DC COMICS – @DCComics @vertigo_comics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Nalo Hopkinson
ART: Dominike “DOMO” Stanton
COLORS: John Rauch
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Molly Mahan
CURATOR: Neil Gaiman
COVER: Sean Andrew Murray
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2018)
“Suggested for Mature Readers”
The Sandman created by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth
“The Power Divided”
House of Whispers is a new comic book series that is part of The Sandman Universe, published under DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The Sandman Universe is a line of comic books inspired by the dark fantasy comic books that Neil Gaiman wrote for DC, in particular The Sandman (1989-1996) and The Books of Magic (1990-1991).
House of Whispers is written by Nalo Hopkinson; drawn by Dominike “DOMO” Stanton; colored by John Rauch; and lettered by Deron Bennett. The series focuses on a tragic goddess of love (among other things) who grants the wishes and counsels the souls of those who visit her in their dreams.
House of Whispers #2 (“The Power Divided”) finds the House of Dahomey (a houseboat) trapped in The Dreaming. Its owner, the goddess Erzulie Fréda, is in a state, as being in The Dreaming has cut her off from her worshipers and thus, her power. Now, she is about to send her houseboat careening towards the rift or crack through which her house passed into this place she shouldn't be. She will need the help of her rascally nephew, Shakpana, a troublemaker not sure what trouble he caused. Meanwhile, LaToya awakens from her coma, and then, tries to convince her partner, Maggie, that despite her awakening, she is dead....
Writer Nalo Hopkinson continues the assault on our senses that she began in House of Whispers #1 with a dazzling array of colorful sequences, sparkling story elements, and fabulous characters. Reading this comic book is still like experiencing an African or African-American folk music festival full of fierce beats and infectious rhythms. This issue, however, Hopkinson keeps bumping the turntable with a series of adversarial events for her characters that also keeps the story from being predictable.
Artist Dominike “DOMO” Stanton explodes it all into life with imaginative page designs and kinetic graphics. Often it is the way DOMO places his characters and elements that really conveys the characters' distress over the chaos of their environments. It becomes a beautiful wall of graphics that are living out loud once John Rauch adds his pulsating colors to the art.
Letterer Deron Bennett does a Steph Curry-like shimmy as he place the word balloons in just the right places, accompanying his collaborators with his own special moves. All of it is under another fine-ass Sean Andrew Murray cover. House of Whispers #2 does not play it safe. It pushes forward as Nalo Hopkinson captains her houseboat into uncharted comic book waters.
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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