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Brief Lives Buy from tfaw.com

Brief Lives is my favorite. It always has been and it continues to be.

It’s the most straightforward and satisfying of all The Sandman volumes. It reads like there was actual planning involved – there’s no making it up as they go. Neil Gaiman’s writing manages to be both funny and dark, dramatic and playful. And while there are a lot of wonderful artists who’ve worked on The Sandman, Jill Thompson suits this story perfectly.

I love Brief Lives. I have no criticism for it. Some of that is because I have much too much affection for the book – I’ve read it the most and so it’s very familiar to me. It also has my absolute favorite line in the entire series – Ruby turning to Dream and saying “You’re a scary son of a bitch, mister. Cute as hell, but scary.” I don’t think there exists a more accurate description of Dream anywhere.

There are so many wonderful scenes. Delirium is infinitely quotable – “But they’re not flowers, they’re puppies” – and Dream making it rain so he can stand in it after being dumped is just so perfect. We have a talking dog, who seems to talk for no other reason than he does. I love the interactions between all The Endless – I think this is the point where The Sandman mythology is cemented.

It also has the most tragic, heartbreaking panel I’ve ever seen in comics. Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I can’t say my overall feelings for the book have really changed, but I saw somethings differently. I know there were some complaints about Delirium in this one – some felt she was too cute, too charming and didn’t quite represent the sad darkness she had when we’ve seen her before.

But I disagree. Delirium’s tragedy remains. Here, sure, she’s having fun so she’s more upbeat, but she’s naively self-centered. Delirium can’t think about anyone but herself. She asks Dream the word for the “moment when you realize that you’ve actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago” while Dream’s still getting over being dumped. Her reaction to Ruby’s death is “This means I get to drive.” She can care about others, want to help others, but ultimately, Delirium’s world is just about Delirium.

I think that’s the reason why teenage girls connected with Delirium, even if they don’t realize why. I know I did. She’s in between girlhood and adulthood. Teen girls are busy trying to figure out where they fit in their constantly-shifting worlds. They don’t have much time for anything else.

I honestly don’t have much else to write about Brief Lives. I can keep telling you how much I like it and keep offering examples, but I think that would get boring quickly.

Reading Brief Lives was a little bittersweet, though. Partially because of the memories it brought back (like how I traded my friend Marc the softcover for his hardcover. Hi, Marc!) and because I know I’m getting close to the end. I don’t want The Sandman to be over yet.

Fables and Reflections Buy from tfaw.com

Fables and Reflections has no right to be as good as it is.

I remembered it being somewhat of an afterthought, a mishmash collection of single-issue stories that didn’t really belong anywhere else (some of them came before A Game of You, some of them immediately after. One even follows the next storyline).

The first time I read it, I actually read it after Brief Lives. I felt like they were fun little stories but ultimately useless. They added some texture to The Sandman but didn’t advance the plot.

I don’t know what was different this time — maybe it’s maturity or reading it in the “right” order — but now I think Fables and Reflections is probably the closest to expressing the bigger concept of The Sandman, which is that it is, in the end, a story about stories.

Fables and Reflections is nothing if not full of stories about stories – the stories we tell ourselves, the world. The stories we tell to revise the past or the future. It’s about how stories – about how dreams – shape the world.

The collection begins and ends with leaders and their cities. “Three Septembers and a January” is as much as about Emperor Norton I as it is about San Francisco (which is honestly the only place someone could declare himself emperor of the United States and get away with it). It’s a beautiful tribute to someone who’s not much more than a humorous footnote in history. “Ramadan” is about Caliph Haroun al-Raschid and the fantastic Baghdad. Al-Raschid’s choice to turn his city over to Dream to preserve it is still haunting and powerful (and sadly, it’s probably moreso today than it was in 1993).

The stories in between are a wild ride of new characters and old, historical and mythological figures. I don’t think we ever got to see enough of Johanna Constantine in The Sandman and Jill Thompson’s depiction of the “Lil Endless” in “The Parliament of Rooks” is so wonderfully ridiculous. There are so much in these stories that is delightful and surprising I don’t know how I ever thought this book was mostly a throwaway.

The only story that doesn’t work for me is “The Song of Orpheus.” I like Bryan Talbot as an artist but his work feels to modern for the setting of the ancient Greece of myth. While I’m happy to accept Orpheus as the son of Dream, I don’t feel like Neil Gaiman adds much of anything to the myth. I know why Gaiman told this story – it is important and necessary in the larger story of The Sandman — but it doesn’t go anywhere. (And as far as Greek myths go, I would’ve rather seen the story of Alcyone retold.)

But really, that’s a tiny complaint. Reading Fables and Reflections reminds me of why I spent many years obsessed with Neil Gaiman (and even now, admittedly, I still have my weaker moments). He’s an incredible storyteller. I don’t want to call these “comic books” or “graphic novels” or anything else. They are just wonderful stories.

A Game of You Buy from tfaw.com

Poor unloved A Game of You.

Well, at least that was always the consensus (of, perhaps, a vocal group of men on the Internet). Before rereading it, it was my impression I didn’t really like this volume of The Sandman all that much.

Maybe it’s just that I’m older now. Maybe my sensibilities have changed. But despite its flaws, I really like now. It’s the more straightforward and simple than Season of Mists so I can understand why people were thrown off by it (and I think that’s why I was too) but it’s a lovely story that resonates with me for reasons I can’t quite articulate.

My main complaint with A Game of You is that I don’t find Barbie all that interesting. I know that was kind of the point when we met her in A Doll’s House, in a way, that she’s this normal woman who has a rich fantasy land in her dreams, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I care about her. I like her more now but she’s still a weak point for me in the book. I like her journey but I don’t really like her.

But there’s enough going on around her that Barbie’s character isn’t the absolute focus. We have an amazing assemblage of women – we have lesbian couple Hazel and Foxglove, the transsexual Wanda, and the ancient witch Thessaly.

Oh, Thessaly. I said that even if Neil Gaiman didn’t intend her to be, Rose Walker was pretty much pandering to a female audience. And without a doubt, Thessaly is too. Certainly, it’s great fun for this kind of geeky, meek-looking woman to turn out to be powerful and ruthless. But for every girl reading The Sandman who felt like the world viewed them much like Foxglove viewed Thessaly (“Like a bimbo, but with brains instead of looks”), this was awesome revenge. Gaiman knows how to play to his audience.

Overall, I think the book is more a way for Gaiman to discuss some thoughts on fantasy and further develop his ideas about women’s stories and men’s stories. There weren’t too many new ideas in there for me this time around (I was an English major) but I still like the discussion of how boys want to be superheroes and girls want to be princesses. I think it’s something that isn’t verbalized enough.

(I am angry that Gaiman never told the story of Alianora and Dream.)

And the most controversial comic book store scene … yes, comic book stores are like that. Or rather, they can be like that. (Gaiman made some comments where he said he thinks those sorts of stores are now in the minority, which makes me think he really only goes to big-city stores.) Just so we’re clear.

A Game of You is maybe a little messy, maybe too unambiguous in the points its trying to make, but it’s the one that’s surprised me the most so far this time around. Along with Dream Country, it would be one of the first I’d recommend to new readers (with some explanation of who is who and such), especially females ones.

Season of Mists Buy from tfaw.com

The Sandman just keeps getting more and more ambitious. As grand as I think Season of Mists is (I always remembered it to be one of my favorites) it fell a little short for me this time around. The set pieces and characters that appear seem to be more the point than the actual story.

We meet the rest of the Endless (minus Destruction) and Dream is goaded into saving Nada from Hell. I think Death’s statement of “That’s a really shitty thing to do” is a vast understatement.

Once in Hell, Dream finds it empty, and Lucifer (and I suppose, Gaiman) makes grand speeches before abandoning his post. I think there are some good points here, but it does feel a little clunky. Comic books – even highly literate ones – are about the combination of words and images and there’s just too many words and too little action.

As other pantheons pursue the Key to Hell, we get to meet a bunch of old god and goddess and entities. All of this is fun and feels pretty well educated. It expands on the seeds of story Gaiman began to build in earlier volumes. The story itself is more dramatic than action-packed, and the resolution is basically a deus ex machina (although in a somewhat self-aware way – it doesn’t quite build to an outcome the way I expected). While there was no really another way for it to end, the build-up does sort of fizzle out.

Thus far, I think artistically, this is the most uneven of the Sandman volumes. A half-dozen artists worked on these eight issues and there are some definite color issues in my version. I can only hope they will be improved in the Absolute version (which I still can’t afford, of course).

Beneath it all, the interpersonal drama is entertaining. It’s great to see the Endless interact – Gaiman famously said when asked if he regarded the Endless to be a “dysfunctional family” than he’d never seen a “functional family.” As archetypes, they’re a lot of fun. The various gods from various cultures are treated playfully and Gaiman gives you credit for being smart.

(I love Chapter 4 with Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine. Gaiman writes about childhood like no one else can, capturing how overwhelming and scary it can be.)

I don’t think Seasons of Mist quite lives up to the “big” story it wanted to be, but it’s epic and entertaining nonetheless. While Dream Country is where The Sandman found its voice, Seasons of Mist is where it found its pacing. It could be a medium to tell big, unwieldy stories than dragged in every culture it could. I think, as a smart teenager, that’s what I loved the most about The Sandman. I think that’s still what I love the most about it.

(And I may have used Hob’s toast a few times while signing yearbooks in high school.)

Dream Country Buy from tfaw.com

This is where The Sandman gets good.

A collection of four stand-alone short stories, Dream Country is where Neil Gaiman figures out exactly what the potential of this comic is – he can just tell stories. They are all connected to dreams, but that’s secondary, honestly. In one of them, the lead character doesn’t even show up.

I find “Calliope” to be the weakest of the four – while I like the story, the ultimate moral involving the price of ideas is a little obvious to me and Kelley Jones’ art looks dated (lots of bad early 90s hair). It’s still a strong tale, though, and Gaiman’s ability to combine humor and brutality shines throughout.

Oh, how did I forget about “A Dream of A Thousand Cats”? Seeing the world through eyes of cats does change my perspective a bit (the punchline at the end is a cute one). Mostly, though, it’s about the power of dreams and our ability to shape the world, all packaged in this fun little tale. In a really odd way, I’m almost glad I didn’t remember it because it felt like I was reading it for the first time.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is perfect. It’s completely understandable why this won the World Fantasy Award. It’s elegant and masterful, both on the part of Gaiman and through Charles Vess’ beautiful work. It’s a story about a story, but it does point to the larger theme of The Sandman as a whole – “The price of getting what you want is getting what you once wanted.”

In “Facade,” Gaiman and Colleen Doran take a minor DC superherione and explore her inner life and ultimately death. While the territory of “superheroes as people” isn’t necessarily original (and it wasn’t at the time), it nicely connects the idea of superheroes into a larger mythology. It’s not my favorite Sandman story, but it’s always touching and surprising to me. And despite her insistence that she’s not “merciful,” Death remains an adorable, reassuring presence. Death is one of the most charming fictional characters I’ve ever read.

Despite the philosophy of “it’s best to start at the beginning,”I think I’d quickly hand Dream Country to someone who’s interested in The Sandman. Maybe I’d have to fill her in on a few things here and there, but I think this makes a wonderful introduction to both the humor and the heart of the series.