The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory

The Dreaming (1996-2001) #15-19, 22-25

by Caitlín R. Kiernan, Peter Hogan, Jeff Nicholson

Step through the gates of Horn and Ivory and enter the Kingdom of the Sandman...

Join a white-collar worker who yearns for blue-collar freedom as he takes a special tour of the Dreaming with caretaker Mervyn Pumpkinhead; Spend New Year's Day with two expatriate faeries - Nuala, once a gift to Dream from Queen Titania, and Cluracan, disgraced ambassador to the Royal Court;

Travel with two denizens of The Dreaming into the waking world: The Corinthian, a deadly nightmare made flesh, sent to correct the sins of his past; and Matthew the Raven who takes human form to face an old adversary;

And learn of the exploits of one of Dream's former ravens, Aristeas of Marmora.

Welcome to The Dreaming - the vast, unmapped realm of dreams, where your wildest fantasy may walk side by side with your greatest nightmares, where truth and illusion walk hand in hand - or sometimes claw in glove.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is an Irish-born American published paleontologist and author of science fiction and dark fantasy works, including ten novels, series of comic books, and more than two hundred and fifty published short stories, novellas, and vignettes.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the two Kiernan stories in here - the Corinthan storylines in general never fail to creep me WAY the hell out while simultaneously not letting me put the book down, and Matthew... always awesome to learn more about him. I love the longer stories in this and Sandman better than the shorter ones, on the whole. I think it's mostly because I'm still kind of a beginning graphic novel reader, and the short (one-issue-ish) stories still just feel SO short to me!

Good stuff overall, and definitely recommended for anyone who loves great dark storytelling, and/or has finished Sandman and isn't done living in the dreaming. I've also found that the original comics aren't as hard to find as I'd thought (eBay ftw!) and so I'm working on collecting some of those, cause I want more!

[PurplyCookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caitlin Kiernan (who wrote two story arcs in this collection made up of 3 issues each) is a worthy successor to the Sandman universe--which is not an easy thing to be--and Peter Hogan (who wrote two short stories) is close.


The Dreaming: 'Day's Work, Night's Rest' Issue #15 >>
Mervyn Pumpkinhead takes center stage in this story (which doesn't happen very often) as he shows a "lost" dreamer what his duties consist of in The Dreaming.

The "lost" dreamer is Robert, a unique kind of self-made businessman--he finds himself unable to stand the paper empire that he's made--instead he longs to be one of the blue collar workers who, according to his subordinates are stuck in their "slave-like station in life." He longs so much for it that he found himself suddenly being recruited by Merv to join the latter in the constant construction of The Dreaming.

Who knew that most dreamers end up in Young's Playground, The Sex Gardens, Vengeance Square, etc.? It's fascinating to imagine the vastness that makes up Morpheus' realm.


The Dreaming: "Ice" Issue #16 >>
We get to meet Farrell, the God of Transport, as he continues with his duties in modern-day Dublin. This is the only time he reappeared ever since Morpheus asked for his help in providing transport for him & Delirium. I wished that there was some depth as to his characterization within this one shot issue.

Much more interesting and significant is the focus on the important characters of Faerie: Nuala and her brother The Cluracan. Watch out for the sudden appearance of his "brother" whose main goal in life is to destroy him. I giggled when Cluracan referred to him as a "talking venison"!

The Cluracan, being an amoral, gay (in both the literal and modern sense of the word) rogue, is strongly reminiscent of the "trickster" archetype also associated with Loki. Being fond of men, he then refuses to follow Queen Titania and ends up owning his "brother" a favor: "...drink to...my brother's stag night."

Meanwhile, Lucien visits Earth to check up on Nuala whom he believed to be grief-wracked and guilt-stricken but instead is surprised by what she has become, "For my love for my Lord has indeed...shaped me. And in that shape, I am now...learning how to grow."


The Dreaming: "Souvenirs" Issues #17-19 >>
Dave McKean's covers really crept me out on this issue, more so than that of the drawing of the Corinthian's victims. The Corinthian is of course created by Morpheus--nightmare made flesh. "A nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront."

His most notable physical feature is his lack of eyes: in their place, two rows of small jagged teeth line each eye socket. The Corinthian often wears sunglasses to cover this up. This is first appearance in The Dreaming series; please note though that this is the "second Corinthian" since Morpheus uncreated the first one.

What's ironic is that the nightmare personified is himself having nightmares due to someone in our waking world who couldn't stop thinking about him. "I've been right here, doing my job, my prescribed duty, playing looking glass for every cringing mortal too afraid of who or what they really are to face it while they're awake."

We are also introduced to Echo, who as a character, will appear prominently in the series. I'm watching out for further developments...After all, old habits die hard.


The Dreaming: "The Unkindness of One" Issues #22-24 >>
Featured center stage is Matthew, the latest of the ravens who lives with Eve in Dream's domain. Echo is still seeking revenge (with the help of the demon Anton Arcane) from what The Corinthian has done to him and to his lover, Gabriel Ashe. I was saddened by the panel when Matthew found out he's alive yet again as the human Matthew Cable (a long-time supporting character in the Swamp Thing series; of which sadly, I'm not familiar with) and complications are mounting, he then yearns to become Morpheus' raven once more. "The world is heavy. And he can't remember to fly away."

I liked Matthew's word balloons and font style which are scratchy and uneven, probably to represent a hoarse, cawing voice, and perhaps as an indicator of his crude, smart-aleck personality.

I personally loved the gallant gesture done by Lucien for Eve, of offering to be her raven once more since Matthew was taken away from her. Seriously, if I die in my dreams and I get a chance to be the Librarian of dreams, I'd gladly say yes to Morpheus. Ahhh..to be the "sole curator of unfulfilled phantasms, shepherd of misplaced and miscreant shadows and romance."


The Dreaming: "My Year As A Man" Issue #25 >>
This issue recounts the story of one of Morpheus' ravens, Aristeas of Marmora. After serving the Lord of Dreams for 240 years, he starts feeling a "restlessness of spirit," Morpheus guessed its source and offered him a compact. The compact between them grants Aristeas to become a man once more and if he should desire to become the Dream's raven once more, he must return after a year.

Thus Aristeas returned to his birthplace in ancient Greece and encountered some difficulties in using his human limbs once more. He travels and readers are treated to great illustrations of ancient Greek cities and countryside while Aristeas encounters the centaur Chiron (tutor to Achilles, Jason and Solon) and was pressed into servitude with the Erinyes.

In the end, even Pandora can't deny him his wish to be immortalized when Aristeas appeared in Metapontum in Southern Italy to command that a statue of himself be set up and a new altar dedicated to Apollo, saying that since his death he had been traveling with Apollo in the form of a sacred raven.


Book Details:

Title The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn & Ivory
Author Caitlin Kiernan;Neil Gaiman (Consultant)
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew, finally back to reading these after... Man, has it been a year? I don't remember anymore.

Everything's so jumbled, kinda like how DC originally collected these, instead of simply going by number. Thankfully, I am reading them as single issues.

So what you basically have here are mostly stand-alone issues, although some do have material that connects to the previous and upcoming ones, like the "Many Mansions" storyline. Generally, these are welcome reprieves from the thickening darkness and misery that gradually piles up.

The best one was probably the tale of former Raven, Aristeas of Marmora, a little-known semi-legendary figure from ancient Greek literature. This is where the comic and its creators shine, researching obscure, real-world legends and seamlessly integrating them into their own narrative.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faerie, raven, and nightmare, oh my! Not to mention the humans and dreamers who can’t forget them. Mervyn gets to be a god in his own story, not that he’s paying attention entirely. Too much work to do. Nuala finds a life for herself, yet is happy to be visited by the past, for all mortal men are eager for her to pay attention to them. The Clurican finds one bottle, followed by another until he’s visited by a surprisingly sympathetic nemesis. My favorite stories were of the Corinthian, dealing with the consequences and survivors of his previous incarnation where he’s once again partnered with a reluctant Matthew. Matthew faces consequences of his own, ones that affect Eve, Lucien, and himself. This leads to a tale of a raven who returned to being a man and what happened after.

Chunks of story felt like they were missing in this particular narrative, yet what I read was good, breathing fresh life into the denizens of the Dreaming past and present. I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them a little better.

[Shane]

This book collects The Dreaming #15-19 and #22-25.

Read #15, it was dark, and good. I'm only partially a corporate whore because I work from home, but I have worked in an office and often wonder what it would be to work in a low-paying, physical labor job. Always seems like it would be kind of freeing.

Read #16, I didn't get this one at all. It seemed to have a couple story lines mixed together but I didn't understand if they fit together or why/how.

Read #17-19, Very dark story, reminded me of The Cell or basically any serial killer story. Probably would have helped if I knew the Corinthian's story but I haven't read it. Not a fan of the crappy art LOTS of words on the page thing. Though it does give it a dirtier/deeper feeling. Probably what they were going for. Like the crappy art in the Preacher. May even be the same artist.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects five stories featuring characters from the Sandman, and the Dreaming, but not Dream himself. It's a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. I didn't really get on with either Caitlín R. Kiernan's stories, which make up the bulk of the book, being three parts each. The first was the story of the second Corinthian being sent to deal with fallout from the first Corinthian's actions and the second was a sort of sequel where Matthew the raven gets sucked back into the waking world, in his old human form, and Eve and Lucien following him to rescue him. To be honest, I didn't really understand that one at all. There was a malevolent force after Matthew but I didn't know why or what it was. I wonder if more recent memory of Sandman might help here? And both of them had what we could now call a trans woman being referred to with male pronouns and casual disgust. That may have been a reflection of the characters' view, but it still left me uncomfortable.

The first story was of a businessman who just dreams of honest blue collar labour. It was interesting enough, but romanticising hard labour isn't my idea of fun, and I didn't really get on with the art style here.

We also had a split story of the Faeries. We have Nuala, tending a bar on Eath, meeting up with Lucien, and the Cluracan's death finding him in an inn between the worlds, but for a drink, not to kill him. Again, I get the feeling that I'm missing context here, since it's been so long since I read Sandman but both parts of that story were fun, even if they didn't really seem to go anywhere.

The final story was probably my favourite, telling of Dream's first raven, Aristeas and the year of being mortal that Dream grants him to decide if he wants to continue being a raven or to return to the waking world as a mortal.

So an interesting collection, but it didn't intrigue me enough to search out any more of it.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

these issues are the best in the series

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

15, Day’s Work, Night’s Rest, ☆☆☆
16, Ice, ☆☆
17-19, Souvenirs, ☆☆☆
22-24, Unkindness of One, ☆☆☆
25, My Year As A Man, ☆☆☆

[Sjoerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, enjoyable, I really wish Goodreads had a 10 point scale for rating

[Izlinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far, my favorite story was the longer short story and the second Corinthian's...mmm...I suppose facing and dealing with his predecessor's rampage throughout the waking world. Surprising depth and I think it flows well from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics.

Jeff Nicholson's artwork in the first story is a little unsettling with the lack of mouths for the most part.

I wish, though, they had used full pages for the covers of the issues for the various stories instead of making them much smaller, especially for the three-issue stories about the Corinthian and Aristea of Marmora. They put all three covers on one page.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine, fine follow-up to Neil Gaiman's Sandman. All of these stories remain true to the original vision, and expand upon the lives of the secondary characters in The Sandman series. My favorites were the longer, extended story arc that explores The Corinthian's relationship to his previous incarnation, and Matthew the Raven's ties to the waking world, his former life, and the long line of ravens who came before him. I always loved Matthew, so I really liked having a story devoted entirely to him.

[Liss Carmody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last Sandman-universe thing I'm planning to read, this boasts a different author but the same setting and themes. It was pretty good. I liked parts of it better than others, with my favorite being the arc about Eve and the ravens. I'm still not wild about the Corinthian or any of the stories that pertain to him. It took me awhile to get through this and I suppose it was because I wasn't overwhelmingly excited about where it was going through a goodly portion of it.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handful of minor characters from the Sandman mythos get the star treatment in this book. I was particularly happy to see the raven Matthew's story. And The Corinthian is always good for a shiver or two.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's been too long since I read the Sandman series. Maybe I'm very literal at school year's end and have trouble with dream landscapes. Either way, I was lost a lot. I didn't love it like I thought I would. Some stories pulled me in; others left me cold.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume has some of my favorites stories about the Corinthian, and it strikes a nerve between fantasy and horror, which is the core of the series. I really enjoyed if, even if there are some stories that I favor less.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second volume in The Dreaming series is mainly written by Caitlin R. Kiernan, which is all to the good. Includes a horrific arc about the Corinthian.

[S Pearlyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Some of the stories were creepy (in a nice way). I enjoyed reading all of them. Could've been better, of course. Graphics were nicely done.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not a 4 star book but..... it brought back such fond memories of the Sandman.