From: scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons)
Subject: Good Week Reviews, 8/22/92: THE SANDMAN 42/Brief Lives 2
Organization: Inland Sea
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 01:48:17 GMT


Good Week Reviews is an irregular series, published whenever
spare time and a good batch of comics happen to converge.  This
week, praise Ghu, is one of those weeks.

Rating scale: excellent, good, acceptable, poor, awful

Comparisons: Zingermans beats the crap out of McDonalds

Editorial Comment: I *hate* when the all the followups to a review of
eight different books all get lumped under the Subject of the review
title.  Eight different threads under one subject.  Feh.  Each Good
Week Review is posted separately with the issue in the Subject line.

The Sandman #42/Brief Lives, Part 2 (and 1)
Writing: Neil Gaiman
Art: Jill Thompson and Vince Locke, colors by Danny Vozzo
Ratings: Writing excellent, art good, overall excellent.

A few weeks ago the "Season of the Mists" collection came out, and two
wonderful experiences should come of it.  The first was to finally
*read* the damned sequence (started buying The Sandman part way thru
it).  The second will be when the other TPBs are returned and I can sit
down and read the thing straight thru.

Neatly straddling the collection were parts 1 and 2 of the latest arc,
"Brief Lives."  All in all, it makes for an interesting view of the
Endless family.

"Brief Lives 2" is practically a drawing room drama.  Most of the issue
consists of conversations between various characters with very little
motion.  And I don't mean action, I mean *motion*.  In the first six
pages we have several characters take short walks across rooms or
balconies.  Nonetheless, a great deal occurs.  A new minor character,
Mervyn, is introduced (he looks vaguely familiar -- can anyone place
him?).  Nuala is becoming more and more present in the Dreaming.  Most
interesting is Lucien.  It's becoming clear that he's not simply "the
butler" (or librarian), but the real head of the household after
Morphius.  His comment and facial expression when he offers a
suggestion to Mervyn is most telling.  Without the power of dreams,
he's still the one who holds The Dreaming together.

It's unfortunate that the art, tho good, isn't quite up to the same
level.  The artists do a good job with face and figure, but a poor one
with proportion and consistency.  If you go from scene to scene, Lucien
appears to be various heights and weights.  Still, little gems like
Nuala looking thru the rainswept window and the last scenes with the
chocolate people more than make up for it.

Gaiman is still giving us teaspoonfuls of the family history.  Delirium
makes it clear that she and Dream have not gotten along well in the
past.  Desire swears three oaths of honesty, none of which ring a bell
and none of which ring of truth.  Delirium remembers Delight and when
things began to change.  All in all a fascinating issue, and I can't
wait to see where Gaiman is going with it.  Rumor says it's written
thru part nine and still counting . . . whew.

One thing I've noticed in getting this huge dose of The Sandman is how
much the stories have to do with his failed love affairs.  "Season of
the Mists" keyed on Nada.  "A Game Of You" keyed on the Land, which is
somehow associated with Eleanora.  "Brief Lives" is kicked off by the
end of a love affair.  "Orpheus" and "Calliope" key on Calliope.  Many
of the other stories (eg, Convergence 1) have to do with love as well.

Fearless prediction follows:

I don't think Delirium is going to make it to the end of The Sandman,
and I have some doubts about Desire and Despair as well.  It's clear
that Delirium is continuing to go downhill, and she states she's
getting to the end of her rope.  Desire seems well over the line of
want and into Lust.  Despair seems to be having attacks of conscience
and regret.  The family may well be endless, but it's clear that from
time to time one personification passes and another emerges.  I can
envision a scenario where the youngest four swap places -- Desire
becomes Destruction, Destruction becomes Despair, Despair becomes
Delight, and Delirium becomes Desire.  Of course, there's a lot Gaiman
has yet to reveal and I could end up way out in left field.  We'll see.
-- 
 "Voodoun is a very interesting religion for the whole family, even those
  members of it who are dead."
		-- "Good Omens", by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett