"In a dream are all the characters really you?
Different aspects of you, do answers come in dreams?"
- Log Lady
I do not believe that a few really good issues makes a series or a writers run great. I believe that any writer that can become a professional should be a able to deliver a solid six issue run, maybe even two years. But the great writers are able to reach a quality and are able to maintain it. The great writers are the ones that are able to keep the good stories and the creativity coming that shows whether they are the real deal or not. Sandman was twenty issues in, that's two and a half years. I had read the first volume and it was one of the most riveting, fresh reads that I had had in a long time. It was the second volumes job to keep me intrigued and reading it.
Alisa Kwitney writes a very sweet introduction on how it was to work as an assistant editor and how she inadvertently was responsible for Neil writing a story about Lady Constantine. Apparently she needed to know what the next issue of Sandman was going to be and Neil really didn't know, she pressured him so he just came up with Lady Constantine escaping from civil war France on the spot. She also makes a very cute comment about how there should be an eighth Endless named Deadline, that is hilarious.
The second volume starts off with the story arc Season of Mists. A huge arc in scale that will change one of the oldest status quo's of all time and bring together just about everyone.
The cover to Issue 21 has an open book and a cross scratched across it. It gives the feel of an old pirate treasure map, X marks the spot. It opens with Destiny walking through his garden. His garden has many different paths, or maybe just one and the others are an illusion. He walks and walks when all of a sudden a shape appears before him, its the Hiketeia and they have a message for him. "A king will forsake his kingdom. Life and death will clash in a fray. The oldest battle begins once more." Destiny then looks through his book and sees that this is the start of something and it begins when he calls a family meeting.
Destiny is the only Endless that isn't an original character, all the other siblings are original creations, he first appeared in Weird Mystery Tales 1. This is where we get to meet the family. We've already met Death, Desire and Despair before but now all of them are in the same room at the same time (almost all of them). There is Death, who arrives first, she comes in jeans and a tank top but at her brothers request she changes into a very cool Gothic dress. Dream then emerges from a painting. Then Desire and Despair follow. They mention that there are two others left but Destiny says that only one other will be joining them, "he has made his wishes clear" and they all pass by something that has a curtain over it, there is another Endless that is missing. Then we meet Delirium, the sibling that was mentioned before but never seen. She takes the form of a fourteen year old girl with a buzz-cut hair style and one blue eye and one green eye. She also likes to make butterflies from nothing.
Todd Kelin again demonstrates why he's the best letterer in the business by giving a few of The Endless balloons and text distinctive. Delirium's are the most interesting with the text warping in size and the balloons looking like there's a rainbow shoved inside them.
They all sit down and boy is it awkward. Family get-together's can go one of two ways, fun or awkward. This is a really awkward one. Desire makes Deliriums butterflies go into the fire were they now belong to Death and Desire continues to tease Dream. Desire brings up Dreams old girlfriend Nada and how he loved her and it ended in him imprisoning her in Hell, Dream takes big offense to this and storms off.
Death and Dream talk outside on the balcony. Dream admits that he regrets what he did to Nada but she did reject him, then Death calls him out on all his bullshit. She tells him what nonsense him banishing her was and how Desire was right. Dream takes a moment to acknowledge what shes said and then takes his leave, Death goes to the others and tells them to carry on without him but Destiny says that it will not be necessary "He is now going to Hell".
The next issue is Morpheus saying goodbye. He prepares to enter Hell and take Nada back but he knows the power that Lucifer wields and does not expect to come back alive. So he says his goodbyes to all he must. First he says goodbye to his staff and wishes them well. We then see Lyta, who is doing her best to take care of her baby but is finding it difficult without his father, she still hasn't given him a name, she sees her friend out only to find Morpheus standing over the crib when she comes back. He departs, but only after stating "His name is Daniel" and Lyta likes it. He visits Hob the immoral, and together they share a bottle of wine that hasn't existed for probably a hundred years. With all his goodbyes said and done Morpheus puts on his helmet and departs for Hell saying goodbye to Lucien, he says goodbye too.
And so comes the issue where the collision between the lord of dreams and the ruler of Hell comes to be. The cover is reminiscent of issue 4, where Morpheus first went to Hell, with Lucifer's face huge and imposing and the deep, dangerous red. Morpheus is flying in the in-between place and then gets to the gates of Hell and there is no sound to be heard. Hell is quite, Morpheus enters and there is not a soul to be seen (literally), he goes to where Nada would be imprisoned but she like all the others are gone. In his frustration Morpheus calls out for Lucifer and he appears, he then asks him what is happening and Lucifer simply replies "I've quit".
That's right Lucifer, the devil himself has quit Hell, he's done. Morpheus wants to know where Nada is but he has no idea where she is. So for the rest of the issue Lucifer and Morpheus walk through Hell and close it up. Lucifer has some rather deep things to say about Hell, Heaven, human nature and the divine plan. He talks about how the people create their own Hell, he has never led someone to do bad things and how he doesn't want souls (what would he do with them?). And when their all done Lucifer asks Morpheus to cut off his wings and he does, Morpheus then asks Lucifer what he will do now, he doesn't really know. Before he leaves Lucifer gives the key to Hell to Morpheus and wishes it brings him happiness, but he doubts it will.
I said in the last review of Sandman that I'm not the biggest fan of Kelly Jones and the way he draws Morpheus, but he is so perfect for this story-arc. Jones, like Jack Kirby or Brian Hitch is best at drawing big panels with massive scale inside them, I may not like his Morpheus but it doesn't matter because he has so much else to draw anyway.
And so with the Sandman with the key to Hell comes everyone that wants it. The first is Odin, from Norse mythology he travels deep underground to where Loki is living out his eternal torment, Odin tells him about the key to Hell and he needs Loki in acquiring it. Then we see that the essence of order are considering the applications of having Hell and they decide that they need it. Immediately followed by the essence of chaos that want Hell because it means that can cause a true catastrophe. Then in Heaven itself they send down two angels as their envoy, Duma and Ramiel. Then we see that all the previous demons that inhabited Hell have gathered together in Limbo and now want it for themselves. They are led by a demon named Azazel, that looks like a tear in space with evil eyes and teeth peering through, he decides to negotiate with the Sandman, after all they have Nada.
All the guest stand outside Dream's castle but the gates do not open to them. The guardians say that if they are to hold them off they will need his assistance. The essence of order is represented as a monk holding a cardboard box, while the essence of chaos is personified as a small girl with a balloon (that...just makes a lot of sense). Dream goes to his gallery to ask for help from Death, but she has no time to give him advise "the dead are coming back". So the issue ends with the castle gates opening and Dream welcoming his guests.
Issue 25 is an issue that diverges from the main story arc but still ties into it. The cover is a series of photos of a child that are varied in all, it looks as if the picture is being burned or the darkness is impending on the face. It tells the story of Charles Rowland, a ten year old boy that is stuck in boarding school over the holidays. There really isn't much to do, he has dinner with the headmaster and the Matron. But soon Charles isn't alone, other students start arriving, students that have been dead for years. As Death said the dead are rising. Three of the former students give him a particularly bad time, they beat him and torment him and throw water on him in his bed. Charles then finds his way to the attic where there is a boy named Paine, he is in the attic because that's where his bones are buried. Charles continues to get tormented by the other boys and there is no food so he becomes more and more malnourished and in his dying days he and Paine become friends. Charles Rowland wakes up and is now dead.
Now that their both dead they decide to head out into the world and really live their lives, maybe become detectives. As soon as they step one foot out of the gate Death appears before Charles telling him that shes there to take him to the next world, but Charles says he's not leaving without Paine, she doesn't have time to argue so she leaves and promises that she'll be back for him later.
This story is very unique and special in the Sandman universe. It's well told, I've never read a story like this before, it is a derailment from Season of Mists but still fits into the story on a whole. This story and the characters would go on to be the star of their own ongoing series (currently being released). Upon reflecting on the story it is a little sick and unpleasant. There is nothing fun about a child's death and yet Gaiman is able to suck you in and hit you with an ending that if nearly any beat before or during was any different could have come off wrong.
With the next issue we pick up with Morpheus where we last left off. Other guest are arriving, these two are fairies named Cluracan and Nuala, they too are here because of the key to Hell. Morpheus welcomes them, Cluracan gets to the point and says to him that it would be best that Morpheus keep Hell closed, in exchange for this request the faeries offer him his sister Nuala, she is beautiful, with a shapely figure and long, golden hair. All the guests are gathering in the Dream castle, they feast and converse but they are all there for the same thing, the key too Hell. When night comes each one joins Morpheus and makes their deal for the key. The first is Odin that tells him he knows a person that contains a fraction of his soul and if he gets the key he will tell him where he is. A fun touch is that this being is Wesely Dodds, the original Sandman in DC continuity. The essence of chaos is next as she tells him that she wants Hell and if she doesn't get it chaos will rain on his kingdom until the end of time, she leaves him a balloon to think about it. Following chaos is order and it offers Morpheus the dream stuff of the collected dead mortals, but he shows very little interest in this. Susano-O-No-Mikto is next and they ask for Hell to expand on their adapting belief, they offer whatever Morpheus would ask of him. Lady Bast, the cat god is the next and she offers information, she knows where his brother is. The last (at least the one we see) is Azazel, he wants Hell for the Demons and as we already know he has Nada.
Praise again goes to Kelly Jones that adapts and changes his style for every visitor that Morpheus receives. We see him as a Feudal Lord, to a Man-Cat, he even mixes up his line-work each time.
Morpheus dwells on what to do. He wants to know where his brother is, a missing piece of his soul would be very beneficial, freeing Nada was the whole reason he started all of this, he could keep it but that would mean that others would try and take it. He spends all night thinking about it, even keeps the dawn from coming, but a decision must be made. But then a heavenly light shines above him and Duma and Remiel descend, they tell him that they have observed what has been happening and their lord cannot allow them to further escalate, they will take the key to Hell.
Remiel says that he has a message for Morpheus, it is that there must always be a Hell, then he suddenly stops and shouts "NO!". It seems that his creator wants Hell to be put in the charge of the Angels themselves.
The next morning Morpheus tells his guests that none of them will get the key to Hell because he no longer has it. They all take it in stride except for Azazel who decides to destroy Nada, Morpheus warns him that such an action would invoke his wrath but he says that he is under his protection as a guest, to which he is right except that by threatening Nada he has revoked his guest privileges and is free to take him down. Morpheus flies into Azazel and goes deep to find Nada, Azazel says that he has him now, but Morpheus corrects him because they are still in his domain, and he is master here. He gets Nada out and traps Azazel in a small glass jar and puts him in his chest. Nobody else has any objections.
Gaiman has often said that he "cant write superhero's for squash" the duduk perkara he had was the traditional superhero stories would win by being the strongest one in the room and that's were they lost Gaiman. Gaiman has clearly stated that he never believed in that, Gaiman believes in wits and cunning and it plays out through Sandman. Morpheus doesn't win because he's the most powerful, he wins because he is smart and able to outwit his enemies and play the situation to his advantage. At the same time he is the most powerful but often his hands are tied because of the rules that even he must obey by and his enemies know it, so he has to play the game and be clever so that he can be the one who wins.
Issue 28 concludes the Season of Mists story arc and boy does it get a lot done with all the loose ends, it also marks the last art that Mike Dringeberg would contribute to Sandman. The cover, even though there's a lot to show is actually more fore-shadowing than anything else, it is a hint on what to focus on in this issue. It has the silhouette of a man with the eye of a snake staring out from the figure. It is a striking, scary image that gives the feeling of what lies beneath of what you immediately see.
It opens in Hell where Doma and Remiel are now overlooking Hell. Remiel is clearly unhappy and Doma seems unaffected and all the demons are returning.
Nada waits for Morpheus in a dining room and he arrives. They sit and talk, it goes slow and awkward by then they get down to the nitty-gritty of how Nada spurred Morpheus and he overreacted (to say the least). But they still love each-other, Nada still doesn't want to be a god and Morpheus is still forbidden from loving a mortal and will not abandon his role. So he does the only thing he can. Then in a hospital a child is born, Morpheus cradles the baby and says she will be welcome in the Dreaming and "Farewell".
And so one by one the guest leave Morpheus's castle. The cat queen says no hard feelings and the essence of chaos says that she was just boasting. Meanwhile Susano-O-No-Mikto is slipping out the back way when Morpheus appears, he says that he wanted to be nonchalant but Morpheus sees that it is really Loki in disguise. Loki switched places with Susano-O-No-Mikto and wants to escape, Morpheus cannot allow this and must get Mikto out of Loki's imprisonment but Loki pleads with Morpheus to spare him. Morpheus thinks it over and decides that both Mikto and Loki are guests, so he will save Mikto from his torture while saving Loki by putting a copy in his place.
Meanwhile Cluracan and Nuala are waiting around to say goodbye to Morpheus and then he appears to wish them well. Nuala is saying goodbye when when Cluracan has something to tell her, she will not be going back and she is an official gift to Morpheus. She doesn't want to stay and Morpheus doesn't want her but it is an request from the fairy queen and turning her down would be considered an insult. So Morpheus begrudgingly accepts her into his staff and as soon as he does he wipes her fake form away to reveal her true form. Gone are her supermodel looks and blonde hair, now she is a small little woman with short brown hair and long ears. Cluracan remarks it's been a long time since he's seen her true form and bids her goodbye.
On a beach in Australia Lucifer sits and stares at a sunset when an elderly man is strolling by and starts a conversation with him. He tells him that in his life he's lost both of his sons and his wife and has a bad leg that stops him from moving around too much, but still he looks at the sunset and how beautiful they are and how every single day there's a different one, so God must be doing something right. The elderly man leaves and Lucifer looks on the sunset (very well drawn by Mike Dringeberg) and says "The sunsets are bloody marvelous, you old bastard. Satisfied?"
Finally we are back with Doma and Remiel in Hell and they look on the work they have cut out for them and so they decide that with Hell under the rule of the angels it will be different and so they descend upon one soul that is serving out his sentence and they say that the torture may be eternal but the crime will not be, he will go on being tortured but he is forgiven and as they ascend the soul screams "But that's worse!". So there it is, the angels are in control, the evil are still being punished and all still goes according to God's plan. So I suppose that means happily ever after, in Hell, at least that how it is written in Destiny's book.
Season of Mists is great. Not only is it a great story with its simple execution but it is one of the most important stories told in the last century. I really mean it, it takes one of the oldest stories of all time and expands it. In all of human history we know about Lucifer, we know about the war of Heaven and Hell and we know that that is where Lucifer is lord and master and where he stays. Well now he's sick of it and the story gets to expand and the characters get to go to different places and develop.
Issue 29 is essential for the overall story of Sandman. The cover is of a head, that's it, a head being held by a hand and a crescent moon over the eye. The image of the head says everything, or at least is the most prominent element in the story itself. It is also beautifully drawn by Dave McKean. It opens on a house, where Lady Constantine is speaking with the Sandman who has a task for her, it is a matter that he cannot get involved with himself, at least not directly. Cut to France where the revolution is in full swing and Lady Constantine is walking through the street disguised as a peasant. She is minding her own business when two guards demand to know what is in her bag and she produces a pale, severed head of a man. Later back in the safety of her room she puts the head on a table and apologies to him and the head talks back. They regret that the guards have seen him and they will come looking for him now so they have to think fast. His name is Orpheus. The next day soldiers raid the room but the head is nowhere to be found so Lady Constantine is taken prisoner. They interrogate her but she does not divulge the location of the head, so that night she dreams of the Sandman. Constantine asks if he can intervene, but he cannot, even for his son.
Yes that is correct, right in the middle of the issue it is revealed that the Sandman has a son. Just like that a whole new world of questions and stories are open to us. How, why, are there others? This was something that shakes the comic to its core. But now to the rest of the issue.
The Sandman cannot get directly involved but he can still help. The next morning the captain says that he knows where the head is, it came to him in a dream, he says that the head is where all the other heads are kept. They go to the dungeons where all the heads are and indeed the head of Orpheus is there and Constantine says that this is indeed the head of Orpheus from the Greek myth, but the head starts to sing, Constantine covers her ears but the others cannot move. Lady Constantine quickly escapes and takes Orpheus to an island where he will be cared for and wishes him luck. Orpheus asks if she will ever see his father again, she thinks so, so he asks her to thank him for him because he never sees him to which Constantine asks even in his dreams and he says "Not even in my dreams".
This issue plants the seeds for things that will be put into play later on in the series as well as simply serving to add much to Morpheus as a person and serving character development. Its also interesting to reflect on what a pivotal issue this is seeing that Gaiman wrote this improvised, this wasnt an issue he was planning on, he needed an idea, he didn't have one, so he came up with something while on the phone to his editor. And it became a pivotal piece of the entire series, chance or is Gaiman just that good of a writer?
Issue 30, August, is a very special issue that sticks out to me in terms of all the Sandman issues. It takes place in ancient Rome where a dwarf actor named Lycius is visiting the Emperor of Rome, Augustus. When Lycius arrives the emperor asks if he brought what he asked him to, he did and they apply a disguise so that they look like they have leprosy (old actors trick). They sit and talk about the state of Rome, the people and the way of man itself. He tells him that he once had a dream that a man appeared before him and told him that he would have to make a choice.
Bryan Talbot illustrates this issue and he is one of the best artist that Sandman ever had. His art is on the same level as Brian Bolland, with his detailed background and his incredible ability to draw people. Its interesting seeing him do this because he is a renowned writer in his own right.
August is not one of the great visual issues and by that I mean nothing particular happens that's visually exciting. Just two people walking and then sitting talking. But it is in the obrolan that makes this issue so compelling, each of the characters has their on voice and is just about fully developed. And shows what dreams can do subtly.
Issue 31, is about the difference that one member of the Endless can have on a person and how different they really are. The cover shows a house and we can see inside one window with the more classic use of photographs that we've seen Dave McKean use. It is by combining these two techniques that he is able to give off the affect of looking in and seeing more, this issue will take us inside the home, to the real man. And indeed inside a house a man named Joshua Norton stands in his room with a razor in-hand and is about ready to kill himself, standing behind him is Despair, taking some enjoyment from the situation. But while he holds the razor she calls forth Dream. Dream is not impressed to be called and wants to know what she wants, she points out the man and how firmly he is in her grasp Dream still doesn't care but Despair makes the wager that Dream will be unable to save him from Despair and Dream accept the challenge.
The next day Norton wakes with a revelation, last night he had a dream. The first thing he does is send a letter to the local newspaper, the letter states that he has declared himself the "Emperor of America" He lives out is life and never has to pay rent or buy a drink. He even becomes a huge tourist attraction able to sign for money and sell dolls. One day a corpse comes to him as says that he has an offer for him, beautiful woman to be his wives, when Norton asks what the catch is the corpse says there is no catch, Norton refuses, he says that he is the Emperor of America, what else could he want. Norton leaves the kafetaria and the corpse exists after, the corpse enters a carriage where Desire is waiting and is very upset, he/she demands to know how Dream did it, to which he replies "He has is dignity sister-brother. He is an emperor after all." Desire leaves, very angry, swearing that "One day I will make him spill family blood".
One day, while walking in the rain one day Norton dies. Despair stands over him and curses him, curses him for being a dreamer, for being a madman that died in the gutter, but not giving into despair. Dream then appears and gives her a Norton statue, possibly as a gift but as a lesson if nothing else to which Despair responds "What lesson". And now that their both done with him he is in Death's hands, she arrives and they both walk off together.
Fun fact is that this story is true. I can't say if the Endless were really a part of it or not but there was indeed a man named Joshua Norton and he was a self proclaimed emperor of America.
This issue also serves to show the audience how the Endless work off each-other not from just a personality point of view but in their duties. Destiny, Death and Dream are the golden children while the others are more the lower siblings, they have the blue collar work.
At this time you begin to learn the general rhythm of Sandman as a whole. It goes story arc then a series of one shots, then onto another story arc. Its a solid method of dealing with the series. You get into a story and just when that arc is wrapping-up you start to get an itch for the single issues again then when you have a few of them in a row you feel like having a story arc again and you get it.
Issue 32 starts off the next story-arc A Game Of You. It opens on a vast, snowy fantasy landscape, known as The Land, where a conversation is heard by voice-over, a group of characters are talking about a princess and something called the Cuckoo and one of the voice states that it will find the princess by whatever means necessary. Then its back to reality and a pretty blonde girl wakes up, this is Barbie, remember Barbie from The Doll's House, well this is where she ended up after her and Ken split.
She gathers her thoughts when there's a knocking on the door. On the other side of the door is Wanda, Barbie's best friend and a male transvestite. Wanda suggests they have some coffee, then go out to hit the town. Barbie has no milk so Wanda goes to borrow some from one of their neighbors, the first is Thesally a woman with straight brown hair and and big round glasses, all she has is soy-milk. Then Wanda knocks on another door, this time a woman named Hazel answers it, she says that she does have milk and lets Wanda in. While inside we also meet Foxglove, Wanda's girlfriend, she gets the milk in a cute frog mug and goes back to Barbie. On her way there she runs into another tenant named George, an old man that seems to have no time for Wanda and her unique humor. Wanda comes back to find that Barbie has drawn a chess board on one side of her face, they have their coffee and head off to town.
Sandman is probably most iconic for bringing in a female audience. Comics were once nearly a one hundred percent male audience driven medium. They were about guys, being written by guys, drawn by guys and marketed towards the guys. So then came Neil Gaiman that liked woman, who half of his friends and social time would be women. So when it came to writing he would add female characters and give them personalities. A strangely foreign concept until Gaiman did it in the late eighties and early nineties, but still better late than never. Gaiman writes woman so well because he clearly likes them and knows them, they say write what you know, well Gaiman knows women.
Meanwhile in the Dreaming Mathew and the Sandman are waiting for something to happen, then it does. A shift has happened, which means that something from the Dreaming has crossed over to the real world. The Sandman says that "One of the Skerries is dying" Mathew then asks what he's going to do about it, to which he replies nothing, he explains that Skerries are inconsequential, they come and then they die, he will do nothing.
Back in the real world Barbie and Wanda are on the subway and their talking when an old woman asks for some change when all of a sudden she freaks out saying "Keep it away, I don't like dogs!" and across the cart is a man holding a little puppy. She runs out of the subway, still saying "I don't like dogs" and while saying that she runs into Martin Tenbones, huge, furry and very dog-like.
While out on the town Barbie and Wanda talk about things. Over coffee Barbie tells Wanda that she doesn't have dreams, Wanda says she just doesn't remember her dreams, but Barbie says that she always remembers her dreams, when she had them. She doesn't remember the details but she knows that bad stuff happened, her and Ken split up and then she stopped having dreams. Wanda then tells her about her childhood and how out of place Wanda felt growing up in Texas and she felt like the "WEIRDZOS" from the old Hyperman comics.
At this point you can see that Gaiman had given up in trying to write in continuity and just went for parallels that served for the characters he wanted to use and talk about. The WEIRDZOS and Hyperman are clear parallels of Superman and the Bizzaros. But of course the Bizzaros didn't exist anymore in continuity so he just came up with a not very clever and rather obvious alternate version of them.
At the same time Martin Tenbones is roaming the streets and the local police as you probably expect, react with great force. The cops are quickly on the scene and of course Tenbones is scared by it, but then he see's Barbie and she recognizes him. He gallops to her and the cops take him down in a bloody fray. Barbie goes to her imaginary friend and cradles his bloody dying head in her lap. It is a positively traumatizing scene.
Meanwhile in The Land, we get to see who was speaking at the start of the story arc. There is Wilkinson a large rat that wears a trench coat and hat, Prinado a monkey dressed like an elevator boy and Luz a green Parrot with a bow-tie. Then back in the real world Wanda takes Barbies back to her place, She leaves her alone and Barbie is holding a pink gem inside a necklace-pendant that she knows is called "the Porpentine". At the same time, inside George's room, George devours a whole crow.
Later Hazel knocks on Barbies door and wants to talk. Barbie lets her in and Hazel clearly has something on her mind. Hazel then asks "what do you do when you think your pregnant?". Hazel explains that she met this guy one night while at a party and they just hooked up, she thought she wouldn't get pregnant because they "did it standing up". Barbie reassures her and tells her she'll help her and Hazel goes back home, Barbies last words being "stupid girl".
Barbie tries to to go to sleep while watching some TV but as she does the TV stats to criticize her life and how Ken left her, Nuala quickly appears on-top of her TV where she tells her to be careful. The other messages continue and Barbie thinks about going for a walk when all of a sudden gray curtains are before her and she moves through them and on the other side of them is Wilkinson casually standing there to greet her. Barbie is now in The Land.
At the same time George takes a box cutter, slices his chest open and unleashes a murder of crows from his rib cage. A crow flies into everyone's room and perches itself over them. Then everyone has a bad nightmare. Hazel has the worst one in my experience, it involves one baby eating another. But when a crow flies into Thesally's room, she is awake. And she quickly grabs it, bashes its head against the wall, and while she holds its dead body it burst into flames.
Neil Gaiman has said that he used to get very bad dreams and so when he started writing Sandman he began to write them down. And ever since he did, he stopped having the bad dreams. His theory is that the people that were sending him the bad dreams stopped when they realized they were not making him miserable but getting a kick out of them.
The issue ends with Thessaly knocking on George's door and asking if she can come in, while holding a knife behind her back. While in The Land Barbie tells everyone that Martin Tenbones is dead but they still have the Porpentine so its not over yet and "We'd better get going".
The next issue opens with Foxglove and Hazel crying into one anothers arms about their nightmares. They get up to have a drink and relax when there's a knocking on the door, its Thessaly asking if their OK, which they say "Yes" but Thessaly asks "No bad Dreams?". They have clearly had bad dreams and she's going to check on Wanda and asks them to come with her, they agree.
They all go to Wanda's room first, she is in a terrible state after her nightmare. But as soon and Thessaly mentions that Barbie is in trouble she snaps out of it and goes straight to her door. She knocks and knocks furiously, to no response, so Thessaly had Hazel get a key. They go inside and find Barbie in an un-wakeable sleep with the Porpentine glowing.
Thessaly tells Wanda to carry Barbie to George's room "The door will be open". Wanda picks Barbie up and while she does Hazel, only know, realizes that Wanda's a man. They get to George's room and Wanda puts barbie down on the sofa, they ask Thessaly where George is and she says "He's in the bath". They think he's taking a bath but Thessaly clears it up by telling them that he's dead in the bath and sure enough when they go to look there he is, dead and everything. Everyone freaks out but Thessaly tells them to be clam and she will be getting answers from George soon.
So Thessaly goes into the bathroom and walks out with George's face, sliced from the head. She then goes to the wall and nails the face to it, then she goes back to the bathroom and takes out his eyes, afters that she bites out his tongue. So now the face, the eyes and the tongue are all horrifically nailed to the wall. Thessaly now has some questions for George, so George answers. George's severed face is now speaking to her.
After a quick word, Thessaly now knows about the Cuckoo so she decides that she will handle it, she puts a tray in the center of the room and asks Foxglove to stand over it and pour her menstruate into it so the spell will work. When I first read this I winced and screamed "WHAT!?" but after some thought this does sound like something that would be an ingredient in "women magic". Foxglove asks why her to which Thessaly responds "Because you're menstruating. No one else here is. Hazels pregnant, Wanda's a man...and I haven't menstruated for a long time."
When I first read this I was shocked and winced. But then after re-reading it I thought about how clever and gutsy it was. It serves to push the plot forward of Hazel's pregnancy and plants the seed for what happens later.
The next issue opens with Barbie in The Land and she is with the characters of her dreams, carefully scaling a snowy mountain cliff. The dark soldiers that work for the Cuckoo are looking for them but they are able to hide and evade them.
We quickly cut the The Dreaming where Nuala builds up her courage and tells the Sandman that she meddled and warned Barbie that she was in danger. The Sandman acknowledges her then walks away, then walks back and tells her "You did the right thing", this makes her smile.
While on their journey Wilkinson and the others talk about what the Land was like before she came. Barbie is confused because she thought that she created this world. Prinando corrects her by saying that the Land is just somewhere she comes to dream".
Barbie and the others finds their way into a forest where all they need to do is stay on the path and they will be safe. Prinando is the one that leads them safely through the forest by scouting ahead of them, when one day he doesn't come back, the group continue on foot and come across his body, hung by the neck on a branch. They eventually find the path again and eventually, they reach the end of the forest and are now on a cliff by the sea.
Luz says that she will go and find friends to help, Wilkinson will stay with Barbie. When Luz gets back Wilkinson asks if she found any friends and Luz says "Yes, many friends" and the dark soldiers are standing right behind her. Luz points Barbie out to them but Wilkinson stands between them and tells Barbie to run, but he is no match for them and gets his throat sliced deep.
The soldiers and Luz take Barbie to the Cuckoo and Luz points to quaint little pink house and says the Cuckoo resides inside, Barbie looks on it and says "This is where I grew up".
Issue 36 is the penultimate issue to the story-arc, the cover consists of the title and a series of women flying into a dark figures robe. To me it brings to mind the dance of death from Seventh Seal. The next issue starts with Barbie looking through the house of her childhood, there are memories everywhere, and then she hears a voice behind her, its a young blonde girl. The girl says exactly what she is thinking, because she knows her so well, this girl is the Cuckoo. She explains to Barbie that she created this land and its people because she was a bored little girl with not much to do so she created her own fantasy land where she was the princess, Tenbones and Wilkinson were her toys. While the conversation unfolds Barbies seems to be getting more and more bewildered and the Cuckoo asks if she can destroy her completely, Barbie says sure, the Cuckoo then orders her soldiers to take Barbie to The Isle of Thorns.
Thessaly and the rest are now in The Land, Foxglove is clearly mad at Hazel and Hazel is trying to explain to her, but as has previously established she's not good with words. But in the end Foxglove taker her hand and says "Do you have any idea how much a baby will cost". Later they come across Wilkinson's dead body, so Thessaly looks into his blood and asks a question, his reflection appears in the blood. He tells them to bugger off and leave him alone, but Thessaly is insistent. So he tells them about the Cuckoo, Barbie and how he failed her.
The storm builds in the real world, Wanda sees outside the window that the old woman from the subway is trapped under some big trash cans. She rushes downstairs and helps her inside. It is because of Thessaly's magic tampering with the moon that a storm is building up.
The Cuckoo, Luz and Barbie are now at "The Isle of Thorns" a small island with a rock in the center with Kanji on it. Thessaly and the others see the island and start gaining on it, the Cuckoo tells Luz to take her place and she goes running to Thessaly crying saying that the bird is the Cuckoo and is going to do bad things. Thessaly wastes no time in going straight up to Luz, asks if shes the Cuckoo, to which Luz replies "yes" and Thessaly swiftly breaks her neck. Thessaly then relaxes saying its fine now, they only need a few seconds to get control of you, and after the Cuckoo goes "Ow really" its already too late and they all obey her.
Barbie breaks the broach on the rock and a mighty explosion follows, the jewel breaks in the real world too. Then the stars start to move, one star moves closer and closer to them, until it becomes the center of an eye, the Sandman's eye. The Cuckoo asks who he is, to which he tells her that he is this lands creator. He wipes away the Cuckoo's control over Barbie and the others then asks for silence for what he must do next.
The Sandman walks to the edge of the island and extends his arms and every creature from the Land comes marching, even Luz gets up and joins the march, they all enter into the Sandman's robe until there is only one other left to enter. It is a beautiful, sad looking woman with a scar across her right cheek and as she approaches the Sandman he says "I am here Alianora", she asks how long it has been and he tells her "A long time, old love". Then he reaches out and picks up the Land, like an entire beach in in his hand and then it crumbles away.
When he's done he goes to talk with everyone, he looks at Thessaly and says that he remembers her, she also remembers him. They clearly have a history and there is some pretty obvious tension and he makes no bones about him being displeased, Hazel asks what he's talking about to which Thessaly explains that they are in trouble.
Back with Wanda, George is talking to her about the storm and the building. He is saying that the storm is strong and raging while the building is old and crumbling, Wanda starts to put it together when on the last page of the issue one great blow of the storm breaks down the wall and the whole place comes tumbling down.
Issue 37 is the selesai issue of the story arc and it starts with a panel of Barbie in a bathroom, in a black dress and applying make-up. She says that someone is coming, she's not looking forward to it and she must try not to remember.
The scene then cuts to a flashback to The Dreaming where we last left off with Barbie, the Cuckoo and the others on the island. The Sandman tells Barbie that she can ask one boon of him, she asks if he can kill the Cuckoo, he can, but decides to go with "The Dorothy option" and have everyone go back home. And so the Cuckoo is able to fly away and lay its eggs in some other dreamland.
The Sandman tells them that the Cuckoo was unable to fly away because it was bound to her dream because of Rose Walker. Both Barbie and Foxglove remark that they know Rose, to which they both say that its a hell of a coincidence.
At this point I realized how well Sandman tied itself together with its other stories. Sure in real life this wouldn't happen, but a story is something that is constructed and put together and as a reader its just fun and rewarding to have characters reappear or be mentioned again.
Cutting back to present, we see that Barbie is in Texas and a diner. She is here to attend Wanda's funeral and has drawn a veil over her face. She meets a woman that is Wanda's aunt, aunt Dora. They sit and talk about Wanda and the events leading up to her death, during the conversation aunt Dora makes an effort in calling Wanda Alvin and insists that Barbie do the same. Dora tells Barbie that this boy will go like a proper Christian and is now in a suit and has gotten a good haircut, to which Barbie say "But...Wanda was always so proud of her hair...".
The funeral plays out, barbie is invited by Dora to come back to the house, she says no. When its all over Barbie goes up and takes lipstick, crosses out Alvin and writes Wanda on-top of it. She says that she really wishes that she was with her now and has a present for her, its a Hyperman comic, she drops it in the grave. While riding along Barbie has a dream that Wanda was waving to her, but Wanda was a girl, a real girl and with her was another beautiful girl, pale and dressed in black, the two walked off together. While Barbie and aunt Dora are in the car she asks what she's going to do and she says that when she was young she would wander around, play and dream, so that's what she'll do now, and that's all.
A Game of You is a unique story arc. I love it, its one of my favorites. I never though we would meet Barbie again, but I'm glad we did. It has a great balance between the crazy world of the dreams and the even crazier world of real life. It brings forward the fascinating idea that there are dreams that we do not create but dreamland's that we go to, people do have reoccurring dreams as well as many different people share the same or similar dreams. Most people have had the showing up the school in the underwear dream, is that another dream landscape that most people go to? Also the art duties are split between Shawn McManus and Coleen Doran and they are brilliant.
Issue 38 is another Sandman story about stories. The cover is reminiscent of a tarot card. It brings to mind fables, there's a wolf, candles, a robed figure and indeed the issue tells a fable. It starts in a living room where a grandfather is trying to tell a story to his granddaughter but she isn't that interested, so he get a little moody so in the end she decides to let him tell his story.
The story is about a young man that lived in the forest with his people and one day comes across an old gypsy woman that has a sack of things to sell. She says she is hungry, so he kills a rabbit for her, she tries to repay him but his father says they do not accept things from outsiders. The boy sees the gypsy again the next day and she shows him a necklace with a picture of a beautiful woman inside it. The next day the boy finds the gypsy woman dead with her sack lying next to her. The boy takes the bag and decides to seek out the woman in the necklace.
While on his journey the boy comes across a tall thin man than inquires about the object in the sack and that he is interested in purchasing a book in it. The thin man asks his price and the boy raises the necklace and says "her". The man cannot do this so the boy moves on. While traveling the boy comes across the same man again, he puts a huge bag of gold in-front of him for the book, but the boy has no need for gold so he moves on. He then finds himself in an unknown forest and begins to hunt a dear and right when he is about to pounce another takes it, a girl from another tribe. The boy eventually gets to the castle where the girl on the necklace lives and the steward escorts him through the castle, but its a trick and he throws him in the dungeon. While in the dungeon the thin man appears before the boy and once again makes deal for the book, he will grant his freedom if he will part with the book, but the boy continues to refuse, so the thin man says that he will have to come with him, next they are walking through the Dream Castle.
Then they come across the Sandman who is very surprised to have a guest. The thin man then explains everything to the Sandman and he agrees, the boy gives the man the book (written by Christopher Marlowe) and they are transported to the woman's bedroom. When the boy is finally standing in-front of the princess he gives her the necklace and walks away and returns to the forest where he and the hunting girl turn into wolves and hunt dear.
Gaiman excels in telling stories that are about stories. He understands what stories are for and how they guide us through our lives.
Issue 39 is an issue that plays with both time and the landscape of dreams. It is 1273 and we see a lost young man wandering through the desert, he calls out but nobody can hear him, until he meets a man who like him is lost so he took to shouting out "Marko Polo" to which the young man replies "That's my name". While they walk they come across another man that is sitting by a smouldering fire and invites them to join him, he tells them that they are in a "soft place" a place beyond the edge of the map, then one by one the men disappear and Marko is alone.
Then the Sandman appears, Marko asks for help but he tells Marko that he is in no position to help him being that he has only just freed himself from captivity, so Marko gives him some water and the Sandman thanks him. Marko wants to leave the soft place and because of his kindness the Sandman grants his wish. Marko then wakes up in the sand and his father is right next to him to help, Marko has something to tell his father but he forgets what he was going to say so moves on, after all it was just a dream.
This issue is an interesting look at how dreams can meld into one and even transcend time. Akira Kurosawa said that as a young man he had a dream that he met Vincent van Gogh, was this while they were is soft places?
For the voices of the characters in these stories I heard Tracy Grandstaff doing her Daria voice as Thesally, Kevin Michael Richardson for Azazel and Hugh Laurie as Wilkinson.
The special features in volume two are again very generous. This time we get a lot of special art by various artists. My favorites are Death by Moebius, Dream by Brian Bolland and Dream by Jeff Smith. There's also a special Winter tale about, of all the Endless Desire, illustrated by John Bolton. It is the story of a faun and his dwindling good looks and power, so he preys to Desire to give him one last moment of being wanted and he/she grants the wish. Its a simple, kind of sweet story where we get to see a different side of Desire. As in the last Absolute Edition there is a breakdown of an issue with original pencils and script. This time its issue 23 where Sandman goes to Hell, probably the best choice out of the issues that were available in this edition.
Absolute Sandman Volume II is another solid package of stories. The stories go deeper into Morpheus past and his character and the other stories show us other things within the world of dreams and the Endless as well as other stories told from a different perspectives. The special features are more than generous and the large, high quality paper makes the line and color work so easy to appreciate.
