Vertigo’s House of Mystery has returned to DC Comics with a brand new series. Here’s a look at the second issue, complete with spoilers.
House of Mystery #2
Writers: Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham
Artists: Luca Rossi and Jill Thompson
What’s Going On:
When last we visited the House of Mystery, newcomer Fig had been chased into the house by some creepily floating gentlefolk. This issue sees her making the acquaintance of a number of the house’s bar staff and patrons, as well as learning some disturbing news about the nature of the house and her arrival there.
The short story told by a bar patron in this issue is about a fantastical server of court summons who is tasked with serving papers to undersea monarch King Krakenheart.
Lessons Learned Here:
- Keep one eye on your watch and another on your temporary tailfin if you find yourself in the temporally random land of Lupal.
- Prophetic and recurring architectural dreams generally are not good things to have.
- Don’t piss off the pirate lady.
How It Ends:
In the end, Fig goes outside the bar and realizes that the house is the very same one that has been haunting her dreams and whose architectural drawings she has been obsessively creating, completely oblivious to the fact that the house already exists. As she steps outside and finds herself not returning to her own world, Fig learns that she, like Harry the bartender and four others, now is stuck in the house and cannot return to her world. Distraught in her new bedroom, Fig closes the issue by hearing a voice greet her with, “Hello, Fig.” She responds, “Hello…”
Thoughts:
I haven’t read the previous House of Mystery work that predates this current series, so I can’t compare the two. I can say, however, that I’m really enjoying the tone and structure of this series. There is the overarching story about Fig and the denizens of the house, but every issue also features a framed short story told by one of the house’s bar customers and created by a separate creative team than the main story.
With this being only the second issue and with characters still being established into the narrative flow, it’s hard to do much speculation. However, I do surmise that the voice Fig hears at the end is the house itself, welcoming her to her literal dream home.
