Dollhouse Family #1 is out 11/13/2019. — **Dollhouse Family #1** is out 11/13/2019.

By d. emerson eddy — The Joe Hill curated line of Hill House Comics had an auspicious debut with Basketful of Heads #1 and that high continues with the first issue of The Dollhouse Family. This series reunites long-time collaborators MR Carey and Peter Gross, responsible for such luminary work on Lucifer, The Unwritten, and The Highest House, alongside Vince Locke, Cris Peter, and Todd Klein for a story that mixes family drama with childhood fantasies and an ancient something that fell to Earth.

The central hook is that of a young girl, Alice Dealey, who receives the titular dollhouse and dollies, and the problems that she has with her family. Her father is out of work, her parents are having money problems, her father is getting increasingly abusive towards her mother, and so she retreats into her toys. Literally. It's an interesting concept on its own, but it's fleshed out further with sequences of Alice's ancestor in Ireland as well as the builder of the dollhouse, Joseph Kent, as he tries to survey parts of County Wicklow. That leads him to a giant and something else. There's an incredible amount of horror and unease throughout the story, with an intriguing parallel of temptation between Alice and Joseph. One for revenge, the other carnal, which puts forth a theme of potential corruption at the onset.

MR Carey sets up a rather unique narrator in whatever it was that fell to Earth. It looks like a giant or something like it when found by Joseph Kent. It's an unreliable narrator, stated explicitly in that it seems to experience time differently than we would, and its narration ties together the two time periods, switching back and forth as the story progresses. Overall, there's a number of idiosyncratic speech patterns for a number of the characters to give the impression of differing time periods and a certain otherworldliness.

Vince Locke's finishes over Peter Gross' layouts give this a very different appearance that what you'd normal see from Gross alone. It's rougher, grittier, more in line with Locke's own style, and it works very well for the more insidious tone of the story. You're still getting the overall planned out structure of Gross' pages and characters, but there's a visceral feel from Locke. It's enhanced further by Cris Peter's colors, which tend toward somber for Alice's time, aiding the disturbing feel of domestic abuse and sadness that the kid experience, and then initially warm greens and yellows for Joseph's Ireland in the past. That warmth, though, dims as Joseph descends into the Earth and the colors seem to echo some of the darkness that we see in the story's present.

Todd Klein is a legend in his craft and he brings all of his mastery to this story. There's a unique quality to the narration boxes that set them apart, giving feel to whatever the thing is that fell, along with an inverse white on black word balloon approach to the voice in the Black Room of the dollhouse. This style is repeated for the something else that Joseph Kent finds underground which suggests a connection. It also gives the entire experience a creepy atmosphere.

In addition to the main narrative, the “Sea Dogs” back-up that started in Basketful of Heads #1 from Joe Hill, Dan McDaid, John Kalisz, and Wes Abbott continues. It retains the feel of the horror stories that were often edited by Joe Orlando across EC and DC Comics.

Overall, Carey, Gross, Locke, Peter, and Klein have an engrossing horror story simmering in this first issue. The Dollhouse Family #1 incorporates elements of familial strife, childhood fantasies, and an ancient horror to brilliant effect. It's another solid outing for this new horror line.

The Dollhouse Family #1
Writer: MR Carey
Layouts: Peter Gross
Finishes: Vince Locke
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics – Black Label / Hill House Comics
Price: $3.99

“Sea Dogs” - Chapter Two
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Dan McDaid
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Wes Abbott

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.