THE DREAM MERCHANTMedia Release -- From Nathan Edmondson (DANCER, THE ACTIVITY) and newcomer Konstantin Novosadov comes THE DREAM MERCHANT, a sci-fi series from Image Comics, about Winslow, a troubled mental patient in his late teens. Winslow suffers from a recurring dream that grows more intense every night — and when he discovers its true meaning, the world will literally change.

A friend's comment led Edmondson to contemplate the idea behind THE DREAM MERCHANT. "I started thinking about dreams as something one could exchange, and trade," he said, in a mini-interview at the Image Comics blog, "which eventually yielded the idea behind Winslow's dream."

The task of depicting Winslow's dreamscapes, as well as the dreariness of his ordinary life, is in the hands of talented Russian artist Novsadov. His impressionistic, color-washed style is a perfect complement to Edmondson's story of the mysteries of dream life and fantasy.

Volume I of THE DREAM MERCHANT is a six-issue, full-color miniseries. The first issue (MAR130450) will be in stores May 15 and will be available for pre-order from the March issue of Previews. Readers who want a sneak peek in advance are invited to submit their dreams to a special Tumblr site, dreamshavemeaning.tumblr.com.

We talked to writer Edmondson about his newest project.

Who is THE DREAM MERCHANT's main character, Winslow?
He is a troubled boy, the creative type many people are familiar with: can't focus in school, has trouble relating to other people. His best friend is a schizo in a mental hospital. Winslow's problem is a recurring dream, one that is only getting more intense.

What about the world of dreams inspired you to write this story?
A friend wrote to me once that they "wished I could sell them my dreams, as they were far more interesting than their own." That started me thinking about dreams as something one could exchange, and trade, which yielded (eventually) the idea behind Winslow's dream. I also studied some of the philosophy of dreams in school, and was fascinated by where science, philosophy and theology all converged in this field…

Tell us about your artist, Konstantin Novosadov. How did you find each other?
I discovered some of (Russian artist) Konstantin's work online; he's superbly talented, and—and this is something I did not learn until months into the production of the book—we communicate primarily by Google Translation. Now I'm able to practice some Russian on him and he works out English on me, but the he works twice as hard as most any other artist just to "Get" the script, and he deserves credit for that as well as his fantastic art.