The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

The conclusion of Dream is one of the thickest of all the volumes. It covers a lot of story arcs and the whole plot is very deep and has multiple layers of meaning. If you don't spend some time thinking about it in metaphors and trying to find hidden meanings, you'll only be scratching the surface and thus probably missing a lot of it. There's nothing much to say to describe the plot without giving away too much - it's a journey that should be read, not summarised. The plot primarily follows Lyta (Hippolyta, earlier volumes) on her quest for vengeance. Then it jumps around several lose ends, and we see previous characters show up again, including Lucifer, the Corinthian, and Rose Walker, all providing their own insights or reflections to all the aspects of Dream. The only downside (and the lost of a star) is the art. I think I get the idea that the art was meant to be reflective of what was going on - doom and gloom and such - but it fell short for me. I just didn't find them pleasant, and at some places really distracting, because the characters being portrayed appeared a bit too different from previous volumes. But that doesn't dilute the story once you'e put down the volume and start looking about for hidden meanings and trying to read between the lines. We'll all come to different conclusions of what's really happening, but I think that's why the series is so spectacular.