The Sandman: Overture #6 - A Review

The multiverse is ending! Destiny turns toward the last page of his book as Death provides final moments of comfort to all those that perish. Yet Dream of The Endless - now sailing an impossible ship with a crew of improbable beings - seeks a way to save all that is.


Trying to describe this book seems a folly to me, as I review this, the last issue If you haven't been reading it, nothing I can say is likely to sway you now. And if you have been reading it, you are probably - like me - an avid fan of the creators involved and well aware of how indescribably good this book has been.


No words I write can do justice to the glory of this series. If you have yet to experience the wonder that is The Sandman, speed thee hence to the closest library or bookshop and correct that misfortune at once. Because if you haven't read the original series, nothing I can say about Overture will be of any help to you. Except, perhaps, this.

Neil Gaiman, J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart have crafted the perfect conclusion to The Sandman. As well as the perfect beginning. And if that doesn't make sense to you, believe me when I say that it is a most worthy continuation of the original saga, wherever one places it.

The Sandman: Overture #5 - A Review

The good news is that Dream of the Endless has managed to manipulate himself into being precisely where he wants to be. The bad news is that his estranged mother is ill-inclined to let him go now that he is in her realm. Salvation may be found but it will come from a most unexpected source.


The artwork on this issue is nothing short of phenomenal. I had a hard time picking which pages to offer up as samples because the two-page spreads are so gorgeous I felt guilty breaking them apart.  Praise be to J. H. Williams III and Dave Stewart for a splendid job!



As for the script, there is little I can say that will be a revelation.  Fans of Neil Gaiman's previous work will love it, as I do. And those who haven't read The Sandman are advised to read the original series first, despite this tale being a prequel of sorts.

The Sandman: Overture #4 - A Review

The most interesting aspect of The Sandman: Overture is the paradox of the title. As this story is set immediately before the start of The Sandman, it would seem a fitting name as an overture is "an introduction to something more substantial." But this story is just as substantial as Neil Gaiman's earlier series. And as far as introductions go, readers who have yet to discover The Sandman (presumably there are still some out there somewhere in The Dreaming) would be better served to get to know the original series before introducing themselves to Overture.


As The Sandman: Overture #4 opens, we find Dream of the Endless continuing his journey to save all of reality. Accompanied only by a lost child and another aspect of himself in his guise of the Lord Of The Dreams of Cats, Dream must travel far and further still. He will seek the wisdom of his father and journey to the legendary City of Stars. While this story is interesting as an abstract tale, it will mean far more to those readers well familiar with the story of The Sandman who will know the significance of The City of Stars or why Dream recalls the tale of the first time he had to kill in the line of his duty.


The artwork by J. H. Williams III is as wondrous as one would expect the artwork for any chapter of The Sandman to be. Indeed, I fear I do Williams' contribution to this collaboration a disservice with my choice of scans to share. The best bits of the artwork involve intricate two-page spreads that my scanner could not manage. And a composite image would fail to capture the scale and grandeur of the artwork.  So please believe me when I say that Williams' art matches Gaiman's script in eloquence and splendor.

The Sandman: Overture #3 - A Review

Reviewing The Sandman: Overture is quickly becoming a difficult task.  Not because I have any difficulty articulating my feelings about the book but because it is impossible for me to find good images I may use to showcase the artwork of J.H. Williams III.  Most of the artwork in this volume is spread across two glorious pages and the layout of my blog does not lend itself well towards such dimensions.  Thankfully, there are some pages with an even break between panels, so I can share some of this excellent work with you as I speak on how great it is.


This particular volume offers much that will please long-time fans of the series.  The Three Graces (or Fates or Furies or whichever mask they wear at this moment) make an appearance and a few references are made to other aspects of the series lore.  Perhaps the most exciting of these involves us discovering the origins - or at least one version of the origins - of Dream's sometimes=seen but rarely mentioned lost-love Alianora.


The only reason one might have for not reading this series is having not already read Neil Gaiman's Sandman before now.  If that is the case, you would do well to travel to your closest library or bookstore and make arrangements to get a copy as soon as possible.  Then, once you are all caught up and have ceased thy wailing about how foolish you have been to have lived so much of your life without experiencing such bliss, you can read this series.

The Sandman: Overture #2 - A Review

The Sandman: Overture #2 continues neatly from where the first issue ended some many months ago, with Dream of the Endless finding himself.  Or its selves, since many of them are female or beyond the normal definitions of gender.  Regardless, ill omens have summoned forth these Dreams and it will fall to them to deal with a looming disaster that threatens all reality.


Those who enjoyed Neil Gaiman's previous work on The Sandman will find more of the same here.  Those who have not would do well to either track down a copy of Preludes and Nocturnes to catch-up with the rest of us or have themselves committed to some manner of psychiatric hospital.  I say this because anyone who has read The Sandman and not enjoyed it needs to be committed immediately because they are clearly insane and have no place in polite society.


The same could be said of the artwork of J.H. Williams III.  I was no great fan of the Batwoman book but I cannot deny the beauty of Williams' artwork.  There is a majesty and power to every page of this issue that seems a perfect match for Gaiman's writing style.  The final presentation combined is gorgeous.  Really, the only thing about this book that is bad is the wait-time between issues.

The Sandman: Overture #1 - A Review

Reviewing The Sandman: Overture may well be superfluous on my part.  Doubtlessly there are many lost souls who have yet to be exposed to the wonders of Neil Gaiman's writing in general and The Sandman in particular.  Just as there are certainly - even allowing for certain primitive tribes yet undiscovered by "civilized" man - some unfortunates who have yet to learn the glory of J.H. Williams III's artwork  What are the chances that my words of approval will be the catalyst to change them from heretics to disciples?

Probably next to nothing, but hell - we're already here.


Those who are already familiar with Dream, Lucien, Merv Pumpkinhead, The Corinthian and company will view this book as a homecoming.  Those who are not familiar with the world of The Sandman will find  a warm welcome waiting for them.  The book is easily accessible to new readers, being set - as it is - before the start of the original series.  So if you have yet to read the original Sandman, worry not - this is a good place to jump-in.      


Unsurprisingly, the artwork is stunningly beautiful.  One can barely believe that this is Gaiman and Williams' first collaboration together as they get along like a house on fire.  Colorist Dave Stewart and Letterer Todd Klein - equally responsible for much of the artistic look of the original Sandman - lend their expertise as toward the proceedings as well.  The final result is breath-taking.


Bottom Line: If you are a reader of comics, a lover of art and above all else a dreamer, you should be reading this book.

What Can One Man Do Against The Death Of Hope?

Earlier this week, I wrote a column in response to the recent ruckus regarding  J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman leaving Batwoman.  For those who missed the news, the creative team quit in the wake of DC Comics Editorial declaring that they didn't want Kathy Kane and her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer to get married.  My article was based around the idea that the comics industry in general seems to have acquired a fear of depicting happily married superheroes, with most of the married superheroes at DC Comics having been rendered single by the New 52 revamp and Peter Parker still single because of Joe Quesada's belief that a deal with the devil is less inherently sinful than a divorce.

The digital ink was barely dry when another scandal involving DC Comics emerged later that afternoon.  This time the source of trouble was a contest for amateur artists, vying for a chance to depict Harley Quinn in the #0 issue of her upcoming solo book.  The catch?  All four panels are meant to depict Harley Quinn attempting suicide in a number of comedic ways, with the final panel depicting her naked and in a bathtub.  Some fixated upon the nudity aspect of the contest but most were outraged by the suicide element.  Particularly since next week is National Suicide Prevention Week.

I've been struggling with how to speak about this for the batter part of a day.  More than any character in recent memory, Harley Quinn had always been portrayed as one of the most fun characters in comics.  And try as I might, I can't think of a better metaphor for the state of affairs at DC Comics right now than a suicidal Harley Quinn.

As it turns out, I didn't have to think of a better metaphor.  For I learned today that Hope has literally been erased from the New 52 universe! Metaphors are completely meaningless at this point.  For all better writers and critics than me have spoken about the sense of all hope and joy being removed from the DC Universe in recent months, never did we suspect it would soon be a literal truth.



So the question that has been on my mind for the past few hours has been how - how do we fight this?

Protest?  It's already been made abundantly clear that our opinions as mere fans are completely meaningless to The Powers That Be.  So far the only instance where public outcry made a difference was in getting Gail Simone rehired on to Batgirl and even that may have been due entirely to the threat of decreased orders from the distributor.

Boycott?  In most cases, we're already not buying the offending books.  Those offended by Tony Daniel's dismissal of a female fan's concerns over a romance-based Superman/Wonder Woman book that was likened to Twilight by reassuring her there would be just as many butt shots of Superman as of Wonder Woman can't effectively boycott the title without The Powers That Be using that as justification for the belief that all their fans are 45 year old men and that women don't read comic books.

Jessica Mills touched upon another challenge before us quite eloquently in her recent column - DC Comics and Institutionalized Sexism – Purchasing Power is Not Power.  She touches upon the aforementioned  problems with boycotts while pointing out another problem.  Namely that boycotting an entire company does little to strike against the management and only hurts the artists and writers whose work we are enjoying.

"Telling people not to buy DC Comics as a way to change things at DC Comics is short sighted and dismissive.  Not buying those comics means readers have to, not only give up on beloved characters, but pull their support of talented and dedicated writers, artists, and others"

 "I like reading comics.  I love Gail Simone’s work.  I love Greg Rucka’s work.  I’m not going to stop supporting THEM because the DC leadership refuses to acknowledge the terrible decision-making that continually alienates a large portion of their client-base."

I'm in a similar fix.  Any pledge not to buy any more Batwoman comics is meaningless since I was reading the series as the collected editions became available at my local library.  Refusing to buy the upcoming Harley Quinn book would send a message against Amanda Conner - an artist whom I have been dying to see on a monthly series again for some time now.  And boycotting the company as a whole will only hurt Jeff Lemire and Gail Simone and all the other creators whose work I am enjoying.

I already know from experience that boycotts don't work.  I boycotted all things Marvel Comics for a goodly while over One More Day, wrote some rather good articles about why the storyline was a bad idea and it did nothing.  Eventually I focused my personal boycott on all things Spider-Man, purely so I could justify seeing The Avengers and supporting Joss Whedon (Browcoats Forever!).

So what can I do?  What can one man do?



And then it hit me.  We fight them the same way we do a bully.  We treat them as we would any disruptive child who makes a mess just to get attention.  We ignore them. 

Marvel Comics editor and One More Day apologist Tom Brevoort let the secret slip - that they see even bad publicity as good publicity and bad attention is still attention.  That they fear apathetic fans far more than angry fans because angry fans are still buying the comics.

So this is where I will start.

As a fan, I'm not going to pick up any more books out of habit in the hope that they're building toward something big.  If they can't do something to keep me entertained for one issue, it's not worth my time.

As a critic, I'm not going to bother writing reviews for long-running series or crossover events just to keep people informed as to what is going on.  If the book isn't worth reading most of the year, why should I care about it for the three months it's involved with the books I do care about?    

No more angry rants drawing curiosity .  No more hash-tagged Tweets giving you free publicity.  And no more second chances.  I'm that sort of a man.

Thursday Night Comic Con News Round-Up - Part One

* Neil Gaiman will be writing a six-issue mini-series bringing Sandman into the modern DCU. (Vertigo Panel) * Neil Gaiman also signed off on Tim Hunter, from his Books of Magic series, becoming part of the cast of Justice League Dark. (Bleeding Cool) * Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE will be crossing over with Animal Man and Swamp Thing in the upcoming 'Rotworld' storyline. "Frank" also be joining the Justice League Dark cast for a while, as will Amethyst from the upcoming Sword and Sorcery fantasy anthology book. (DC Dark & Edge Panel) * All Star Western #13 will offer an origin story for Jonah Hex. It will also involve him shooting a lot of clowns. (DC Dark & Edge Panel) * There are plans to bring back Rene Montoya into the New 52 universe, but NOT as The Question. Apparently, we've already seen "him" somewhere in the New 52 already... (DC Dark & Edge Panel)

Batwoman #1 - A Review

This is one of the few New 52 titles I was able to go into completely clean. You see, I’ve inadvertently avoided Batwoman since her introduction a few years ago. This was partly due to a general lack of interest in what was going on in the Bat-Books at the time and partly due to my skepticism that the character was a simple publicity stunt vis-à-vis her status as a lesbian and all the hoopla around the introduction of the character.

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: this is a gorgeous comic. The artwork by J.H. Williams III is astonishing, not only because of its’ quality but because of the layouts that spread across two pages to great effect. Portions of the art look as if they were done in watercolors and it is amazing. I don’t know if the credit for this effect goes to colorist Dave Stewart or not but every page of this comic looks like it should be hanging on a wall somewhere. Indeed, I have only two complaints about the art. First, that there are several gratuitous scenes of our heroine and her sidekick changing into and out of their costumes and second, that our heroine is continually colored like an albino or a vampire, even in her secret identity! Is this a stylistic choice or does Kate have some medical condition we new readers should be aware of?

This brings up my main problem with the issue: there’s far too much going on and if it’s disorienting for me, I can only imagine how confusing this must be for new readers. We do learn a little bit about Kate Kane the woman, as she asks out a police detective named Maggie Sawyer, who is also investigating The Batwoman and a series of kidnappings caused by a spectral creature dubbed The Weeping Woman. But then there’s also the introduction of Batwoman’s new sidekick – Kate’s cousin Bette, who was once a superhero called Flamebird and apparently something of an embarrassment. Then there’s the subplot with the return of Kate’s estranged father, who apparently trained her to become a superhero. Finally – and I may be one of the few who recognized, remembered or cared about this character – there’s a subplot with Agent Cameron Chase of the D.E.O. who is sent by her director Mr. Bones (who is not identified in the art or text) to capture Batgirl in a scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the comic. If it weren’t for my own love of the old Chase series, I’d have no idea who the talking Skeleton is or just what a big deal his showing up is.

Sadly, even the promise of more Cameron Chase isn’t enough to keep me reading this beautiful but tangled mess of a book. As I said before, the artwork is some of the best we’ve seen so far in the revamp. But I fail to see how new readers can possibly get into this book and have any clue what is going on beyond the kidnapping plot. As it is, I’d much rather see a book centering upon Flamebird or Cameron Chase than I would read any more about Batwoman.