Crushing Krisis

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Neil Gaiman

New for Patrons: The Definitive Guides to The Sandman Universe

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Today’s new guide Patrons of Crushing Krisis is actually three guides (or maybe four, by the time you read this), which seems like overkill for what is essentially a single title with an obvious ten-volume paperback line. But, it’s really so much more than that…

Sandman Universe – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

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Books of Magic – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

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Lucifer – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

I am fascinated by how Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (and, in fact, all of the extended Sandman Universe) bridges the gap between comic books and serious literature.

That fascination has lasted for over 25 years – almost as long as Gaiman’s reinvention of the Golden Age character has existed.

Even the most-knowledgable comic fan could be forgiven for not knowing that Morpheus the King of Dreams was merely an iteration on an already-rebooted Golden Age DC hero. The original Sandman, Wesley Dodds, was a minor character who ran for seven years in the Golden Age and then popped back up twenty years later in the Earth 2 Justice Society of America in the Silver Age.

Without Gaiman and Morpheus, Dodds would probably be that one JSA member whose name you could never recall. His Silver Age iteration certainly wouldn’t jog your memory – a Kirby/Simon creation meant to be Mr. Sandman who lasted just six issues and who was later retconned in Wonder Woman to be a professor lost in the world of dreams.

There was no harm in Neil Gaiman revamping such a character to a more adult version early in the Post-Crisis years in 1989. At the time, Gaiman was still a relative unknown, coming off of the slept-on Black Orchid mini-series – a similar act of excavation and reinvention. He was so used to tepid reception to his early work that he expected Sandman to run just eight issues, which is why the first eight form such a satisfying arc despite being a mix of one-shots and continuing stories. He though that would be the whole series!

Instead, The Sandman became the springboard off of which Gaiman launched his multimedia fame in a miraculous three-year run from 1990-93 that saw him release Books of Magic at DC, the novel Good Omens (with Terry Prachett), win a World Fantasy Award in a category where Sandman wasn’t even eligible, essentially give birth to what we know as the modern American graphic novel market with the first two Sandman trade paperbacks, and top it off with the landmark Death: The High Cost of Living (the collection of which would be introduced by his friend and frequent name-checker, Tori Amos). [Read more…] about New for Patrons: The Definitive Guides to The Sandman Universe

Crushing Comics S01E076 – Absolute Sandman, Vol. 4

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Today I mean to talk about Clue, but wound up sharing a story from my days of digging into eCommerce data at RJMetrics. Then, I open my final Absolute-sized tome, Absolute Sandman Volume 4, and talk about knowing when (and how) to end things.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 76 features The Absolute Sandman, Volume 4.

From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #5-8

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Tonight’s discussion wraps up the first arc of The Sandman (1989) with issues #5-8, which include three issues of Dream trying to out-maneuver the psychopathic Dr. Destiny to regain control of the Ruby, and the all-time classic introduction of Death.

In this run, Sandman quick delves from suspense in issue #5 down to the depths of horror in issue #6 before widening its scope in issues #7 and 8 – first to the expanse of Dream’s kingdom, and then to the very concept of death and existence.

Read on for my thoughts on each of these issues, or listen to our full discussion above. FanGirl and I have had an amazing time discussing Sandman’s first arc these past few weeks. We’re going to break from Sandman to refocus on Black Panther for the month of February, but we’ll happily return to Sandman if you demand it! [Read more…] about From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #5-8

From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #2-4

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Tonight’s discussion is on The Sandman (1989) issues #2-4, which follow Dream as he returns to his kingdom of dreams and sets out on a quest to rediscover two of his three crucial tools – his pouch of sand and his helm.

What people often forget in talking about Sandman as a modern masterpiece is that it started out as very much a horror comic. It was also not so specifically disconnected from the DC Universe – we peek into Arkham in issue #2, hang out with Constantine in #3, and meet Etrigan in #4.

The Sandman (1989) #2 is Gaiman building a world, and dispensing a lot of information along the way, though some of it we will not recognize until much later. Sandman discovers his Cain and Abel, his librarian, and his decrepit castle – all of his dream time falling apart without him to hold it together.

Dream resolves to regain his three aspects and consults the trio of fates for them in a memorable sequence packed with literary references. His pouch of sand currently resides with Constantine, which he views as easier to acquire than his jewel (with the League) or his helmet (with a demon). Kieth’s art is a bit lumpy here, though the later recolor does it many favors. It’s our first time seeing Morpheus unbound, and he bears an uncanny resemblance to his creator.

The Sandman (1989) #3 is a low point of early Sandman for me – bringing in the caustic John Constantine and showing us Dream through his eyes. It feels much more like a Hellblazer issue than a Sandman issue.

Also, Kieth and Dringenberg’s art here goes a bit sour, just too inconsistent and droopy across a tale told primarily with a specific, human character (though there are some great panels, like the reveal of Constantine’s former lover).

I think it is in The Sandman (1989) #4 that Sandman became a classic. This issue is firmly rooted in Christian mythology, but also features an active, clever Dream increasing in his powers. It’s also quite boldly drawn by Kieth and Dridenberg, with the notable trio of demons – Beezlebub, a human with a fly’s head, Azazeal, a sort of Beholder, and Lucifer Morningstar, who is apparently a Space Oddity eta David Bowie.

Dream’s journey to the underworld is dire with a dash of humor beneath as Etrigan takes him through the suicide grove and past his own lost love, and later as Sandman engages in the most famous sort of wizard’s duel, that we all know from Sword In the Stone.

Crushing Comics S01E063 – Your Circle of Friends + Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1

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After a brief discussion of Dunbar’s Number and how staying in touch means something different now than it did 10 years ago, I unwrap Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 – just in time to read my physical copy for the second installment of my new Sandman Reading Club tomorrow night!

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 63 features The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1.

From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issue #1

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Tonight’s discussion focuses not only on Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989) issue #1, but who Gaiman was as an author at the time. (Spoilers: he wasn’t very well-known!)

The Sandman (1988) #1 is not a perfect comic, but it’s an excellent one. The issue tracks Dream from his imprisonment in 1916 through his reemergence in 1988.

He does very little in those years, but the world changes around him even as some people sleep the entire time away and others never have a true dream. While Dream is imprisoned and they dream, his tools are stolen and dispersed around the world and his original captor passes away.

Gaiman’s script here is impossibly tight, filled with little details in every inch of narration. Sam Kieth’s art is memorable but a bit haggard at points – this is early in his career, still a few years before defining work on Ghost Rider or Maxx.

Some of Kieth’s long-faced, dropping facial work detracts a bit from the otherwise stellar issue – it’s probably not what you expected from Sandman based on the covers, later interiors, or Overture.