Framing sequences in any tale rarely have a point in and upon themselves, but the framing sequence to Vertigo: Winter's Edge is not only fitting for the overall concept of this anthology one-shot, but is also a great addition to the House of Secrets library. Written by Steve Seagle, with art by Teddy Kristiansen, the framing sequence has Rain entering an unexplored area of the house to find presents for her friends, only to find a man and a painting gallery instead. The curator of the gallery explains that in each painting, Rain will see a story, that story being a tale featuring another world from Vertigo.
The first tale, written by Neil Gaiman and painted by John Bolton is a story of love and Desire, and fairy-tale characters so fantastically human that this could only be a Sandman tale....enough said.
The second tale is a quirky introduction to the world of the Minx, a new Vertogo series in which a monkey sent up into space becomes a new god to the people down below. This tale, by Peter Milligan and Sean Phillips, has one of the series leads going to his girlfriend's place for a Hanukkah celebration, only to find the world and its people are a rather strange bunch.
Following that is a Sandman Mystery Theatre tale by Matt Wagner and Steve Seagle with art by John K. Snyder III. Set during war times, Wesley Dodds help a rabbi and a young woman against a group of thugs, while trying to find some inner peace of his own.
A tale of Cain and Abel in the Dreaming is a lighthearted look at the spirit of celebration in a land that is all cultures at once and none at all...and of course you know Abel's gonna get it... by Caitlin R. Kiernan and Peter Hogan, with beautiful art by Duncan Fegredo
A Hellblazer tale by Paul Jenkins and Paul Pope has John Constantine sitting in a bar (how atypical of him) after he leaves his girlfriends' family dinner. There he meets a mysterious stranger who recounts a tale of love and loss, and does the impossible... brightens sodding John's day (just a smidge though).
After that is another introduction to a new Vertigo title, featuring Nevada the Las Vegas dancer and her ostrich, grumbling over the Christmas spirit. By Steve Gerber, Phil Winslade and Steve Leialoha.
In "Thanks for Nothing" by John Ney Rieber and Steve Parkhouse, Books of Magic's Tim Hunter has an encounter with a street girl whose father is more than just cold hearted, he is winter.
And finally, a tale of super-cool super-spy Gideon Stargrave, the Invisible's King Mob alter ego, in a perplexing and insanely unintelligable tale by Grant Morrison and Phillip Bond.
A great compilation of stories, the only faults being the Nevada and Invisibles tale, both which don't fit into the same context as the rest of the stories. The good thing is most of the stories stand well on their own, and you don't have to follow their series' for them to make sense (the exception of the Dreaming, House of Secrets and the Invisibles...the latter not making sense even if you do read it). All around, well worth the $11 bucks. Well worth it.