Sandman 47, 48, & 49, DC Comics / Vertigo, cover-dated March, April & May 1993.
"Brief Lives: Parts 7, 8, & 9," by Neil Gaiman, with art by Jill Thompson, Vince Locke & Dick Giordano.
Dream and his kid sister Delirium are on a road trip to find their brother Destruction, who abandoned his responsibilities three centuries ago. Will they find him, and if so, at what cost? Will they be able to convince him to rejoin the Endless family and take up his duties again? Are these comics as good as the hype would have us believe? Listen to the episode and find out!
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Promo: To The Batpoles!
Next Episode: 100 Bullets #11, The Vertigo line of DC Comics, cover-dated January 2000.
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Source: In The Ballpark
Get ready for heresy.
ReplyDeleteI really don't like Sandman.
I bought the first issue of Sandman and thought it interesting enough. I bought the early issue with Constantine because I loved John at that time. But I dropped the book.
Around Brief Lives, a bunch of comics friends who had been collecting Sandman from the beginning basically browbeat me into picking up the book.
"You don't know what your missing!"
"Its so well written, and intellectual, you'll love it"
So I bought it. I bought it from Brief Lives through the end. I read the trades of the earlier stuff.
And while it was good, it just didn't meet the admittedly overly lofty build up that it had been given. Even worse, if you read the letter columns of the issues, you better have a barf bag ready. There are people fawning over Gaiman and Sandman. There is doggerel poetry. There are people talking about how the book had changed their lives in some intense and metaphysical way. It all seemed so pretentious.
It didn't help that this was out when I was in medical school, perhaps the most cynical period in my life.
And yet, despite that, I kept buying. I kept wondering if I was missing out on something. Maybe one day the Gaiman magic of poetry and purple prose would click. Alas it just never did.
All that said, the stand alone issues (Element Woman, Thousand Cats, Ramadan) are the most enjoyable for me. And I liked Season of Mists. Perhaps thats because those are the least weighed down by the doldrums of the Endless.
I know, I know. I just sorta trashed Sandman. What type of comic fan am I.
Shun me.
To each his own, Doc. This is a no-shun zone!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on one thing. Often the worst part about these critically-acclaimed stories are the FANS of these critically-acclaimed stories.
Although I'm a few months behind and playing catch-up (again) I'm really enjoying your coverage of Vertigo books on the Quarter Bin. I also missed the boat on Vertigo in the 90s, as well as the pre-Vertigo British invasion of the 80s. It wasn't until a few months ago, in fact, thanks in part to the Vertigo episode of Mike Gillis' Radio vs the Martians podcast that I started taking a serious interested in the Vertigo line, specifically those titles that got their start on the darker fringes of the greater DC universe. I started, of course, with Swamp Thing, who I knew from the Marty Pasko stories of the early 80s, but I rapidly expanded my reading repertoire to include Hellblazer,the first Black Orchid miniseries, and Sandman, with Books of Magic in the queue. While obviously enjoy my favorite plant elemental the most (he might not be the nicest guy in the world, but old "Uncle Al" sure can write him some touching romance interspersed with gruesome horror), the master of dreams is easily a close second
ReplyDeleteThanks for this feedback, Grant. Yes, I was also only slightly in touch with Vertigo books when they were happening. Some really good stuff.
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