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bagheera_sanI'm cranky and nervous and jittery today, and PMSing and I'm writing an exam at 3 pm and my paragraphing and nonfinite clauses won't get any better if I practise anymore, I think. *takes deep breath*
So maybe squeeing a bit about something nice will calm me down. I finished reading the entire run of Gaiman's "Sandman" comics yesterday, except for the Death extras. After "Watchmen" this was the second comic I read in the department library of our English Department, which clearly rules. (Reading in libraries is something I used to hate, but I love the department library.) Next I'll read Dark Knight Returns, also available there.
The first of Gaiman's books that I really fell in love with was "American Gods". I love "Good Omens", too, but that book feels more like Pratchett than Gaiman. "Neverwhere" and "Stardust" never gripped me quite as much as the rest of his works, and "Anansi Boys" is cool, but not quite as cool as "American Gods". My second favourite might be his short story collections.
But now that I've read Sandman, a lot of his stuff has gained additional depth. Sandman feels a bit like the key to how this author works, his concept of "story" and his recurring themes. Gaiman does best with short stories, and comics, no matter how decompressed, have the same constraints of available space.
"Sandman" is an entirely enjoyable comic, and of the whole run there were perhaps one or two stories that didn't really interest me (the one with the Necropolis in particular bored me.) The art, despite varying wildly, was never bad or wrong for the story. It's funny, when I first noticed the book, the goth look of the Endless threw me off - I've always thought goth a bit over the top, and I expected the stories to be aimed at that sort of audience (of course I didn't really have any concrete idea what that would be like, just that I probably wouldn't be able to take it serious.)
But the only Endless who sort of fits into my idea of goth is Dream, and he's more of a romantic poet goth than one of the vaguely annoying highschool emo goths. (Although Dream is undoubtedly emo.) Dream's a very odd protagonist. He's distant, he never explains himself, he, above all, confirms to his own rules, but we are left to guess what those rules are. (They are, I guess, the rules of stories.) He's cruel, but at the same time just, he's selfish but also extremely obsessed with responsibility, self-important while he believes (if I understood the last chapter of The Wake) that he has no identity of his own, pompous and a big damn drama queen.
To me, Dream reads as Gaiman's idea of the personification of "story", but with the personality of the quintessential story-teller (I'm not sure if Dream is a parodied self-portrait of Gaiman. Do you think so? I mean, they even sort of look alike.) But that doesn't really matter, because Dream is funny. After "The Sound of her Wings," I couldn't help but grin at every time Dream and his drama appeared. That's one of the highest achievements for a piece of fiction, imho, if it makes you feel real affection towards the characters: a little strange, and sometimes annoying but always like a well-loved old friend.
A big part of that achievement is probably because Gaiman pulls all the good tricks: he starts off by torturing his main character, then sends him on a quest to regain his dignity, then shows us his friends and family, his bad decisions and his good decisions, and finally, after some tragedy/poetic justice (Orpheus) sets him up for the big, inevitable fall. (I consider the end of Kindly Ones a fall. Dream as a concept survives, but his current personality dies. You can see that clearly in the reacts - his family, the other concepts, do not mourn, whereas Death tell Hob Gadling that his friend is dead. Or implies it.)
This is how you deal with anti-heroes, I guess! (I'm saying anti-heroes for a reason. If a character is already heroic and admirable or enigmatic or funny, then you don't need to gain sympathy by torturing them. Few enough characters pull that off, though. But look for example at Death. She doesn't need to suffer for us to like her. Same with Destruction. These characters somehow have enough charisma as it is and don't take themselves too seriously.
Superman could be said to be a case in point - he's rather perfect, and that perfection itself is his tragedy, so he needs no suffering. Batman, on the other hand, might seem a self-important violent jackass in a Bat-costume without his childhood trauma. Or consider Harry Potter. He's a nice kid, certainly, but would he have been interesting as a hero if he hadn't suffered with the Dursleys, and if we hadn't watched him regain his identity as a wizard and make friends and family? And that's also why Voldemort's story is so unsatisfying for me: he suffered a lot, he made his own identity, and then he foolishly destroyed it again. SV's Lex is another story yet again: he suffers, we're shown his family and friends, his flaws and virtues, and he as a lot of charisma to boot - but he never gets to fully restore his dignity/identity, instead outside forces keep chipping away at it. There's no poetic justice, just 'sucks to be you in this universe.')
Um, yeah. Talk about tangents. Anyways, Sandman. Aside from Dream, predictably, my favourite Endless are Delirium, Destruction and Death. Desire is a rather flat, if amusing villain. Despair, however... Despair is a bit too much like looking in a mirror (that was not intended!) for me to be comfortable: a pretty spot-on portrayal of depression personified. The scary thing about Despair is that she can't get out of it, because she *is* Despair.
Of the minor characters, Matthew the Raven and Barnabas the Dog are some of the coolest animal sidekicks ever. Hob Gadling, Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are also among my favourites. (Dream's historical costumes are lovely, too!) The second Corinthian was rather too cool not to like. But what is Gaiman's problem with lesbians? Or rather, why are there so many of them in Sandman, but almost none get a happy ending? Particularly the Spider Women's end bugged me.
Also, Sandman made me want to read Hellblazer and Lucifer.
Which are your favourite Sandman characters and storylines? What didn't you like about the series?
And now I go writing my exam. *panicks* ETA: Yay, done!! :D
So maybe squeeing a bit about something nice will calm me down. I finished reading the entire run of Gaiman's "Sandman" comics yesterday, except for the Death extras. After "Watchmen" this was the second comic I read in the department library of our English Department, which clearly rules. (Reading in libraries is something I used to hate, but I love the department library.) Next I'll read Dark Knight Returns, also available there.
The first of Gaiman's books that I really fell in love with was "American Gods". I love "Good Omens", too, but that book feels more like Pratchett than Gaiman. "Neverwhere" and "Stardust" never gripped me quite as much as the rest of his works, and "Anansi Boys" is cool, but not quite as cool as "American Gods". My second favourite might be his short story collections.
But now that I've read Sandman, a lot of his stuff has gained additional depth. Sandman feels a bit like the key to how this author works, his concept of "story" and his recurring themes. Gaiman does best with short stories, and comics, no matter how decompressed, have the same constraints of available space.
"Sandman" is an entirely enjoyable comic, and of the whole run there were perhaps one or two stories that didn't really interest me (the one with the Necropolis in particular bored me.) The art, despite varying wildly, was never bad or wrong for the story. It's funny, when I first noticed the book, the goth look of the Endless threw me off - I've always thought goth a bit over the top, and I expected the stories to be aimed at that sort of audience (of course I didn't really have any concrete idea what that would be like, just that I probably wouldn't be able to take it serious.)
But the only Endless who sort of fits into my idea of goth is Dream, and he's more of a romantic poet goth than one of the vaguely annoying highschool emo goths. (Although Dream is undoubtedly emo.) Dream's a very odd protagonist. He's distant, he never explains himself, he, above all, confirms to his own rules, but we are left to guess what those rules are. (They are, I guess, the rules of stories.) He's cruel, but at the same time just, he's selfish but also extremely obsessed with responsibility, self-important while he believes (if I understood the last chapter of The Wake) that he has no identity of his own, pompous and a big damn drama queen.
To me, Dream reads as Gaiman's idea of the personification of "story", but with the personality of the quintessential story-teller (I'm not sure if Dream is a parodied self-portrait of Gaiman. Do you think so? I mean, they even sort of look alike.) But that doesn't really matter, because Dream is funny. After "The Sound of her Wings," I couldn't help but grin at every time Dream and his drama appeared. That's one of the highest achievements for a piece of fiction, imho, if it makes you feel real affection towards the characters: a little strange, and sometimes annoying but always like a well-loved old friend.
A big part of that achievement is probably because Gaiman pulls all the good tricks: he starts off by torturing his main character, then sends him on a quest to regain his dignity, then shows us his friends and family, his bad decisions and his good decisions, and finally, after some tragedy/poetic justice (Orpheus) sets him up for the big, inevitable fall. (I consider the end of Kindly Ones a fall. Dream as a concept survives, but his current personality dies. You can see that clearly in the reacts - his family, the other concepts, do not mourn, whereas Death tell Hob Gadling that his friend is dead. Or implies it.)
This is how you deal with anti-heroes, I guess! (I'm saying anti-heroes for a reason. If a character is already heroic and admirable or enigmatic or funny, then you don't need to gain sympathy by torturing them. Few enough characters pull that off, though. But look for example at Death. She doesn't need to suffer for us to like her. Same with Destruction. These characters somehow have enough charisma as it is and don't take themselves too seriously.
Superman could be said to be a case in point - he's rather perfect, and that perfection itself is his tragedy, so he needs no suffering. Batman, on the other hand, might seem a self-important violent jackass in a Bat-costume without his childhood trauma. Or consider Harry Potter. He's a nice kid, certainly, but would he have been interesting as a hero if he hadn't suffered with the Dursleys, and if we hadn't watched him regain his identity as a wizard and make friends and family? And that's also why Voldemort's story is so unsatisfying for me: he suffered a lot, he made his own identity, and then he foolishly destroyed it again. SV's Lex is another story yet again: he suffers, we're shown his family and friends, his flaws and virtues, and he as a lot of charisma to boot - but he never gets to fully restore his dignity/identity, instead outside forces keep chipping away at it. There's no poetic justice, just 'sucks to be you in this universe.')
Um, yeah. Talk about tangents. Anyways, Sandman. Aside from Dream, predictably, my favourite Endless are Delirium, Destruction and Death. Desire is a rather flat, if amusing villain. Despair, however... Despair is a bit too much like looking in a mirror (that was not intended!) for me to be comfortable: a pretty spot-on portrayal of depression personified. The scary thing about Despair is that she can't get out of it, because she *is* Despair.
Of the minor characters, Matthew the Raven and Barnabas the Dog are some of the coolest animal sidekicks ever. Hob Gadling, Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are also among my favourites. (Dream's historical costumes are lovely, too!) The second Corinthian was rather too cool not to like. But what is Gaiman's problem with lesbians? Or rather, why are there so many of them in Sandman, but almost none get a happy ending? Particularly the Spider Women's end bugged me.
Also, Sandman made me want to read Hellblazer and Lucifer.
Which are your favourite Sandman characters and storylines? What didn't you like about the series?
And now I go writing my exam. *panicks* ETA: Yay, done!! :D
