House of Whispers No. 7: ‘The Troubles I’ve Seen’
The House of Whispers reintroduces the Corinthian, lover of eyeballs.
Sometimes you have to bring back a fan favorite to boost your popularity, and it could be argued that House of Whispers has done exactly that. One of four new Sandman runs, along with Lucifer, Books of Magic, and The Dreaming, the newest creation, from writers Nalo Hopkinson and Dan Watters, with art by Dominike Stanton and colors by John Rauch, has been weaving a tale rich with voodoo and deep-South magic, and now it’s brought the Corinthian, a nightmare once destroyed and twice created by Dream of the Endless, and perennial crowd-pleaser, into the mix, as he has a connection with a deity who can help Erzulie undo some necessary magic.
Lettered by AndWorld Design, with a cover by Sean Andrew Murray, the latest issue of House of Whispers takes a turn into the horrific that might serve it well.
Vertigo Comics
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House of Whispers gives us a peculiar nightmare
Last issue, Erzulie meshed her husband Agwe with the House of Whispers, and they were finally able to leave the Dreaming, after being trapped there, along with all the souls displaced from their bodies by her nephew Shakpana’s evil sorcery.
This issue focuses on Erzulie attempting to separate her lover from her house, connecting some souls back to their corporeal forms, and, as mentioned above, making a necessary pact with an evil dream with a predilection for eyeballs. She zips on down to the waking world to confer with Alter Boi, her strongest believer, and witnesses Latoya and Maggie free the trapped Shakpana, believing he can reattach their souls. It’s at this point that the story starts getting weirder that usual, with a narrative structured around all animals suddenly having human eyeballs. Rodents, birds, livestock, fish; all creatures now possess bulging, bloodshot eyeballs, and people develop a taste for them.
Vertigo Comics
In a world where eyeballs are fast food, the Corinthian is king
The nightmare continues, with Eye-Shacks opening up, televised debates about the merits of eating eyeballs, and even human eyeballs being harvested on the black market. In the waking world, Shakpana escapes and, instead of reuniting Latoya and Maggie with their souls, heads to a prison where a soulless killer agrees to let himself be possessed, out of boredom. Uncle Monday uses the book he retrieved from the library of the Dreaming to level out a table, and Erzulie sends Theodore the half-bird to get help separating her husband from the House of Whispers. The eyeball nightmare has been happening to a vegan, with increasingly worse situations unfolding, and it is revealed that the Corinthian, a killer with mouths for eyes, has been behind the disturbing dream. Coincidentally, the Corinthian is who Erzulie seeks help from, because of his link with Kwaku Ananse, the spider-god, who can un-weave Agwe from Erzulie’s house-boat.
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The art is amazing, and the introduction of the Corinthian certainly raises the stakes, for he is an untrustworthy character in the extreme, however, the story has seemed a little airy for the last few issues, so hopefully this new terrifying addition brings some focus to the story. Several of the other Sandman comics have begun connecting to each other in more and more obvious ways, and while House of Whispers was literally crashed inside of The Dreaming, it’s now moved on to more traditional African lore. 8/10, recommended. Let us know what you thought in the comments section below.