreams Factory. But life goes on, and the poor siblings watch out for each other.

One day, Indira is sick and doing her best to recover. Elliot decides that he can help with the work duties as well and tries to go to the mines in her place. Being too small and weak to handle that type of work, he is suddenly approached and enticed to work building the clockwork toys of the Dreams Factory. Indira, waking suddenly to find him gone, searches for him but to no avail…

What is happening at the Dreams Factory?

Is the factory involved in the increasing number of village children gone missing?

DREAMS FACTORY is very cinematic in its presentation. Suheb Zako, the illustrator for this graphic novel, was the animation designer for ARCANE, a very recently popular animated show on Netflix, which should give you an idea of its graphical presentation. French author Jerome Hamon (NILS, EMMA AND VIOLETTE) keeps the suspense tight and the action fast paced in this steampunk-esque family rescue story.

At times, I could almost see the story coming off the page, reaching to be shown as a movie, even hearing a frantic orchestral score as Indira runs through the smoke and metal. Perhaps one day we will see this story come to life on the screen, but until then, we have this wonderful graphic novel.

Ages 10+

ADAM FISHER, Reference Associate

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Adam Fisher

Adam Fisher has worked for more than a decade at Lane Libraries in Fairfield, Ohio, where he is a Reference Associate. He creates and leads programming for all ages, manages the graphic novel, sci-fi/fantasy, and magazine collections at his branch, and has recently seen great success with his self-created Escape Room programs. He writes reviews for everything he reads and can be found on Goodreads @FisherAd80 and on Twitter @adamreadscomics.

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