The Dreaming: Waking Hours #7: Into the Faerie

When DC launched the Sandman Universe in 2018, nearly 30 years after Neil Gaiman’s Sandman began, there were some large shoes to fill. While it took several different series to flesh out the universe, The Dreaming consistently stuck out as strong entries in the line, and The Dreaming: Waking Hours is no different. Neil Gaiman’s original Sandman created one of the most unique comic worlds to date. One of the major appeals of Waking Hours is that it effectively captures the feeling of the original series, while still having both feet in 2021. Because of this, The storyline feels organic within the world created by Gaiman and adored by fans, which is quite an accomplishment, and truly a gift to readers. 

In The Dreaming: Waking Hours #7, Heather is wounded and cursed by the evil faerie Puck. Essentially, Heather summons the former faerie king to lift the curse, but she has to help him first. Waking Hours has been much more rooted in the waking world than its precursor. G. Willow Wilson’s writing perfectly bridges the waking world with whichever magical realm the reader is swept away to. Characters, mortal or not, are written in such a way that they seem believable. Javier Rodriguez’s art plays a major role in bridging the worlds together. Neon colors really push the theme that the issue is in the waking hours; somewhere between the sleeping world and the awake. Anyone who calls themselves a night owl or has had one of those nights out “that you had to be there” can tell you the way a city feels at night with the traffic lights and neon signs lighting the way.