The Sandman Universe – Nightmare Country: The Glass House #5 – James Tynion IV, Writer; Lisandro Estherren, Artist; Patricio Delpeche, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: James Tynion has left DC behind for creator-owned books—with the exception of this horror series, spinning out of one of DC’s all-time classics. Despite his wildly ambitious usual fare, he’s chosen to focus this book on a relatively small cast of characters—the witch Thessaly, her hapless assistant Max, and the semi-reformed Corinthian and his girl-turned-cat partner Madison Flynn. As they try to unravel the conspiracies created by the sadistic Teague, a businessman with his hands deep in the supernatural, they uncover ties to a much more powerful and more ancient world. Last issue saw Thessaly and Max heading to the Dreaming for a confab with Lucien, but now they’re firmly back in the real world—and Thessaly plans to get more information by summoning a demon known as the King of Pain. Except that she’s not what the demon is scared of.
This series has been teasing about the Endless’ direct involvement for a while, but these cosmic beings rarely interact directly with the human world. However, the reveal of which Endless is directly involved with Teague and sponsoring his deranged activities is a game-changer, as this is one of the most powerful and unpredictable of the cosmic beings. The Corinthian, oddly, remains a bit player in what started in his comic. He’s been spending most of his time in Teague’s club, forming a connection with the dead girl who was once Madison’s close friend. His actions towards her seem genuine, but it’s hard to tell with a creature like him if he’s genuinely capable of redemption or not. The same goes for Thessaly, who is such an agent of chaos that it’s hard to gauge if she can be trusted or not. It all continues to add up to the best Sandman material since the original Gaiman run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
