Collectors
Any issue of Sandman which stars The
Corinthian is sure to disturb. Collectors delivers on this front as we
attend the 1st Annual Serial Killer Convention (disguised as a
Cereal Convention as not to bring unwanted attention). Though this issue
isn't quite as disturbing as 24 Hours from Preludes and Nocturnes, it
still leaves that grimy feeling on your skin. In summary, the
convention is organized by Mr. Nimrod, a self-righteous killer who
collects the torsos of his victims. The guest of honor, The Family Man
(also appears in Constantine series), is supposed to give a speech and
doesn't show up. The Corinthian who is in attendance (and also happens
to have Rose Walker's brother Jed in his trunk), does the honor of
giving the speech instead. In the midst of the convention an undercover
journalist posing as the Bogey Man is exposed by The Corinthian. As a
result he, Mr. Nimrod, and someone known as The Doctor confront him,
bring him to the woods and take turns torturing the man until he dies.
Meanwhile Rose Walker and Gilbert (that we know is the rouge Fiddler's
Green from the Dreaming) happen to be staying at the same hotel that
the serial killers are having their convention. She is told to stay in
her room but gets restless and goes wandering. This causes her to get
stalked by a pedophile serial killer known as Fun Land. When she goes to
find Gilbert she finds a paper with the name Morpheus on it. When she
returns to her room Fun Land tries to attack her but she calls Morpheus
and he comes and saves her. Dream un-creates The Corinthian and Rose is
reunited with Jed. Gilbert knows Rose calling Dream will have
consequences but in the meantime, Dream leaves the serial killers with
the final dream of seeing themselves for the monsters they really are.Into the Night
This
is one of those very surreal issues that I always love best in The
Sandman series. It takes you through the lives of all of the strange
tenants who live in the same building as Rose. Each subconscious desire
is exposed through the secret life of dreams and sometimes it is just so
sad. Rose is the dream vortex and she is a part of all of their dreams.
She is essentially drawing everyone to her. All the tenants
share common traits evident through their dreams. They are discontented and they all wish to be (what they
perceive) better and more fulfilled versions of themselves. Hal, the
owner of the house, wants love, affection, and a strong identity.
Couples lay side by side, and the differences between them is revealed
in the surreal truth of their dreams. Ken might want power and wealth
but Barbie wants a full and meaningful life. Chantel is self-obsessed
and dreams of forgetting. She falls in love with a sentence while her girlfriend,
Zelda, is insecure and dreams of her own fear of her mother's
disapproval of her relationship. As the vortex, Rose, is potentially destroying the waking lives of her neighbors by revealing the superficial connections between them and the discontent within them. She stands over the welded dreams, lucid and aware. Dream sends Matthew Cable the Raven (a Dream resurrection from old issues of The Swamp Thing) to go to Gilbert at the hospital (he is with Rose's brother Jed) and explain to him that Rose is a Vortex and Dream must destroy her. Meanwhile, Unity Kincaid is dying (she was meant to be the Dream Vortex when she was raped in her comatose state by Desire during Dream's imprisonment so it passed down to her granddaughter Rose instead), as Rose's mother grieves and offers Rose Unity's doll house. Dream finds Rose with dreams swirling all around her and stops her telling her they have to talk.Lost Hearts
Dream takes Rose to a barren part of the Dreaming so the nature of her vortex can't overpower the environment. He explains to her what she is and that she must be destroyed to prevent madness and chaos from tearing the Dreaming apart and with it the minds and the waking lives of the people whose dreams have been siphoned together by the hungry vortex. Gilbert and Matthew return to the Dreaming and find Dream. Rose learns Gilbert was part of a dream known as Fiddler's Green until he went rogue during Dream's imprisonment and joined the mortal world. Though he understands how Morpheus must deal with a Dream Vortex, he pleads with Dream not to kill Rose and offers his life for hers since he will have to accept punishment for going rogue. Dream says it is necessary to kill Rose and opts not to punish Gilbert. Dream explains further that the Dreaming was once destroyed when he didn't kill the previous vortex and the results were catastrophic. He couldn't let that happen again (Sandman Overture tells this tale). Dream offers Rose a place in the Dreaming after he kills her but she understandably does not want to die. Elsewhere, Unity Kincaid passes away with her daughter Miranda at her side. Unity comes to the Dreaming to take Rose's place. She tells Rose she must reach inside herself to give up the part of herself that is the vortex. Rose pulls a red glass heart from her chest and gives it to Unity who declares she is now the Dream Vortex and it will die along with her. Dream confirms the dream vortex is gone and tells Rose he will help her brother Jed recover from his dream trauma. Rose says goodbye to Fiddler's Green and goes back to the real world. Rose lives a reclusive life when she returns but keeps in touch with Hal and he updates her on the other tenant's from the house they once shared. Eventually Rose changes her look and returns to her family. Meanwhile, Dream is furious with Desire and despite being forbidden to spill family blood (a guaranteed way to evoke the Furies) he confronts his sister/brother and warns that if he meddles in Morpheus' business again, Dream will take his chances and take his revenge. Desire, ever fickle, lets Dream's warning go in one ear and out the other.
The Doll's House, begins with sacrifice (Nada) and ends in sacrifice (Unity Kincaid). Life is as precious as it is disposable. Our anthropomorphic, anti-hero, Dream/Morpheus, exposes us as servants and masters of our astral landscapes. Our latent hopes & desires have the power to drive and/or destroy us. A balance is necessary so that we, like Neil Gaiman's rich and wonderful characters, can't be consumed by the vortex of wanting or taking too much. We are reminded that dreams without the grounding effects of reality can be the death of our potential. As always, Neil Gaiman digs into our shadows and shows us the hard, untouchable truth of dreams and nightmares...even the waking ones. The Dreaming is very real.
As for me, I'm eternally thankful to Neil for constantly disturbing me and enlightening me.
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