The Dreaming #1: Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Hell

The Dreaming #1 is the first chapter of the mysterious girl known as Dora. She is the only one in the dreaming who sleeps. And when she wakes she is always gifted with a slightly broken present. If I know anything about Vertigo this, ladies and gentlemen, spells foreshadowing.

But, she does not dream. At least she doesn’t dream when she’s sleeping. She dreams of hunger and she dreams of sex and she dreams of freedom.

Dora gets what she wants when she wants it. She steps into others dreams to feed her stomach. No one else can do this nor should she be able to.

She opens cracks in the Dreaming to have sex with a Duke of Hell, Balam. But, we find out this isn’t just a physical relationship. She brings from others dreams glimmers of what they’ve lost: A grieving mother’s pot of chicken soup that she has made for her dead child in exchange for a mystical fruit from the groves of Tartarus.

Whether it is from the Dreaming slowly falling apart or it is a side effect of Dor’s dream hopping we find out that the barriers between the worlds are broken. Balam crosses over into what was once forbidden territory for a Duke of Hell. And this is where, in my opinion, the true star of our story takes the reins.
As Balam crashes down into the dreaming threatening and destroying everything in his path we hear a voice say “ You seem to have left your legions at home.”

On the hill we see a figure in flowing white robes wearing the Lord Dreams mantle. Has he truly returned? Is this what it takes to have a master return to his kingdom? Balam instantly cowers and apologizes and returns to his own domain. Dora confronts him and we find out just a little more about the relationship between these two. The absolute hatred she has for him and his world. What did he do to her before all of this? What did she do to him?

The last few pages reveal that Dream has not returned. Lucien sits on the stairway of the empty castle in the middle of the broken Dreaming. He is wearing the long white robes and cradling the mantle of the second eldest Endless. The Librarian knows all the stories. But, he does not know this one.