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A review by unladylike
The Absolute Sandman, Volume Four by Michael Zullli, D'Israeli, Daniel Vozzo, Marc Hempel, Charles Voss, Neil Gaiman, Teddy Kristiansen, Jon J. Muth, Todd Klein, Dave McKean, Glyn Dillion, Dean Ormston, Richard Case, Kevin Nowlan
5.0
So I've finally been able to read the entire Sandman canon.
I rejoiced when the copy arrived on my reservation shelf at the public library only a month after being published. It was a year and a half ago that I realised what a beautiful and creative source of wisdom and inspiration a comic book could be. Wisdom that surpassed the majority of the texts and dialogues I witnessed in every ethics class of my philosophy curriculum. Stories and characters that inspire much more potential Halloween costumes or, gods forbid, a line of McFarlane action figures. That period of revelation came through reading [book: Absolute Sandman Vol. 1].
All that praise for Gaiman's writing to say this: One fifth of the way through this book and I am reminded by Glee and Insight on every page why I now devote so much time reading the great comic books.
When I turned to the table of contents I found that the majority of the 473 pages of stories was to be taken up by one enormous 13 part arc. That tip-off has helped me note a few delightful self-referential details:
The opening panel of Chapter 2 of the arc titled "The Kindly Ones" begins with the words "Well? How long is it going to take?" I imagine these words being spoken by Sandman editor Karen Berger.
Chapter 3 opens with a brilliantly silver literal and metaphorical yarn being pulled across the first three panels. The opening word bubble, sounding more like Neil Gaiman than the as-yet-unrevealed character speaking from off-page? "I think it's going to be bigger than I had planned." Hi-lar-ious.
Skipping a beat and picking the theme right back up at Chapter 5, we see the silhouettes of two veiled women in long gowns (two of the three Gorgons of Greek mythology). A spider dangles deliberately from its "web" across panel 1. Woman on the left says in an eerie monotone (as I imagine it), "It's happening. Very slowly. But it's happening." Woman on the right adds, "It always takes longer than you think, doesn't it?"
Obviously Gaiman has fun poking at the many-layered knot he has tied, daring us to foresee any possible way to untangle it all, this stack of sticky subplot on top of subplot, each doing a fantastic job of maintaining interest and advancing the overall story. Oh, how I've mixed my metaphors. Neil have mercy!
I rejoiced when the copy arrived on my reservation shelf at the public library only a month after being published. It was a year and a half ago that I realised what a beautiful and creative source of wisdom and inspiration a comic book could be. Wisdom that surpassed the majority of the texts and dialogues I witnessed in every ethics class of my philosophy curriculum. Stories and characters that inspire much more potential Halloween costumes or, gods forbid, a line of McFarlane action figures. That period of revelation came through reading [book: Absolute Sandman Vol. 1].
All that praise for Gaiman's writing to say this: One fifth of the way through this book and I am reminded by Glee and Insight on every page why I now devote so much time reading the great comic books.
When I turned to the table of contents I found that the majority of the 473 pages of stories was to be taken up by one enormous 13 part arc. That tip-off has helped me note a few delightful self-referential details:
The opening panel of Chapter 2 of the arc titled "The Kindly Ones" begins with the words "Well? How long is it going to take?" I imagine these words being spoken by Sandman editor Karen Berger.
Chapter 3 opens with a brilliantly silver literal and metaphorical yarn being pulled across the first three panels. The opening word bubble, sounding more like Neil Gaiman than the as-yet-unrevealed character speaking from off-page? "I think it's going to be bigger than I had planned." Hi-lar-ious.
Skipping a beat and picking the theme right back up at Chapter 5, we see the silhouettes of two veiled women in long gowns (two of the three Gorgons of Greek mythology). A spider dangles deliberately from its "web" across panel 1. Woman on the left says in an eerie monotone (as I imagine it), "It's happening. Very slowly. But it's happening." Woman on the right adds, "It always takes longer than you think, doesn't it?"
Obviously Gaiman has fun poking at the many-layered knot he has tied, daring us to foresee any possible way to untangle it all, this stack of sticky subplot on top of subplot, each doing a fantastic job of maintaining interest and advancing the overall story. Oh, how I've mixed my metaphors. Neil have mercy!