There are three really great things about 
The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House. One: Neil Gaiman’s writing is picking up steam. Two: the artwork is tons better than the first volume. Three: the story is awesome sauce.So, the story so far… Well, if you need an update, Gaiman helpfully provides one. Four pages of text…but that’s selling the synopsis short. This is four pages of prose, an introduction that leaves you wishing you could write a short story as good as Gaiman’s intro. And from there it just gets better and better. Start with a parable about Desire, set the stage for the relationship between mortals and The Endless (hint: it’s right there in the title), then give us some insight into the relationships within The Endless. And then we get into the meat of the story.
It seems that, in Morpheus’ absence from the Dreaming, two key events have occurred: a Dream Vortex in the person of Rose Walker has appeared (granddaughter of Unity Kinkaid; you remember her from the first volume don’t you? Ah, well, that’s a good excuse to go back and re-read it); and four of the Dreams have gone missing. The Vortex is Bad. If left unchecked, it will tear down the walls between people’s dreams, leaving them mindless and damaging the Dreaming as well. The Dreams are potentially bad as well. Brute and Glob are merely untrustworthy; the Corinthian is very dangerous; and Fiddler’s Green’s disappearance is a bit of a mystery.
No spoilers here; let’s just say that the story is excellent. There is a houseful of weirdos, another Sandman, child abuse, an interlude reminding you what the story is all about, TONS of serial killers, and a tying up of loose ends that you didn’t even know existed. Good stuff.
If you read my review of Preludes and Nocturnes, you will know that I wasn’t that impressed with the art. In fact, it was quite distracting in its poorness, which is bad news in a graphic novel. I am happy to say that the artwork here is vastly improved. The overall quality of the draftsmanship is higher, almost like somebody at Vertigo noticed the popularity of the book and gave it a higher priority. It is also more adventurous, which I love. Panels tumble, making you turn the page sideways to read them. There is an homage to Little Nemo in Slumberland. There are photo-realistic drawings, and collage. It’s way more interesting, and does a lot more to help out the writing. And, as before, the covers are superb.
I just finished reading The Doll’s House, and I have to go get Dream Country and start into that. That’s how good this is. Treat yourself to a read or a re-read and pick this one up.
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