The House's occupants have just started to settle in when Fig's long lost (and completely forgotten) brother shows up and starts rattling cages. It turns out that everything he's spouting is the truth, but he's a pretty twisted person so I'm happy to see him get murdered (ostensibly by Abel). Unfortunately, he'll be back before too long because the last scenes of the book show him meeting up with Fig's dad and grandfather (now a ghost) in the Land Inbetween. Between the three of them I highly doubt that Fig and co. will be allowed much time to rest before the war that's brewing with the Conception comes to fruition. Fig's bargain with the Conception in the previous volume may just pit her against her own family when the war is finally fought, but she might be more willing to do so because her family seems like a pretty large bunch of jerks thus far... ( )

Grand Re-opening!

As always, I'm enjoying the shorts. It's not always about the episodes, but it usually is. I can't quite decide whether I'm supposed to focus on the characters or the tales they tell, but one thing is certain.

Cain is always a kick. ( )

I love the idea, but I'm rarely a fan of the execution. "Eh", I say. ( )

The beginning of this volume establishes the new status quo for House of Mystery: the House is continuing to serve as a bar, now located in the Stormfront Itinerant Bazaar (a.k.a. "Goblin Market"), and it's jointly managed by Cain, its caretaker of old, and Fig Keele. Now, quite why Cain and Fig can/are doing this is something I still don't get, but at least the what is a lot more comprehensible these days. Also, the addition of Cain to the main cast means the presence of Abel-- huzzah! (I always liked him more.)

This volume has a more discrete plot than previous ones: Fig's heretofore unknown brother Strawberry makes his way to the House. Heretofore unknown even to her. It's a good mix of clever and disturbing, and there are some interesting wrinkles in this plotline. We're also starting to get a glimpse of the scale of Fig's powers. Things move a bit too slowly as always, though.

The short stories are still good value for money: Sergio Aragonés returns to the series he helped define back in the 1970s, and how could you not like "Fig and Strawberry's Adventure in the Cloud Kingdom"? I was particularly charmed by Matthew Sturges and John Bolton's "Romantic Comedy (With Corpses)," an ironically-narrated indie romance film about vampires.

The best part of this book, though, is its final issue, a standalone called "Exquisite Corpse." The whole thing is illustrated by the inimitable Luca Rossi and José Marzán, Jr., but it's written in five different parts by five different writers-- Bill Willingham, Dave Justus, Paul Levitz, Alisa Kwitney, and Matthew Sturges-- in what I assume was the exquisite corpse style. It's funny and inventive and increasingly absurd, and includes some welcome cameos by old Dreaming favorites; one of the best parts of the series as a whole.

The Houses of Mystery and Secrets: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

Okay, that's it. I'm out. I said that after the last volume, but this time I mean it. This series started out with such great potential, but it's been going downhill ever since. Now to bring in a nasty, psychopathic brother to the main character, who's all "Oh, I've always had a brother, I just never told you you about him ANYWHERE IN THE 4 PREVIOUS VOLUMES because I made myself forget about him when we were little. Yeah, that's it!" All of that, on top of a volume without any other discernible plot? That'll just about do it for me. I did enjoy some of the stand-alone stories, as well as the issue at the end of this collection, which features brief appearances by several additional characters from the Dreaming other than Cain & Abel (and Goldie! Hi, Goldie!). But if the only reason I keep reading the House of Mystery volumes is to see familiar characters, I'd be better served just going back and re-reading Sandman. 2.5 out of 5 stars. ( )