Ruin has come, and he’s brought to DC fans by the creative force of G. Willow Wilson and Euthanauts artist Nick Robles, the creative team behind the upcoming The Dreaming: Waking Hours.
Who is Ruin? What Sets Him Apart?
A new and exciting addition to the Sandman Universe, Wilson confesses to Ruin’s inspiration springing from her latest bout of insomnia. Further, she longed for anything, from a peaceful dream to a nightmare. “Then came the epiphany, ” she explained. “[What] if we put a nightmare at the center of the story? What does it mean to have a bad dream as a protagonist? And then Ruin came tumbling down faster than I could write him. A nightmare who falls in love with the person whose dreams he was sent to haunt. A nightmare who doesn’t want to be a nightmare and tries to change, who aches for a human connection he might never have.”
With such a metaphysical concept comes Wilson’s notion of having such an evil ability, and the struggle it would be to turn it around to use for good instead. While we have seen protagonists in DC and Marvel Comics embody this conflict, there are few characters that walk the line on the metaphysical plane.
As to Ruin’s personality, his nature contradicts that of other well-known Sandman Universe inhabitants. She says, “He’s soft, he’s shy, he’s awkward, he’s eager to please. He is as terrified by his own darkness as a dreamer would be. He makes the profound, heartbreaking effort not to frighten anyone. And he sets off on this quest to find the person he fell in love with, against all odds.”
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 is scheduled to hit shelves May 5.
