The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country – The Glass House #1 – James Tynion IV, Writer; Lisandro Estherren, Artist; Patricio Delpeche, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: James Tynion IV’s reinvention of the world of the Corinthian was probably the best new content in the Sandman Universe since it was relaunched, and this follow-up doesn’t let off on the throttle at all. After the previous arc saw most of the main characters either killed off or transformed and pushed the Corinthian into the unlikely role of an antihero, this new arc surrounds us with a new cast of characters. The main character, Max, isn’t the easiest to like at first. He’s a striving finance bro who works for a toxic, eccentric boss named Kenny who divides his employees into tiers by who he invites to a private club with him. Max has been dutifully sucking up for months, and he finally gets the invite—but he’s also been seeing a strange, horrific creature lurking in the background, and he may be losing his mind. All part of making it in the finance and business world, right?
As Max reaps the benefits of being inducted into his boss’ inner circle, he’s assigned to a new account—one that answers directly to the man truly running the company, Morris Teague. This despicable figure was one of the larger-scale villains of the first arc, and he’s now leveraging the horrible events there into a Hollywood production. As Max becomes more and more fascinating with the mysterious club, we see it for the first time—and it’s definitely not anything of this worse. Max displays more scruples than you might expect from someone in his position, showing compassion towards one of the… residents of the club, but it’s still clear he’s being pulled into a truly disturbing world. And that world is where the Corinthian is being pulled in once again. It’s a fascinating story that kicks off with a slow-burn journey into something unique and creepy. Even though Tynion is done with superheroes for now, it’s clear he’s still one of the best writers at DC.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
