At Nerve.com, Ada Calhoun recalls the joys of coming of age reading Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman:
Written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by various people, including the regally named Malcolm Jones III, Sandman was one of the smart-people comics, bought by twenty-one-year-old former art students with good haircuts and cool shoes and by thirty-eight-year-old guys in bands that were actually good. It was common to see Sandman in a stack with back issues of Hate and Love & Rockets. Every Sandman had a zillion references, from Greek mythology to Shakespeare. When you got the obscure ones, it made you feel smart, like you’d just finished the Friday crossword puzzle.
And the stories were real stories. They were all about humans getting tangled up with gods — the gods in this case being the Endless, six brothers and sisters named Dream (the title character, and star), Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium and Death (portrayed as a hot, funny, casually goth-y girl). One or the other of the Endless would get his or her (or in androgynous Desire’s case, his/her) claws in a person, and page after page of dramatic dialogue and artsy illustration would ensue. There was a lot of dealmaking, and violence and wistfulness. I ate it up.
In related, but less happy, news, director Joel Schumacher says he’d like to tackle a Sandman movie.
(Nerve link via Bookslut)
February 5th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
“And the stories were real stories. They were all about humans getting tangled up with gods.”
Isn’t that a contradiction? Would real stories be about real people.
I’ve never read Sandman. No one has ever really explained to me why I should beyond saying “Cause it’s awesome.” or whatever.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I think the emphasis is on “stories,” not “real.”
But why would you have to be convinced to read The Sandman, versus just reading it — sans proselytization?
I’m not saying you should or have to read it; it may not look like your kind of thing. I just don’t get the “tell me why I should read it” sentiment.
February 5th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
It just doesn’t seem like my type of thing and when I’ve expressed that sentiment to people they often tell me that I have to read it, which isn’t really helping to convince me.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
So don’t read it, then.
I love it; it’s my favorite comic series of all time. It has everything- obscure DCU continuity, horror, comedy, character pieces, tragedy, allusions to mythology and literature, William Shakespeare as a supporting character. It’s brilliant.
…But I honestly couldn’t care less if you want to read it or not.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
There were a few single-issue Sandman stories, like issues #31 or #50. It’s probably possible to pick one or two of them up as back issues really cheap. Those stories pretty much give you an impression of what the series was all about and if it’s your thing or not. If you’re a Trade kinda person, Season of Mists is probably the apotheosis of Sandman.
I certainly think it’s the best thing Gaiman has ever done, including his novels, though the impossible-to-find Miracleman issues are also great and his novel Good Omens is hilarious.
The reason it’s awesome? There are many, many ultra-powerful characters in comics, who seem like they’d be able to do whatever they want. So the question becomes, really, why don’t they? This series answers that question.