The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House

Neil Gaiman, Sandman: The Doll's House (DC Comics, 1995)

The second book in the ten-book Sandman series is a dramatic improvement over the first, as promised by Gaiman's afterword to Preludes and Nocturnes. Where that one contained flashes of the brilliance Gaiman would later unveil in American Gods, this one pretty much goes whole hog in the brilliance department.

Where the first book was standard plot (right out of Malory, really) in relatively standard setting, The Doll's House is fairly standard plot (Sandman must neutralize a threat to the kingdom in the form of a human girl who functions as a dream vortex), the setting is anything but standard; we meet more of the Endless, a number of murderers who make the first book's John Dee look like a walk in the park, escaped dream-creatures, a cereal convention in the middle of nowhere, and much, much more.

The Sandman books are revered by thousands, if not millions; I'm starting to see why. This is stuff you want to read. ****

Some time ago, I was desperate to get my hands on this particular TPB. It wasn't possible, but, at last, I own my own copy!

I had read this some years ago, recommended by a friend really into American comics. Back then, I was not really interested in them, having gotten to a point of extreme boredom over superhero comics, that looked all the same to me, except for this or that good author (like Frank Miller, who penned "Year One" and "The Dark Night Returns"). My friend, however, persuaded me. He told me that not all American comics dealt with superheroes. There was one I'd love, called The Sandman, with dealt with mythology, with magic. Reluctantly, I gave it a try. I read book by book. The first one, I found, was not bad, but the art was too crude for my tastes (I still maintain that point of view). The story, however, was compelling. Now, on the second TPB, things got great. The art was improving, and the stories got better. In here, I found what is, to this day, my favorite Sandman story. Hob Gadling's tale of immortality was a breath of fresh air. Without spoiling it for anyone, it amazed me as I kept turning the pages. This particular story turned Gaiman into a hero for me. From then on, The Sandman had captured me, I was a slave to his magical sand. The serial killer convention was pretty creepy, and the seeds of Desire's plot were in here, but, back then, I paid no heed. Gadling's was my story. Now, after re-reading it, I read into more layers, more texture in the stories, and feel that Gaiman is actually a literary genius. Comic books (or, more recently referred to as "Graphic Novels") may be an artform frowed upon by some, but they can give some of the biggest writers of our time the chance to be known by the public.

The Doll's House is my favorite still out of all the other books in the series, and the first one I read. Gaiman has a way of crafting the human characters so they're unrealistically realistic (simple yet complex, childlike and cynical, insightful and ignorant, with an eternal late '80s - early '90s-ish air). Rose Walker has always been my favorite among those. Also Gilbert and the Corinthian make it more memorable (the serial killers' convention, Zelda and Chantell and the others, etc....) Morpheus never appeared kinder or more human(e?).

It means that we're just dolls. We don't have a clue what's really going down, we just kid ourselves that we're in control of our lives while a paper's thickness away things that would drive us mad if we thought about them for too long play with us, and move us around from room to room, and put us away at night when they're tired, or bored.
-- Rose Walker, in The Doll's House

In this second installment of the Sandman series, we the readers are treated to one of the most strange storylines and probably one of the most horrifying of the whole series. The story revolves around a girl named Rose Walker, whom is also referred to as a vortex. A vortex is someone who can hurt those that are dreaming because they are like an opening into the dream world and the real world. From my understanding there haven't been a vortex in decades. In the dreamworld, by law Morpheus must kill the person who is the vortex. Anyway, sound confusing, well it's really not. As the subplot I will also like to add that there were also four creatures that escaped during Morpheus' imprisionment. The imprisionment, which we learn more about in the first volume "Preludes and Noctures." The creatures are the Corinthian (who is one ruthless killer), Brute and Glob, and Fiddler's Green (who becomes one of Rose Walker's friends and main journey companion). This is a very complex storyline and what I'm writing as description doesn't do this book justice.

Probably one of my favorite parts in this volume has to be the "Serial Killer Convention," which is bizarre and at the time delightfully disturbing.

"The Doll's House" is probably one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. I mean I rank it up there with "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," and "Watchmen." It is one of Neil Gaiman's masterpieces and anyone who is tired of reading the same old Superman, Batman, or The Flash comics will like this book. This series takes risks. Something I feel that comics of today are lacking.

I belong to that great unwashed mass of people who have not yet read every Sandman comic collection in existence. I came to the series only recently, and as such I decided to systematically work my way through each chapter in the Sandman Chronicles. Thus far, I have finished two (count `em) two collections of the series. The first was the well-known and regarded "Preludes and Nocturnes". The second is the less regarded, "Doll's House". Before I picked up this collection I was informed by my husband that with this collection he no longer felt the necessity to read any more Sandman comics. Something in this book turned him off the series for good. Bearing that in mind I went into "The Doll's House" with some trepidation. It is a difficult book at times, and probably has a small flaw here and there. Nonetheless, I found it just as enticing and well-written (better illustrated even) than its predecessor. "The Doll's House" does not, contrary to the opinion of some, disappoint.

The last chapter in "Preludes and Nocturnes" is included at the beginning of this book, allowing people who skipped the first to still understand the second. And if THAT wasn't enough then Neil Gaiman himself has included a helpful introduction that sums up everything that has come before. The first official story of this collection is a little bleaker. An elder African man tells a story to a younger of the only woman the Sandman ever loved and the consequences that arose from that loving. It is a good way to telling the reader right off the bat that our hero is not, at times, much in the way of a good guy. In fact, he can be downright evil and petty. Other stories are less disturbing (in that particular way). We meet Rose and view her adventures as she attempts to locate a long lost little brother. We find that the Sandman, while he was imprisoned for so many years, has lost four of his major arcana dreams and he must personally track them down. As he does so, his destiny and the destiny of Rose herself become intertwined.

Gaiman does a couple things with this book that I highly approved of. For one thing, he finally makes a direct reference to the great "Little Nemo" comics of Winsor McCay. You would think the greatest dreaming comic strip (until "The Sandman", of course) would have earned itself a mention before now. As it is, Gaiman does a spot-on imitation of McCay's style. Other elements in the collection are especially good. There is a storyline about a man who wishes to never die, and who meets with Morpheus in a pub every one hundred years throughout the centuries. There's a rather amusing convention of serial killers who tell the hotel hosting them that they are a cereal convention. And then there's the fact that Gaiman is constantly bringing elements from previous plots into current ones. The dreams in this book are remarkably similar to those you've had in your sleep. His nightmares, however, are worse. Much worse than anything you might conjure up from your own unconscious.

I don't think this collection is quite as strong as its predecessor, but it doesn't have to be. It's just a well-written exciting fantasy about a nicely mysterious protagonist. It's amazing how Gaiman can take a hero who basically has all the powers of the world at his command and still keep the plotline interesting. It's also not every graphic novel that ends with you mentally pleading for the hero NOT to kill someone. A nice touch. Overall, a strong companion to previous Sandman efforts.