The Sandman Universe Nightmare Country: The Glass House #2 – James Tynion IV, Writer; Patricio Delpeche, Artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: James Tynion IV has returned to the world of the Corinthian, and things are getting darker than ever. Last issue introduced us to Max, a young man working in Hollywood for the mysterious and twisted Morris Teague. Assigned to the film they’re making based on Madison’s story, Max has been pulled into Morris’ strange S&M undead world—and now finds himself making regular visits to a supernatural club where he meets with Madison’s friend Kells, who is now trapped as an undead sex worker. Max finds himself enmeshed with her, falling in love despite it being clear to everyone just how bad an idea this is. Between his growing addiction to this supernatural cult and Morris’ influence on him, Max finds himself falling apart and it’s genuinely chilling to see just how much his mental status has slipped in only one issue. Of course, he’s not the only character rooting around this world…
The biggest challenge of this comic has been making the Corinthian—one of Dream’s most terrifying creations—into a protagonist. Now bonded to Madison Flynn (who is trapped in the body of a cat), Corinthian is working to avenge her and unravel Teague’s plot before it’s too late. The character hasn’t lost his monstrous edge, but Tynion does a great job of contrasting the character’s forced nature as a monstrosity with someone like Teague—who chose to be like this. The best segment of the issue come towards the end, as Corinthian heads to the mysterious club where Max’s descent begins, and confronts the strange creature who makes it all possible. Guest artist Patricio Delpeche is a perfect choice to illustrate this surreal, haunting landscape and the terrifying creature at its center, and this issue starts to establish just how deep the conspiracy that the Corinthian is hunting goes.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
