The Sandman: The Wake by Neil Gaiman and various artists

 

(1995-6, 2012 – graphic novel, collects issues 70-75 of the comic book The Sandman. “Introduction” by Mikal Gilmore. Eleventh book in the thirteen-book Sandman graphic novel series.)

 

Overall review

Wake is a solid wrap-up to the original run of The Sandman comic books (additional books within the series are later-published prequels or side stories). For the most part, it’s short and sharp (with the exception of issue 75, “The Tempest,” which runs long). Great series.

As in previous Sandman graphic novels, the artists, letterers and colorists who bring Gaiman’s transcend-the-genre writing to vivid, distinctive representation.

 

Review, issue by issue

“The Wake: Chapter One” (#70): “Dreamers, guests, celebrants and mourners” gather in the necropolis Litharge “at stony crossroads in the shadow of the Quinsy Mountains” to acknowledge Morpheus’s death. Meanwhile, his successor─the new Dream of the Endless, previously known as Daneil Hall─holds court with a select few (Cain, etc.).

 

“The Wake: Chapter Two” (#71): More conversations between the new incarnation of the Dream of the Endless and his immediate staff are shown as are other guests─a few of them cape-and-cowl types and supernatural magicians.

 

“The Wake: Chapter Three” (#72): The Wake begins in earnest. Matthew the raven decides what the next phase of his life will be. Dream of the Endless prepares to meet his siblings.

 

“The Wake: Chapter Four” (#73): In modern times, Rob Gadling─actually Morpheus’s undying drinking buddy Hob Gadling─attends a Renaissance Faire with his girlfriend (Gwen). Gadling has a conversation with one of Morpheus’s siblings, who has a pertinent question for him.

 

“Exile” (#74): An older Asian man has a dream about a desert, a kitten, and Morpheus.

 

“The Tempest” (#75): 1610 AD. Will Shakespeare writes, has conversations with his daughter (Judith) and his wife, and is visited by Morpheus.

The Sandman: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman and various artists

 

(pb; 1992-3, 2011: graphic novel, collects issues 41-9 of the comic book The Sandman. “Afterword” by Peter Straub. Eighth book in the thirteen-book Sandman graphic novel series.)

Overall review:

Lives is one of the more focused Sandman story arcs, making it one of the best in its in graphic novel oeuvre. This is excellent and memorable, one worth owning.

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: Worlds' End.

Review, issue by issue

Caveat: possible─if you prefer not to know anything about what you’re about to read─minor spoilers for those who have not read these Sandman comics.

“Brief Lives, Chapter 1” (#41): An old man (Andros), keeping with family tradition, helps guard the grave of Johanna Constantine (1760-1859, ancestor of John Constantine) and Orpheus’s living head.

Elsewhere, Delirium─sad, disturbed─looks for her eldest Endless brother.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 2” (#42): Delirium visits Morpheus in the Dreaming, asks him to aid her in her quest to find their eldest brother.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 3” (#43): Morpheus and Delirium make travel arrangements in the Waking World via Pharamond (a.k.a. Mr. Farrell), a Babylonian god-turned-businessman.

Etain, a young woman, barely escapes an early morning disaster in her apartment.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 4” (#44): Delirium, Morpheus and Ruby Elisabeth DeLonge (their human driver, in Mr. Farrell’s employ) try to visit a lawyer (Bernard Capax) who─for unexplained reasons─might know the whereabouts of the Endless sibling’s brother.

Also: Morpheus thinks about a meeting with the sibling they seek, a long-ago memory where the Corinthian is shown.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 5” (#45): Morpheus and Delirium, with Matthew’s help, locate the next person on Delirium’s list: a “dancing woman” (Ishtar, a.k.a. Astarte) and friend to fellow stripper, Tiffany.

Conversations, death and destruction ensue. Desire makes an important appearance in this issue.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 6” (#46): Delirium and Morpheus part ways for a time. Morpheus visits Lady Bast, whom he has not seen in two years. Death pays Morpheus a visit.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 7” (#47): Morpheus and Delirium resume their seeking of their eldest Endless brother, Destruction. Morpheus visits Orpheus. Delirium and Morpheus arrive at Destruction’s home, where he lives with a plain-spoken dog named Barnabus.

 

“Brief Lives, Chapter 8” (#48): Morpheus and Delirium attend a dinner with Destruction and Barnabus, speak of why Destruction has absented himself from his family, the world and his ex-lover (Ishtar).

 

Brief Lives, Chapter 9” (#49): Morpheus and Delirium speak with their sister, Despair. Morpheus visits Orpheus again and, in doing so, fulfills a wish Desire made regarding Morpheus. Many of the characters seen in this nine-issue story arc resume their lives, some of them with a different attitudes than they previously held.

The Sandman: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman and various artists

 

(1991-2, 2011: graphic novel, collects issues 32-7 of the comic book The Sandman. “Introduction” by Samuel R. Delaney. Sixth book in the thirteen-book Sandman graphic novel series.)

 

From the back cover

“The imagined landscapes of childhood from set the stage for A GAME OF YOU, the [sixth] volume of the complete run of THE SANDMAN. In a long-forgotten corner of the Dreaming, cracks appear in the wall that shields the waking world, and through those gaps a group of young New Yorkers is drawn inexorably into a realm that is both eerily familiar and disturbingly malignant.”

 

Overall review:

Game centers around Barbie, a character last seen in The Sandman: The Doll’s House, two years after the events of that book─it seems that Barbie and her apartment complex neighbors are being stalked by a reality-bizarre “Cuckoo,” whose identity is shrouded in dream-mystery, and whose presence predicts malicious deaths.

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: Fables & Reflections.

 

Review, issue by issue

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

“Slaughter on Fifth Avenue” (#32): Barbie (The Sandman: The Doll’s House, issue 16) has not had a dream in two years. She lives in New York City, walks around it with her roommate (Wanda, born Alvin Mann) and encounters a huge, doglike creature (Martin Tenbones), triggering long-forgotten memories and a dread of “Cuckoos,” something her creepy neighbor George might know about.

 

“Lullabies of Broadway” (#33): Barbie’s lesbian neighbor (Hazel, live-in girlfriend of Foxglove) reveals an embarrassing life-altering secret to Barbie.

Barbie dreams for the first time in two years, entering a fantasyland where she’s “Princess Barbara” to Luz the female monkey, Wilkinson (a beaked creature in an overcoat) and Prinado, a strange  bird.

Meanwhile, Barbie’s neighbors─except for George─have nightmares. Thessaly, a downstairs neighbor, shows that she knows how to protect herself.

 

“Bad Moon Rising” (#34): Thessaly, with help from her neighbors (Wanda, Foxglove and Hazel), draw down the moon (a witch-ritual) to try and help Barbie, who dreams.

 

“Beginning to See the Light” (#35): Barbie continues to dream. In it, she and her talking animal friends (Luz, Wilkinson and Prinado) hide from the tall, scary Black Guards and escape the spine-shivery, whispery Tweeners, with help from the Porpentine. Then hammers come down.

“Over the Sea to Sky” (#36): Barbie, still dreaming, meets the malicious Cuckoo. Thessaly, Hazel and Foxglove force their way into Barbie’s fantasyland-skerry, far older than she is. Morpheus shows up while Wanda, Maisie Hill (issue 32) and everyone else in New York City, batten down because of Hurricane Lisa, a strange event.

 

“I Woke Up and One of Us Was Crying” (#37): Morpheus tells Barbie about Alianora, the woman (seen in the previous issue) for whom Barbie’s fantasyland-skerry was created.

Rose Walker, (The Sandman: The Doll’s House, issue 16) and Judy (The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, issue 6) are mentioned in a conversation between the Dream King, Foxglove and Barbie, who knew them.

Barbie, Thessaly, Foxglove and Hazel return to their waking-world lives. Barbie attends two funerals.

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.

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman and various artists

 

(pb; 1988, 1989: graphic novel, collects issues 1-8 of the comic book series The Sandman. Second book in the thirteen-book Sandman graphic novel series.)

Overall review

The Sandman series is one of the comic book series that elevated illustrated, often spandex-dominated action and funny books to serious literature. Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg’s characters and writing fuse ancient and modern mythology, history, DC Comics characters (e.g., Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. the Scarecrow), human nature and its results. Sandman’s distinctive artwork─courtesy of Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III─is a perfect accompaniment to Gaiman and Dringenberg’s writing, mixing appropriate, beyond-the-words loopiness, gravitas, and humor with the haunting sense of melancholy and horror that hangs heavy over these opening storylines. The artwork is made more effective by the efforts of colorist Daniel Vozzo, letterer Todd Klein, and Dave McKean’s unique covers.

This series is considered one of the all-time best comic book series for good reason. Worth owning, this. Followed by The Sandman: The Doll’s House.

 

Review, issue by issue

“Sleep of the Just” (issue 1): June 16, 1916─Wych Cross, England. A cult, led by the arrogant Roderick Burgess, try to summon Death─they don’t get her, but what they get proves to be just as dangerous, their actions bringing strange maladies to the waking world.

 

“Imperfect Hosts” (issue 2): Morpheus, still weakened by his decades-long imprisonment by the Burgesses, is taken in by Abel and Cain in their House of Mystery, where he begins healing in earnest.

 

“Dream a Little Dream of Me” (issue 3): John Constantine, supernatural detective from Hellblazer, and Morpheus try to locate one of the oneiromancer’s many stolen items, namely Morpheus’s magical bag of sand─their investigation leads them to a nightmare-transformed house.

 

“A Hope in Hell” (issue 4): To retrieve his helmet, Morpheus heads to Dis, a city in Hell, where─surrounded by demonic enemies and opportunists─he engages in ritual combat for it.

 

“Passengers” (issue 5): Dr. Destiny, a murderous madman held in a dark basement in Arkham Asylum, escapes. Morpheus, with the help of the Martian Manhunter, locates “Dorilar, the Stone of Binding,” a supranatural power-infused ruby he once owned─later held by Destiny, who also seeks it.

 

“24 Hours” (issue 6): Dr. Destiny drives a diner’s customers into full-blown craziness even as worldwide depravity and nightmares run rampant.

 

“Sound and Fury” (issue 7): Morpheus and Dr. Destiny battle for Dorilar, which Destiny appears to have mastered─for the moment.

 

“The Sound of Her Wings” (issue 8): Death, a petite, Goth-pale woman, visits her fellow godling brother (Morpheus) who’s sitting in a Parisian park, feeding pigeons.