Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman

Written by  //  February 4, 2011  //  Media & Popular Culture, Uncategorized  //  4 Comments

The Cover to a Book about Dream

The Cover to a Book about Dream

The word ‘comic’ arises from the term ‘funny books’ or ‘funnies’ used to describe the very first works of its kind in the Pre World War 2 era. In the last 25 odd years many creators, critics and increasingly the fans prefer to use the word ‘graphic novels’ to perhaps give more credence to the diverse and more mature storylines featured in them. This rebranding was not simply a marketing ploy, for these new comic books contained intricate plot, layered characters and a dizzying array of art-styles no longer targeted at an adolescent audience. Comics, the publishers want to say, had finally grown up.

The late 1980s was a period of great excitement in the comics world – bold new work was being done and was getting swallowed whole by an eager and thankful audience. Though there has been great work done in the more typical ‘superhero’ genre, it is in the grittier, left of centre comics that has seen an explosive display of creativity.

Neil Gaiman burst on to this exciting bubbling scene as part of the British Invasion of Comic Book writers in the late-eighties. His first work for DC comics(along with rival Marvel forming the principal duopoly in the industry), a miniseries called ‘Black Orchid’ is a surreal exploration of the psyche of a half-human, half-plant superheroine as she tries to come to terms with her role in a callous and violent world. Masterfully rendered in watercolours by artist Dave McKean the book was a critical and commercial success leading to DC offering Gaiman a job as a writer for their new book The Sandman.

The Sandman is the story of Morpheus, the anthropomorphic personification of Dreams. He is a God as we would understand one, representing one of seven eternal truths of the universe. The other six namely Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium are his siblings and together they are the Endless – a pantheon that stands removed from and above all the other pantheons.

We follow Dream as he escapes from human captivity and deals with ramifications of his past actions across a life going back to the very beginnings of Creation. Gaiman weaves a very dense, very intricate tapestry as he leads us through stories with a supporting cast from Christian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Nordic and even Japanese mythology. He uses the whole breadth of human history as the canvas for Morpheus’s life… and succeeds in creating a world of the highest grandeur, leaving the reader in sufficient awe and wonder. Of note is the fact that Gaiman employs numerous classical and literary allusions, much like Shakespeare. It is highly recommended to keep an eye out for them, and to use Google liberally. Though it may seem like a bit of work, it shall lead to a more enriching experience.

With Morpheus we travel to the Biblical Hell, Victorian England, Ancient Greece and in perhaps the most poignant and touching story of all – to the Baghdad of the Arabian Nights. Each of the worlds and the characters in them are meticulously researched and lovingly portrayed.

We also follow Morpheus on a greater journey as he grows ever more ‘human’. When we first meet him he is cold and distant, and over the course of 75 issues we can see his evolution in the changing nature of his interactions with the large supporting cast.

Though the series often bends genres and is meta-fiction, the plotting is pitch perfect. All the individual episodic stories tie into the larger narrative and all plot threads come together for an ending that is as beautiful as it is inevitable.

The art is distinct, well executed and contains an almost astonishing level of detail. Though it may be intimidating to the new reader – it gets easier to read as the series progresses. The starting issues have a darker look and feel, playing into the more ‘horror’ beginnings of the book. But later it lightens considerably more in keeping with the dark fantasy setting.

Special mention needs be made of the cover art, which has been made painstakingly in mixed media by Dave McKean (one attached to the post). Probably the most celebrated covers in comic books of all time – they are breath taking, poetic and leave you with a sense of unease.

The Sandman was hugely successful, at its peak outselling DC’s flagship Superman titles and bringing a new and unique audience to earlier limited world of comics (over half the readers were women and most were over 20). The series won 16 Eisner awards (the Pulitzers of the Comic Industry) over its 7 year run and figures in every critic’s ‘best of’ lists.

Neil Gaiman went on to be a very successful fantasy / horror writer with multiple bestselling novels including ‘American Gods’ and winning the Hugo, the Nebula among other awards. His illustrated novel ‘Stardust’ has been made into a film. He is also a screenwriter for film and TV. But among all his works The Sandman truly stands alone as a testimony to the sheer scope of his imagination.

The Sandman reaches literary heights that so many other graphic novels only aspire to. Norman Mailer called it a “comic book for intellectuals”. If you were to read only one comic in this lifetime – let this be the one.

4 Comments on "Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman"

  1. Lekha February 4, 2011 at 5:27 pm · Reply

    I don’t know if you’ve been watching the TV series “Dexter”, but I find so many parallels between Morpheus and Dexter Morgan (the protagonist): both of them anti-heroes who are neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’, but just are. Both of them become more and more humanised, and of course, their tumultuous amorous affairs. Of course, Dexter is still a story in progress so we don’t know if his past will catch up with him like it did with Morpheus. His recent acts of benevolence notwithstanding, Morpheus had to pay for his actions in the end.

    • Shreyas February 5, 2011 at 4:28 pm · Reply

      I have seen only the first season so far and love what I saw.
      They are both anti-heroes and wield an amazing amount of power over others in their universe. I think the major difference is that Dexter seems to have a pathological condition resulting from his troubled past – which he vents as per a strong moral code.
      Morpheus’ issue was his enormous ego more than an explicit set of ethics. He was attached to an image of himself which he felt he had to uphold… and strangely it was his letting go of the ego (the filicide) , which directly leads to his downfall.

      Will Dexter’s hubris come to haunt him? Well classical storytelling says it must. And more importantly, what will be the good deed that will truly damn him?

  2. kevin king February 5, 2011 at 1:05 pm · Reply

    Nice blog, thanks for sharing :)

    • Shreyas February 5, 2011 at 4:28 pm · Reply

      :D

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