The Dollhouse Family #3 Review

BE WEIGHTLESS

Writer: M.R. Carey
Layouts: Peter Gross
Finishes: Vince Locke
Colors: Cris Peter
Letters: Todd Klein
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 8th, 2020

Time goes by for all of our main characters. The dollhouse first arrives for Joseph Kent's son in 1828. Alice has grown up and the dollhouse has returned to her in 2005. And in the cave, we learn the names of our forces of good/evil or agents of control/chaos. To read my reviews of all of this series, click on The Dollhouse Family label.

Ready? The giant's name, our narrator, is Aparadon. The lady with the voice of the Black Room is Cloax. It appears that this cave is the work of Aparadon, who made it keep Cloax contained. But Cloax is using magic or whatever to keep Aparadon lethargic and unable to move. So they're both trapped together, with nothing but each other's company.

(1828-1847) On the day of Charlottes funeral, when asked if they should get the baby, Joseph says "I suppose the child should be present for this. It's his handiwork, after all." Ouch! The dollhouse appears for the first time, on the doorstep of Joseph Kent, and it's assumed that it's a present for the newborn Cordwainer. With our view from behind it appears that the dollhouse has an open bleeding wound on its wall. At the gravesite a crazed priest runs up to Joseph, asking "did she embrace you in the dark?" and he shoves a metal pendant in Joseph's mouth. "The Stailinn Geal will save you! Nothing else can!" and he's dragged away. In 1935 we see that Corwainer is a young boy and sees him fall out of a tree, while Joseph meets with his old partner who he found the cave with. Joseph asks about the cave and what they decided to name it, but it turns out the cave isn't even there anymore! When the two get up, Cordwainer picks up the pendant and it burns his hand. 

After seeing this, Joseph goes on a mission to see where it came from. It doesn't directly say this, but think about it! If that metal only does that to Cordwainer, and Cordwainer is also the offspring of Cloax, then haven't we found a way to kill Cloax? He's not ready until 1847, which is labeled as "Joseph's last night on Earth." It appears that he has a blacksmith forge the metal into a knife, and he rides up into the hills to where the cave was so long ago... which only opens for him.

(1998-2005) Alice is now in college and she hooks up with a fellow student who happens to be black (that is actually important later). The condom falls off, the morning-after pill doesn't work, she gets pregnant and becomes a single mother. Skip ahead to 2005 and we meet her daughter Una. One day after cleaning up the toys they find the Cordwainer doll, and Una already knows his name. She tells Alice that he's from the dollhouse! Alice, who looks like she's on the verge of tears, tells her she doesn't have a dollhouse. Una explains to her that the dollhouse isn't there all the time and Alice insists that she calls her when it comes back and not to talk to or play with it. Then she throws Cordwainer out the window. So it looks like the dollhouse has been gone for some time and is just now coming back for her daughter.

After having a nightmare about the dollhouse, Alice wakes up to see the dollhouse in her room... with the creepy ghost/corpse of Jenny behind it. The dollhouse family is looking out of its window, and the Black Room tells Alice that they miss her. Alice tells the dollhouse to stay away from her daughter. Then Jenny runs and jumps out of the friggin window, and she finds some racist dirtbag chatting with another racist on his computer. She says she's a messenger from heaven and he's been chosen for a special mission. The next day Alice and Una walk up to their car and Alice sees a quick flash of her dead father in the passenger seat with Jenny in the back, she drops her keys and can't find them, so they get on the public transportation bus... where that racist is waiting. He opens his jacket to reveal a bomb and says "Whore."

Bits and Pieces

Joseph is attempting to finish what he started by facing Cloax himself, Alice is now a mother trying to protect her daughter from an evil dollhouse, and damn Jenny is creepy. This book keeps going in directions that you would never, ever expect, and it just keeps getting stranger and better! The Dollhouse Family is one of my favorite books right now and this issue takes it to another level. Also, what an explosive ending! ;)

9.5/10