The Sandman - Issue 11 - Moving In

RECAP: Despite some very graphic scenes scattered throughout the issue, Moving In is one of the most light-hearted installments of The Sandman. I always enjoy re-reading it, not because it furthers the plot of The Doll's House, but because we are introduced to some terrific new characters. So well crafted are they that even if they never appear again, you'll be pleased that you got to know them even briefly. Also, the artwork improved by leaps and bounds in this issue. The juxtaposition of light and color and the shadowy dark of the story's meaner aspects foretells the treacherous journey Rose must make from one world to another.

Moving In opens with Rose Walker arriving at a Victorian-style house in Florida to be greeted by its owner Hal Carter. As Hal helps Rose move in, we learn that Rose has been charged by her grandmother, Unity, and mother, Miranda, to locate her missing brother Jed. On the way to Rose's room on the second floor, we meet the rest of the house's occupants. I'm telling you, this whole scenario has the makings of a great sitcom. Forget Friends!

First, we meet the quintessential yuppie couple of the '80s

, Ken and Barbie. I seriously think they hooked up based on their names alone. The duo makes diplomatic inquiries about the presence of Hal's alter-ego Dolly to spare Ken's very straight mother from some unimaginable horror (this is, after all, Florida!). After getting assurance Dolly won't be present this evening, Rose and Hal encounter Chantal and Zelda, two women prescribing to the Miss Havisham school of fashion.

The ladies or 'Spider Women' who own the most extensive collection of stuffed spiders (???) in the eastern seaboard are enigmas, not just to their housemates but to us readers as well. We never know what they're really about, which is okay because there is a fascination to be found in the mystery. While we don't officially meet the last occupant in the house until much later, Hal tells Rose of Gilbert, who lives on the top floor.

Watching all this from an outside window is Matthew.

We then move to the surreal Land of Marvelous Dreams, where young Jed, Rose's missing brother, is flying through the clouds with a pair of superheroes. DC's Infinity Inc. fans will recognize the superheroes Fury and the Sandman (although this is the Infinity Inc. version of the character). Jed is enjoying an adventure with the two heroes when a Skooky Bird unleashed by mischievous sidekicks, Brute and Glob, causes him to awaken suddenly.

Jed's reality, much like in the Netflix series, is quite horrible. His visits to the Dreaming are an escape from the rat-filled basement he's trapped in, breathing in stale urine and staving off vermin attacks. It is a terrible situation that is all too real for comfort in this day and age.

Meanwhile, Rose is back in Florida, writing a letter to her mother about her eclectic roommates and her efforts to trace Jed, who ended up with Rose's father. Judging by how she reacts to the demise, Netflix was pretty much on point about what type of father the late Mr. Walker had been. After his passing, Jed is sent to live with Rose's paternal grandfather, a lighthouse keeper, but he dies in a drowning, leaving Jed's fate unknown.

Right in the middle of all this and ironically just as Rose describes Hal as 'normal,' Miss Dolly makes her gloriously dramatic entrance. Appearing resplendent in her satin gown, Dolly laments ill-treatment by Douglas, who apparently cut her tribute to Sondheim to give 'that slut Mitzi' an extra number. As Rose tries to process all this, Dolly departs, and we are left smiling. Thank you, Neil, because this scene made me laugh out loud.

Meanwhile, we get our first glimpse of Morpheus in this issue. Matthew returns to the Dreaming and finds the Lord Shaper hard at work, creating new nightmares. He gives Morpheus an account of his surveillance of Rose and her search for Jed. This sparks Morpheus's interest, and he charges Matthew to bring back a picture of Jed to locate the boy.

On her back from Dolly's show (I hope Bye, Bye Birdie survived the cut), Rose ruminates on the information provided by the investigator. Jed had been sent to relatives from her father's family. She takes an ill-advised shortcut through an alley (at midnight???) and is almost gang raped by a group of skinheads until a timely rescue by a mysterious and eloquent stranger. The stranger, she learns, is Gilbert, the occupant of the top floor of the rooming house. Even though Stephen Fry's casting as Gilbert was damn near perfect, Brian Blessed could have achieved that ideal. Gilbert's bombastic personality leaps off the page and straight into the heart.

Jed continues to escape into the Land of Marvelous Dreams. At this point, we learn that Fury is pregnant. He unwittingly releases the Tribbles...I mean verbal gerbils who quickly overrun the place. When a rat takes a bite out of him, Jed wakes up abruptly before despairing in his basement at his cruel existence. Elsewhere, Matthew steals Jed's picture from Rose's room just as she receives word that the investigators have finally found her brother.

When Matthew returns to Morpheus with Jed's photograph, Morpheus makes the startling discovery that he cannot locate Jed anywhere in the Dreaming. The Lord of Dreams gives us a helpful exposition regarding the Dreamers and their connection to his realm, concluding that severing Jed from it takes power. With four of the major arcana missing, Morpheus suspects one of them could be responsible. This segues perfectly into the next page about the Corinthian.

At the Yellowhammer Motel, Birmingham, Alabama, the Corinthian makes plans for about a get-together with like-minded enthusiasts. The Corinthian has quite the reputation among collectors and is eagerly welcomed for this weekend's gathering. He does this while fingering his latest trophies, bloody eyeballs. It's a gruesome scene shrouded in the dark that strikes home after spending time with Rose in her world. Needless to say, when the Corinthian departs the hotel - he's left room service with one hell of a surprise.

Rose gets ready for a road trip to retrieve her brother, now that she knows where he is. Gilbert insists on going with her. After the shenanigans in the alley, he insists on protecting her. While traveling out of town, Rose reveals that Jed has been staying with her father's cousin Clarice and her husband on a farm in upstate Georgia. Since they're getting $800 from the state for his care, Rose believes Jed is being well looked after. Ha!

In the Dreaming, Morpheus uncovers the truth behind Jed's situation. Brute and Glob have walled off Jed from the Dreaming and are living in the boy's mind. This enrages the Lord Shaper into action. Morpheus's departure from the Dreaming leads to one of the most dramatic exits in comic book history. Not to mention Facebook.

And that's a wrap for Moving In. Be here next week for Playing House!

NEXT - Issue 11 - Moving House

PREVIOUS - Issue 10 - The Doll's House