Just finished reading the Doll’s House by Gaiman which is Vol 2 and covers issues No.9-16.  I thought this was brilliant.  Dark, yes.  Disturbing, in parts yes.  Gripping, yes.  The Sandman series is my first foray into graphic novels and I’m taking my time working through the series.

I thought this was a really good instalment.  The first story is a tale of a young tribesman being taken through a rites of passage into adulthood. The elder tribesman relates to him a story of Nada, once queen of a mighty empire and much beloved who tragically falls in love with Morpheus.  I enjoyed this story very much – if you want it’s a bit of a Romeo and Juliet.  Nada and Morpheus cannot be together.  Their love is doomed from the outset.  She follows him into his world and he in turn becomes enamoured with her, the first mortal to have ever sought him out in this way.   It really is rather tragic and a bit sad I thought – it showed a different side to Dream which is something that became a recurring theme through the other stories within the volume.

The rest of the stories relate how Morpheus is still putting back to rights his realm following his escape from captivity.  A number of Morpheus’s creations have escaped and on top of that he’s discovered a vortex – which could potentially have a disastrous effect or completely destroy the realm.  I loved the way that we look back at a character from a previous story whose granddaughter is having a major impact on the stories within this edition.  Rose is the main focus.  She’s been reunited with her grandmother and now searches for her younger brother.  This search sees her become an inhabitant of a house with a number of odd characters, it takes us on a journey into a strange dreamscape created by a couple of Dream’s escapees and also sees us at a Con with a difference.

Of the escaped dream characters Corinthian is undoubtedly the creepiest and his story arc with the whole serial con (a convention for serial killers!) is amusing and twisted in equal measure.

What I really enjoy about these is the way that Gaiman takes something that we think we know about and incorporates it into his story in such a way as to make it something new.  I loved that the Endless – are not Gods.  Unlike Gods they can’t die – dream, death and in this edition desire (causing trouble for Morpheus) – there are of course another four (not sure of all of them – destiny, despair and delirium, not sure about the other one – maybe destruction?)

Ultimately this series shows us a different side to Dream, almost making him appear more vulnerable – for example the story about the man who can’t die.  Does Morpheus really want friendship?  I’ve actually already read Vol 3 Dream Country (review here) which was a series of stories unrelated to the thread of the first two (although not sure whether they will have any future bearing yet) so now really looking forward to Vol 4 to see how the story of Dream continues.

I’m submitting this as part of my Stainless Steel Droppings RIP event.