The sandman vol 5 by neil gaiman

Vol 5: A Game of You, illustrated by Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano, lettered by Todd Klein 

Barbie, who we first met in A Doll’s House, is back again - this time as a long absent princess of a small realm within The Dreaming. Joining her on this adventure are Wanda, her neighbor and a trans female, Thessaly, who is apparently centuries old and a witch, and the lesbian couple of Foxglove and Hazel. Barbie is called back to her dream realm when one of her faithful subjects crosses realms and ends up in the Waking World looking for her. The Cuckoo, the villain of Barbie’s dreams, has also stationed an agent in Barbie’s building who tries to manipulate the other occupants into attacking Barbie in her sleep, but Thessaly is stronger, and she forces the agent to give up the Cuckoo’s plan. She then barters passage for herself, Foxglove, and Hazel to enter into Barbie’s dream to save her.

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After the Dream-heavy fourth volume, this story goes back to how some of the previous ones have Dream as mostly a side character who comes in to put things right here and there. Unlike some of the other volumes, I didn’t mind getting to know these side characters. Barbie and Wanda are an interesting friendship, and Wanda's faithfulness to her friend is beautiful. This is also another brilliant example of how Gaiman can get you to care about characters quickly so that their deaths sting that much more. 

There is one scene as Foxglove wakes up from her nightmare that she is seen topless in bed. Also, there are several character deaths on the page, some done rather violently.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4

Publisher: Vertigo (DC Comics)
Publication Date: March 5th, 2019 
ISBN: 9781401288075 (Paperback)
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​Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Suitability: Adult, Comicbooks, Supernatural, Horror, Superheroes, DC Comics