Review: The Dreaming #7

I am a huge fan of the extended Sandman Universe. Neil Gaiman has always and forever been someone whose writing both inside and outside of comics. The depth of his world building never ceases to amaze me and learning about all the characters inside the stories he weaved was always a great pleasure of mine. When I saw that Simon Spurrier was writing Dream’s particular spin-off, I got super excited. Spurrier has worked on everything from Marvel: Legacy to Doctor Aphra, if you don’t know or aren’t familiar with his name.

This issue, illustrated by Abigail Larson with colors by Quinton Winter and letters by Simon Bowland is a bit more whimsical in the way that it tells its story. This is evident from how different and almost dream like the art itself is. In truth, it breaks away a bit from everything that had previously been going on with other characters like Dora the Monstress to tells us a bit more about where exactly Dream is, all wrapped up in some of the most beautiful prose-like writing that’s part of Rose Walker’s dialog.

Rose’s life bleeds onto the pages in wonderfully articulated memories as she speaks of love and loss. Of her life, sometimes glossing over her mother’s cancer, to really get to the heart of the story. Her heart. Her daughter Ivy. Rose speaks about how much of her life had been different from her daughters; be it because of how exactly she viewed love or otherwise. She tells us of how much, exactly, she might have even given up for her daughter, being that Rose was the first of them to even meet Dream.

Ultimately, as the bittersweet tale of Ivy’s life touched by the history of her mother’s own starts to come to a close, we notice a shift in tone. It’s only once we reach the final part of Ivy’s somewhat melancholy history does a surprise visitor appear to Rose, showing her parts of the story herself that she may not have known about. A sort of danger hangs on the air as we read the last few panels of this issue, wondering what exactly the repercussions of everything might mean for all the characters involved and who might have manipulated another to do something that seems – at this very moment in time – to be so dreadfully ominous.

IÂ highlyÂ suggest this beautifully written little tale to anyone who might want to know more about one of the beloved characters inside the Sandman title, or for anyone who just really loves prose in general. It was easy to read to the point that I am regretful that there aren’t more pages to this lovely 4 out of 5 star issue.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Simon Spurrier (A) Bilquis Evely (CA) Jae Lee