Sean Barrs 's Reviews > The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House

Every time I try to write a review for a Sandman comic, it just sounds like an outpouring of positive emotions and generic statements about what makes a good story good. I literally love this series, and to try and review it in a conventional way is rather difficult. So instead I’m going to show you some images and do my best to explain why this comic is so incredible.

Morpheus, Dream of the endless night.



Dream is a character, a concept and a force of nature. He is one of the defining pillars of the human psyche, and this is his story. This is the story of how, after he was restored to his full power in Sandman volume one, he regains the control of the remainder of his weird minions that went rogue. And I say weird because his creations are very strange. He has created them from the dreamscape with the sole purpose of being a means of creating dreams for a human sleeper. They are ideals and entities both. It’s hard to explain if you haven’t read it, but in Gaiman’s world dreaming is a powerful tool. And the creatures involved are dangerous if not controlled properly by their lord and master.

The Corinthian



And this is one of the creatures in question. He was specifically designed to combat nightmares, to use fear against fear itself; however, in Morpheus’ absence he has been doing whatever he pleases. And what pleases him is eyes, eating them and biting them out with his own teeth-socket eyes. So Morpheus actual presence in his own realm is vital in controlling such evil things so he may do some good with them. Indeed, because what the Corinthian does here is inspire an entire generation of serial killers to go and collect the body parts of other humans.

Shakespeare?



Now this image isn’t in this volume, I couldn’t find the scene online for this one, but it works nonetheless. Dream meets Shakespeare who is dreaming of becoming a wonderful playwright. He is in awe of Christopher Marlowe’s work, and wants to be able to write with the same degree of artistry. He makes a deal with Morpheus, a dream in exchange for something yet to be revealed. And for me this becomes one of the best things about this comic. It sits oddly at place with the real world. It’s almost like Gaiman has cleverly devised these characters that could actually exist. It may sound slightly irrational, but the point is the real world has been used to demonstrate that there are concepts and powers that will always be beyond human recognition. Despite advances in science, we will never be able to define such vague and ungraspable ideas such as emotions and dreams. Instead we have art, and in this case a comic, to attempt to express such things so eloquently.



I feel ill-equipped to review this in such a way that demonstrates the sheer intelligence of this story. It’s like I’m trying to talk about a masterful piece of music, but I know nothing about the formalities of music so I can’t put my feelings into precise language. Perhaps that’s a poor allegory because I do know a fair bit about books and stories, though trying to capture how creative and innovative this is still rather difficult. All I can suggest is that you go read this series and see it for yourself.