SPOILERS FOR THE DREAMING: WAKING HOURS #3!
Brute and Glob have been an important part of the Sandman universe, going all the way back to Jack Kirby’s seminal 1970’s run; now they’re set to make an impact once again! In The Dreaming: Waking Hours #3 by writer G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman), artist Nick Robles (Doctor Mirage) and colorist Mat Lopes (Batgirl, Moon Knight) Dream summons the duo, at a price. He then asks them who freed Ruin - and the pair tell him of a great threat coming, one that Dream must face! The issue is out now.
Brute and Glob’s involvement with the Sandman universe stretches back before Neil Gaiman’s legendary run. As a matter of fact, another comic book legend, Jack Kirby, created them. In the 1970’s, Jack Kirby came to DC Comics and worked his magic on their universe. One of his many creations was The Sandman, who he created with his old partner Joe Simon. This Sandman could enter something called “The Dream Stream” and was assisted in his adventures by Brute and Glob, which were referred to as “living nightmares.” Daniel, his successor, summons them back—and it turns out they may be key to defeating Ruin!
A former nightmare, Ruin became “unhappy” and now is menacing Dream, having summoned Puck (from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) to help. Yet Dream still cannot understand why Ruin is risking his existence - as Dream can “unmake” him - to lead this rebellion. Furthermore, he needs to know exactly how Ruin escaped in the first place. His quest for answers leads him to summon Brute and Glob. The two are confused as to why he summoned them, as they betrayed his predecessor, but he tells them that while that is true, their betrayal lead to his (Daniel’s) birth. He asks for their loyalty and gives them a subtle threat he can unmake them otherwise. Confident he has it, he then asks them how Ruin escaped - and their answer is a surprising one!
Brute and Glob tell Dream that the one who freed Ruin is not a nightmare, and not even a denizen of the Dreaming! Furthermore, they are not even a mortal, or even a god. The two describe Ruin’s liberator as “something that walks between the worlds.” Having heard enough, Dream takes off to confront this great evil.
Ruin is a nightmare, as are Brute and Glob, so resurrecting them to help catch a fellow nightmare makes perfect sense. This incarnation of Dream will not make the same mistake his predecessor did with the two, forcing their loyalty under the threat he will destroy them. It appeared to work, and Brute and Glob give Dream the answers he seeks. What impact they two will have in the forthcoming conflict with Ruin remains to be seen, but Brute and Glob are now back in the employ of Dream—for now anyway.
Next: The Dreaming: A Shakespeare Nerd's Dream or Waking Nightmare?
