The Dreaming: Waking Hours
G. Willow Wilson, writer; Nick Robles, Javier Rodriguez & M.K. Perker, artists; Matheus Lopes & Javier Rodriguez, colorists
DC Black Label, 2021
This big 12-issue miniseries has the feeling of a conclusion, like a capstone to the entire Sandman Universe project (I say this before reading the Locke & Key/Sandman crossover, but it is hard to imagine a crossover having the same impact). There are several artists who worked on it, but the bulk of it was illustrated by Nick Robles, colored by Matheus Lopes, and all of the issues were lettered by Simon Bowland (who did not get a cover credit, but did a consistent and at times creative job).
The first five-issue arc, "The Bard and the Bard," stars Lindy, a Shakespearian scholar working on her doctorate while also raising a newborn baby. She has a recurring nightmare about being stuck in William Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon. It has always been an endless, empty structure until one night when she encounters a nightmare named Ruin. A disaster happens: Ruin wakens in the real world (with Lindy's baby), while Lindy awakes in Shakespeare's house, which is populated by Will, his wife Anne Hathaway, and other characters alleged to have actually written Shakespeare's works (including Kit Marlowe). Ruin is seeking the mortal man he fell in love with while visiting him with nightmares, and Lindy agrees to judge who among the household is the real Shakespeare (perhaps allowing them all to leave the house). The story also finds Dream and Lucien the librarian visiting the Box of Nightmares in search of clues to Ruin's disappearance from the Dreaming. Ruin and Lindy are both new characters, but the tale has all of the classic signs of the Dreaming: Shakespeare played a major recurring role in the original Sandman series.
Dream gave Ruin freedom to roam freely in the mortal world, and the two-part "Intermezzo" (with art in a simpler, brighter style by Javier Rodrigquez) shows him exploring, while his mortal love Benedict leaves the priesthood to do the same. The magician Heather (of the famous Burgess family involved in the Sandman from the very beginning) had tangled with the faerie Puck in the first arc, and he returns to take his revenge for her summoning spell. On the advice of John Constantine she calls for help to defend her, and summons Matthew the raven and Goldie the cute baby gargoyle from the Dreaming--not exactly the powerful beings she was aiming for, but a lovely callback to Sandman history. A second summoning attempt brings Auberon, the former faerie king, who has been dethroned (along with queen Titania) by Nuala, one of her handmaidens (and another character from the past). He raises her curse, and in return she promises to help get his throne back.
Which leads into the final five-part arc "The Faerie Queen." Heather leads Ruin and the fallen angel Jophiel into Faerie, which she expects to be a cake walk. Instead they find Faerie in ruins after a war, and are quickly enchanted by Unseelie faeries to forget their mission. When they meet Queen Nuala it is clear that she is a figurehead: not really in charge, but beholden to the Unseelie who helped her gain the throne. In the end Heather manages to keep her promise. But she has one final act to perform: she compels Dream to allow Ruin and Benedict to stay together, despite his misgivings. A happy ending for them, with consequences that are likely to remain unexplored.
Replies
It's technically a Christmas present, so I won't be reading it for a bit. Sounds great.