Verbal Gerbils (illustrated by Lars Brown)

In The Doll’s House, Jed Walker is living with a foster family where he is being abused and mistreated. To escape from his life the he spends a lot of time asleep and dreaming. Brute and Glob, two Nightmares from The Dreaming, have used this as an opportunity to create a miniature Dreaming within the boy’s Dreams and Hector Hall is a dead superhero called The Sandman, which Jed helps.

After helping The Sandman save the world from the Toad Dancers Of Pluto, Jed is returned to the Dreaming.

Jed sees a glass dome with three cute and cuddly animals inside. Jed, curiously, pushes the button on the outside of the globe. These animals are teleported outside of the globe and begin multiplying instantly. At first there are only three, then four then 30, then their numbers become immeasurable. Lyta, who is dressed as The Fury, reveals that Jed has released the Verbal Gerbils.

The Verbal Gerbils appear in Sandman 11 on page 14, in panels 2-6.