The Dreaming #7 Review and **SPOILERS**

A Rose by Any Other Name

Written By: Simon Spurrier

Illustrated By: Abigail Larson

Colors By: Quinton Winter

Letters By: Simon Bowland

Cover By: Jae Lee & June Chung

Edited By: Molly Mahan

Associate Editor: Amedeo Turturro

Assistant Editor: Maggie Howell

Executive Editor: Mark Doyle

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: March 6, 2019

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Mm…looks like a new story arc, and a new artist is on deck. I love Bilquis Evely’s work, so of course I’m giving this newcomer a side-eye…but I’m sure they’re of decent quality, considering this is a Vertigo title. Thing is, you could be a decent artist, and still not worthy of drinking Bilquis’ ink wash! I have spoken! Take a look at my review of The Dreaming #7, see if I change my tune.

Explain It!

So since Daniel has been gone from the Dreaming, what’s he been up to? Well, that story is told by Rose Walker, a character from Neil Gaiman’s run of Sandman, who was some kind of dream vortex back then…following Daniel around, she came upon the battered form of Lucien and took him to a hospital, where he’s convalescing. Rose’s mom is also at the hospital—with cancer—but she’s boring, so Rose would rather tell Lucien her story. While her mom is non-responsive, at least Lucien moans cryptic responses now and again. So it seems that Rose Walker, who hasn’t aged in fifty years, found herself living with her daughter Ivy near a timeless inn that was bought by Daniel. They met there, and dated.

Rose Walker is also a granddaughter to one of the Endless: Desire. This is why she’s always in passionate love affairs that end with spectacular sadness. To avoid this, she tends to split before things get too “real,” and with this in mind, she pawns Daniel off on Ivy one day. He bristles at first, but then she dyes her hair pink and they get along swimmingly. Ivy is so happy, Rose decides not to mention that that her grandma has esophageal cancer. Things go so well, that after three weeks, Daniel asks Ivy to marry him, and of course she accepts. Then cuts off most of her hair, for some reason.

Then Rose has a dream, wherein she is visited by Desire, though we cannot see their face. Desire shows Rose a scene where Ivy is tattooing Daniel, after having bothered him to do so for a while, and it seems like she’s being controlled by witches, or some such? When the tattoo is done, Daniel is bleeding from his nose and mouth, and he looks pissed—and then every one on the cancer ward, including Rose’s mom, begins screaming in agony.

There’s a running theme of broken hearts, and stories being more important than their endings, which adds some color to the thing. This is a story that enjoys telling itself. It is somewhat steeped in Sandman lore, but I think it should be fairly accessible to newer readers, insofar as I read Sandman, and I don’t really know what’s going to happen either. As for the artwork…alright, it’s no Bilquis Evely, but Abigail Larson and Quinton Winter do a very good job providing an airy, very readable piece of work—my only criticism is that the ethereal parts appeared too pedestrian. Color me intrigued! So long as the Dreaming is covered by that insane giant moth, I don’t see why we can’t step away and read this story for a while.

Bits and Pieces:

We take a break from the Dreaming to get an excuse for Daniel’s absence. Some old characters and locations pop in here, but it should still be accessible to newer readers. Not a ton to grab on to here, except a tantalizing mystery…

7.5/10