In Review: The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (2022-) #2

Synopsis: This month in Nightmare Country. With the Corinthian loose in the waking world, it’s no surprise that people are turning up dead…although this time, they’re not the nightmare’s doing. (Well, most of them.) The Corinthian is following a trail of bodies to the mysterious Mr. Agony and Mr. Ecstasy…but what’s their game? And even more pressing-whose tracks are they trying to cover?

The Story

Picking up from where the last issue left off. Corinthian has caught up with troubled artists Madison Flynn and is trying to find out where and when she started to see The Smiling Man, which is a figure with mouths for eyes that she has done a series of paintings on. As he is starting to get somewhere with Ms. Flynn he is interrupted by Lucien who takes him to the Dreaming to find out what is going on. Corinthian fills Lucien in on what has been happening and the two find themselves presented with a mystery.

Meanwhile, the sinister Mr. Agony and Mr. Ecstasy are hot on Ms. Flynn’s trail.

The Story

 Lisandro Estherren is truly gifted when it comes to drawing really creepy characters and they get to have a lot of fun in this issue. 

My favorite artwork in this issue is how the artist captures the vastness of The Library that Lucien and The Corinthian go to when they are in The Dreaming. I also enjoyed the kaleidoscopic quality that was brought to the flashback sequence where Corinthian was thinking about one of his past victims.

Overall

Nightmare Country really starts to get going in this issue as Corinthian and Lucien figure out that they have a mystery on their hands when they realize that it is more than just Madison Flynn that has been seeing The Smiling Man. The dialogue between Lucien and Corinthian is so much fun to read because you can imagine it as a movie scene in your head.

Overall. A really strong second issue, with a killer cliffhanger.