CBR14 Bingo: ‘Verse – The Doll’s House is part of the Sandman ‘verse.
The Doll’s House introduces readers to the schemes of the Endless. It contains issues nine through sixteen of ‘The Sandman’ comics wherein Dream sets out to put his kingdom, the Dreaming, back to rights. A census by castle librarian, Lucien, shows that four major creations have escaped; Brute and Glob, the Corinthian, and Fiddler’s Green. Threaded through is the story of Rose Walker, a human pawn caught in the machinations of the Endless.
Desire has striven to manipulate Dream in the past and with Dream’s imprisonment, sees a new opportunity in maneuvering Dream in the present. Desire controls the fate of a dream vortex, pushing it to appear in Rose Walker. Rose’s family unbeknownst to themselves has been thoroughly emmeshed with the Dreaming. Rose’s younger brother Jed has effectively disappeared into the social care system. Her journey to find him has her cross paths with an eclectic group of human individuals, who we predominantly learn the most about through their dreams (How will the show do their dreams? The dreams are an important plot point). Rose’s nature as a dream vortex draws the denizens of the Dreaming to her in good and disastrous ways.
By the end, Rose is traumatized by her experience. She has interacted with immortals and no longer feels in control of her life. She realizes how thin the veneer of reality is, as though humans are just dolls being moved around a doll house by unimaginable powers. Dreams views it differently. In confronting Desire, he tells them that the Endless are the servants of the living. That they only exist because humans believe in them on a deep subconscious level.
We of the endless are the servants of the living – we are NOT their masters. We exist because they know, deep in their hearts, that we exist. When the last living thing has left this universe then our task will be done. And we do not manipulate them. If anything, they manipulate us. We are their toys. Their dolls, if you will.”
Two stories in The Doll’s House are standalone. The volume opens with, ‘Tales in the Sand’, chronicling Dream’s ill-fated romance with a mortal, Nada. It gives the backstory of the woman Dream spoke with in hell and reveals that Desire has attempted to manipulate Dream before. This story shows the strength of Dream’s pride. Part way through the volume is, ‘Men of Good Fortune’ (one of my favorite stories within Sandman), the story of Hob Gadling, another human caught in the affairs of the Endless. Hob boasts that he won’t die because it’s a ‘mug’s game’. Death and Dream conspire that Hob shall not die until he desires to do so. This story also involves Dream’s pride but in addition his loneliness. The first season of the Sandman tv adaptation will be covering The Doll’s House and I am intensely curious how they are going represent these two stories (if at all!). Both are important but definitely don’t go with the flow.
Note: I tried to draw Dream’s ruby and bag of sand to symbolize the Sandman ‘verse.
In the tags, I listed the main artists who worked on The Doll’s House. Additional art was done by Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, and Steve Parkhouse. Perhaps here is a good spot to shout out the amazing art of Dave McKean that graced the covers of the graphic novels.