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09/24/2003 Archived Entry: "The return of the Sandman"

I AM THE LORD OF DREAMS: I used to be quite a comic book geek when I was a young man. One of the masterpieces that proved comic books could be literature -- outside of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns -- was Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

Good news! The Sandman is back after a seven year hiatus. A new volume was published last week and the early buzz is that it's pretty good.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, it lasted 75 issues and told the stories of a group of entities called The Endless -- made up of Morpheus (aka The Sandman aka Dream), Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium. Morpheus was often the lead character but in later years Gaiman made increased use of the others -- especially Death who was portrayed as a teenaged girl (also used in a fantastic three issue stand alone series during the late 1990s).

My favourite story arc was when Satan decided to cause problems for Heaven (which was being run by the Heavenly Host after God disappeared years before) by renouncing his rulership of Hell and opening its gates to release all the condemned souls. He had his wings cut off and disappeared somewhere on Earth. Heaven, in response, sends two angels to run Hell and fitting with the 90s they promptly decide on a new mission for Hell: instead of punishment, they decide to try and rehabilitate the evil. Of course, the decision was essentially made for them because once they entered Hell they could no longer ever again be in the presence of God or Heaven because they had been tainted. Revolving around all of this was the machinations of The Endless -- called that because they were eternals -- and all the other deities of Earth.

Read on.

Replies: 4 comments

Ah yes. I picked up the trade paperback "Seasons of the Mist" and was very moved by this particular series, volume 4. A masterpiece. I really loved how he wrapped up that series, having Sandman decide what to do with the keys to Hell. Every form of deity or anthropomorphic personication, from Japanes mythology to Norse mythology (with a lecherous, alcoholic Thor tossed in for comic effect - "If I rub it, it gets bigger" he says of his hammer to an Egyption goddess) came knocking on Dream's doorstep with an offer he couldn't refuse, and in the end the two silent observers from the Silver City were put in charge. And I love how this story was put into play, by Dream's willingness to return to Hell to forgive his mortal love whom he sentenced there for 10 000 years. Fascinating, riveting storytelling. I can't praise it enough.

I'm in the middle of Gaiman's American Gods right now. I'm not so impressed yet. The interpretations of Odin in American history is sort of interesting. For now.

But if anybody's missed the Sandman, pick up the trade paperbacks and give them a chance. Any of the first four volumes and I guarantee, you'll be hooked.

Posted by Steve Lendt @ 09/24/2003 09:21 PM EST

I'll agree that very little will ever beat the first four volumes of Sandman.

Posted by Steven Martinovich @ 09/24/2003 11:45 PM EST

By the usual coincidence, I just finished reading my first comic book ever -- the first volume of the Sandman re-release. I have to say, it's a lot more disturbing than what I was expecting. But quite similar to American Gods, I thought. And, visually, close to the Neverwhere TV series.

Posted by angua @ 09/26/2003 02:09 AM EST

I knew there was a reason why I loved you :-)

Posted by Steven Martinovich @ 09/26/2003 03:09 AM EST