The Doll's House (The Sandman #2)

#1011
Title: The Doll's House (The Sandman #2)
Author:  Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Steve Parkhouse
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1990/2010
232 pages

Cheap thrills with patterns in the universe: I ordered this book and Jim Henson's Tale of Sand from SFBC. On receiving the box and flipping open The Doll's House, I see that the first section is titled "Tale in the Sand." What pleasing synchrony.

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In addition to the graphics and color work in this edition, I really enjoy how much the Sandman series (at least, thus far) focuses on ethics, balance, and rectifying errors. Though it often dips into Lovecraftian horror/fantasy, it is about putting the world right rather than tearing it apart. It is sometimes a new construction rather than a reconstruction, but ultimately reflects motion toward harmony rather than destruction.

This episode weaves together stories that at first seem distant and unrelated, and I do love the trope that the Sandman's incarceration caused the sleepy sickness (encephalitis lethargica) and his freedom (rather than Oliver Saks and a bucket of L-dopa) brought about its remission.