A review by obsidian_blue
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman

4.0

So this is the great Sandman I have been hearing about for years. I liked it. But can't say I was blown away by it though. Probably because for the most part I found the colors muddled and it was hard to read sometimes what characters were saying. And when I had to turn the graphic novel sideways to continue reading it that got annoying. Since thought bubbles tended to go over their individual panels I sometimes read things out of order too and had to go back a few times.

I am going to have to read Volume 1 next though. My friend mistakenly told me this was the first one to start with, but I hate reading things out of order.

This starts off with an introduction by Clive Barker. And then Neil Gaiman takes over and from there we hear of Morpheus (the Sandman) and how he ended up entrapped. Then it transitions to an older African village and a father telling his son a story about a city made of glass. I loved the imagery it evoked and could picture the city in my mind, as well as the Queen, Nada. I will say though we get the beginning of Morpheus's cruelty when the story tells us sort of what happened to her when she refused to marry Morpheus. I wish we heard about her more in this volume, but my friend tells me we do hear of her again.

From there it is 'present day' with Morpheus trying to stop a vortex (Rose Walker). And Rose Walker is giving warnings about what is coming for her if she doesn't stay vigilant. The first few issues of Rose going back to the states to find her missing brother Jed were interesting. But once again here's where I got confused, how did she and her mother lose him? Also how the heck did Rose's grandmother just magically find them through investigators like that. I had a hard time with her mother letting her go while she stayed with Rose's grandmother, but I let that go.

Once Rose moves in and meets her new housemates I was just resigned to everyone being quirky. I wanted the story to get moving and found parts to be slow. Why I am glad I got a volume so I didn't read this issue by issue.

I found things more smooth when we followed Morpheus around. I started to find myself bored by Rose. I didn't get the serial (cereal) killer guy at all (yes even after his reveal) and the eyes thing is going to haunt me.

And the ending was kind of a cheat I thought. Don't ask me how that whole thing worked, but I guess Gaiman wanted a happy ending. This graphic novel hints at something larger with regards to Rose and her family, so I'm curious enough to keep reading.