The Dreaming #7 – Simon Spurrier, Writer; Abigail Larson, Artist; Quinton Winter, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8/10
Regular series artist Bilquis Evely takes a break as we head out of the Dreaming for an arc in The Dreaming #7, focusing on where Daniel has been – and what events in the real world have been causing chaos in the titular realm. Back in the original Sandman Universe special, we saw a brief segment involving the mysterious Dora helping to ease a dying woman’s pain by giving her the dreams of all the things her cancer had taken from her. That seemed like a throwaway scene to illustrate Dora’s compassion, but it seems it’s anything but.
The sick old woman happens to be the mother of a key character – the mysterious Rose, an immortal with deep ties to the Dreaming who is caught between two tragedies. Her mother is dying, and her daughter Ivy is languishing in a coma from a seeming drug overdose. But Ivy’s condition is a lot more complicated than thought, and what unfolds this issue is a complex tragedy that illustrates how the human psyche can be destroyed by beings far more powerful than them.
Lucien, who was last seen being overcome by the forces of the Dreaming and disappearing, is now an addled old man lying in a hospital bed. Rose visits him regularly, trying to figure out the bizarre events that led to Ivy’s coma. The young artist is swept off her feet by a mysterious man who charms her, but also seems to warp reality around him.
These segments, gorgeously illustrated by guest artist Abigail Larson, illustrate what happens when the Dreaming slips into the human world. We’ve started to see more and more crossover between the four titles lately, and this is the first issue where we start to get a clearer picture of where Dream’s other siblings have been hiding out since the end of the original series. Changing the location from the Dreaming to the human world has robbed this arc of some of its brilliant surrealism, but it makes up for it with a human touch and keeps this series going strong.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
