The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman and various artists

 

(pb; 1990-1, 2010: graphic novel, collects issues 21-28 of the comic book The Sandman. “Introduction” by Harlan Ellison. Fifth book in the thirteen-book Sandman graphic novel series.)

 

From the back cover

“Ten thousand years ago, Morpheus the King of Dreams, condemned a woman who loved him to eternal damnation. In Season of Mists, the other members of his immortal family, the Endless, convince him that this was an injustice. To correct it, he must journey to Hell and rescue his banished love. But Lucifer, the Lord of Hell, has sworn to destroy Morpheus, and Lucifer’s plans are subtle.”

 

Overall review

Season has one of the best story arcs of the Sandman comic book. It presents daunting, delicate-balance situations for the Dream King, who must be sensitive, clever and take a discerning view of the long-term repercussions of what he does in these moments─while this is not the first time he’s dealt with razor’s-edge situations, these negotiations concern not only his survival, but his life-defining redemption for a long-ago sin.

Once again, the artists, letterers and colorists who bring Gaiman’s transcend-the-genre writing to vivid, distinctive representation are top-notch and genre-defining. Worth owning, this. Followed by The Sandman: A Game of You.

 

Review, issue by issue

Caveat: possible minor spoilers for those who have not read these Sandman comics.

“Season of Mists: A Prologue” (#21): The eldest of the Endless siblings, Destiny, calls a rare family meeting─all but one of the siblings show up. After Desire verbally needles the Dream King about his romantic relationships, particularly his long-banished mortal ex, Nada, it sets Morpheus on a dangerous course.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 1” (#22): The Dream King puts his affairs in order before setting out to Hell. He sends Cain to Lucifer to announce his forthcoming visit─it would be considered an act of war to do anything less. Hippolyta Hall (The Sandman: The Doll’s House, issue 12) and Hob Gadling (The Sandman: The Doll’s House, issue 13) appear in this issue.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 2” (#23): Morpheus, ready to battle the more-powerful Lucifer to free Nada, is stunned to discover a everything-changes turn of events within the nether territory’s vast boundaries.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 3” (#24): Odin, “the Gallows-God, the one-eyed king of Asgard,” Loki Wolf-Father, and Thor, along with many other gods and divine entities from various mythology-shrouded realms, make their way to Morpheus’s kingdom (the Dreaming) to claim the recently abandoned, incredibly vast real estate called Hell.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 4” (#25): December 1990. The dead, freed from Hell (whether they want to be or not), return to the realm of the living. At a boarding school (St. Hilarion’s), even the horrible, rotting attendance of their former students and teachers cannot upset the careful balance of the school’s temperament and schedule. This is a particularly black-humored issue in the series─I laughed a lot.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 5” (#26): The multi-species supranatural guests from different realms attend a dinner in the Dreaming, most of them trying to sway a troubled Morpheus to hand them Hell’s master’s key. Flirtations, drunkenness, threats, betrayals and interactions in between occur while Morpheus and Silver City angels, Duma (“angel of silence”) and Remiel (“set over those who rise”) watch.

 

“Season of Mists: Chapter 6” (#27): Morpheus, based on his interactions with his guests, gives up Hell’s key to its new owner(s). Drama ensues when one of the guests, Azrael, does not react well to the Dream King’s decision.

 

“Season of Mists: Epilogue” (#28): Hell’s new owner(s)─aware of the cosmic balance their mandated stewardship maintains, but perhaps blind to its two-fold nature─take their realm in hand while its denizens return. Morpheus, fleshed as Kai’ckul, speaks with his previously condemned ex (Nada) for the first time in ten thousand years. An issue regarding Loki Wolf-Father is also addressed by the Dream King. Nuala and her sibling, Cluracan─subjects of the fairy Titania─add further, if equally brief, drama to Morpheus’s day.