Comic Title: Sandman #12
Publisher: DC (DC Comics Inc.)
Address: 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Imprint: Vertigo
Cover Date: January 1990
On Sale Date: November 28, 1989 Copyright Date November 28, 1989
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1989

Shipping Date October 31, 1989
Source: Previews, #8

Shipping Date November 2, 1989
Source: Advance Comics, #10

Shipping Date October 31, 1989
Source: Amazing Heroes, #172

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $1.50
Page Count: 32
Editor: Karen Berger

Title: "Playing House"
Pages: 24

Feature(s):
Sandman (Morpheus)

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Penciller: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Malcolm Jones III
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Robbie Busch

Reprinted In:
Sandman:The Doll's House TPB (1990)
Sandman:The Doll's House HC (1995)
Essential Vertigo:The Sandman #12 (1997)
Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 HC (2006)
Annotated Sandman Vol. 1 HC (2012)
Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (2013)
Sandman:The Doll's House 30th Anniversary Edition TPB (2019)
Sandman:The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 HC (2021)
Sandman Vol. 1 TPB (2022)
Sandman Vol. 1 TPB [Variant] (2022)

Feature Character(s)

• Dream (last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #13)

Guest Star(s)

• Sandman (Hector Hall; corporeal body destroyed in this story; last appearance in Sandman #11; no further appearances)
• Lyta Hall (last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #22)

Supporting Character(s)

• Rose Walker (last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #14)
• Fiddler's Green (as Gilbert; last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #14)

Villain(s)

• Brute and Glob (last appearance in Sandman #11; no further appearances)
• Corinthian (last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #14)
• Barnaby (name revealed; dies in this story; last appearance in Sandman #11; no further appearances)
• Clarice (Jed's foster mother; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• Dougie and Joe-Bob (muggers; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Jed (last appearance in Sandman #11; next appearance in Sandman #14)
• A hotel manager (no further appearances)

Cameo Appearance(s)

• Merv Pumpkinhead (in an image in the dream dome)

Comments:
The Doll's House Part 3

This story is continued from Sandman #11.

Synopsis:
Dream invades the pseudo-dream world constructed by Brute and Glob inside the mind of Rose Walker's brother Jed. The dream things realize their master is coming for them, so they dispatch their Sandman, Hector Hall to fight him. Brute and Glob know that Hector is no match for the dream lord and discuss alternative means of escape. When Morpheus confronts Hector he is amused that such an insignificant ghost could have been constructed to take his place.

Dream destroyed the dream world forcing Brute, Glob, Hector, and Lyta to be explosively expelled from Jed's mind. He then banishes Brute and Glob to the darkness. Hector, who died long ago, is turned into a ghost and disappears. Lyta believes that Dream has killed her husband. She can not fight him, but he leaves her alone. He does tell her that her unborn child, which spent two years gestating in the dream world, will one day belong to him. Lyta declares that he will have her child over her dead body.

Meanwhile, the explosion which broke the dream world also freed Jed from his captivity in the basement of his foster parents. He runs away and hitches a ride from the Corinthian. The rogue dream is on his way to a convention held at a hotel. The same hotel which, not coincidentally, is where Rose Walker and Gilbert have chosen to spend the night following a breakdown of their vehicle.