gc8's The Sandman #14 - The Doll's House, Part 5: Collectors review

    Avatar image for gc8
    • Score:
    • gc8 wrote this review on .
    • 5 out of 5 Comic Vine users found it helpful.
    • gc8 has written a total of 1420 reviews. The last one was for

    Solid Issue, But Where Are We Going?

    This is the first extra big issue of Sandman containing 12 extra pages, which is nice, although whether or not the story actually warrants that much space is a matter for debate, but at the very least, it does allow for a "richer" experience.
     
    The story takes place almost entirely within the Empire Hotel, a small hotel (think Holiday Inn) in rural Georgia that is playing host to a 'Cereal Convention' which is really just a code for Serial Killer Convention. Beyond said killers, the only other guests at the Empire are Rose Walker and her new friend Gilbert who were in the area searching for her little brother Jed. Police inform Rose that her aunt and uncle have been killed and Jed is missing, and that she should stay put. Little does she know that Jed is actually unconscious in the trunk of the car of the Serial Killer Convention's guest of honor, The Corinthian, who also happens to be another one of Dream's renegade nightmares.
     
    Many things about this story make it both a typical Sandman story, and not really a highlight issue for most of the creators. The exception, though, is colorist Robbie Busch.  Throughout the story, there are points where a serial killer is introduced (there are many of them) and for a panel or two (or several) we flashback to that serial killer's backstory. In each case, the color goes to a monochrome (or dichrome) color scheme that gives a nice flavor to the proceedings. The same technique is used for the splash page, and for a Little Red Riding Hood story told by Gilbert.
     
    That Little Red Riding Hood story, of course parallels Rose Walker's (note the name) story - a young woman on the way to a family member's house only to encounter a killer in disguise. But that is not the only allegory going on here. Neil Gaiman has at this point been writing comics for a few years (already more than a year on The Sandman) and has no doubt had by this time more than one brush with fandom. One can't help but notice that there is a certain similarity between the 'Cereal Convention' and a Comic Book Collector Convention. It is run much the same way with many similar events in a similar venue, and the conventioneers of the story are referred to as "Collectors" (based on the penchant for many serial murderers to keep trophies from their kills), and indeed "Collectors" is the very title of the issue.
     
    Some other fun tidbits include a list of cult movies about killers on the convention's "Film Program", and a whole lot of death & killing puns sprinkled throughout.
     
    But at this point we are a half dozen issues into the ' Doll's House' storyline, and even with this 50% larger issue, it still hasn't gelled into one coherent narrative (beyond Rose Walker is searching for Jed) which may be why 'The Doll's House' is not among the most memorable Sandman story arcs.

    Other reviews for The Sandman #14 - The Doll's House, Part 5: Collectors

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.