From: morrow@fnalo.fnal.gov (Inherit the Elmo)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.info
Subject: SANDMAN: Annotation 34 repost again
Summary: pratt's a pratt
Keywords: sandman annotation
Date: 29 Sep 92 23:43:39 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics.misc
Organization: Stephen Jay Gould Fan Club
X-Posted-From: fnalo.fnal.gov


	Damn!  This is my third time to try and post this particular
annotation...
	[Still] not much in this one, except dissing George Pratt....

                         The Annotated Sandman
    
               Edited and largely written by Greg Morrow
      
                     Issue 34:  "3 Bad Moon Rising"
       Neil Gaiman, Colleen Doran, George Pratt and Dick Giordano

                Third part of storyline _A Game of You_
                  Not yet reprinted in any other form

Disclaimer:  Sandman and all related characters are copyrights and trademarks
of DC Comics Inc.  Sandman and this annotation are intended for mature
audiences only.

Notice:  Commentaries and additional information should go to
morrow@physics.rice.edu (Internet) or morrow@fnal.BITNET.  This material is
posted by the editor directly to rec.arts.comics and COMICS-L, and is licensed
to appear on Compu$erve and GEnie.  It is also available via anonymous ftp
from theory.lcs.mit.edu in pub/wald/sandman.  Please contact the editor if you 
see this material on any other forum.  Reproduction in any form without 
permission of the editor (as agent for the contributors) is forbidden.

Title:  _A Game of You_ clearly refers to the question of identity.  Who and
what the characters in this story are is a question either to the readers or to
the character him, her, or itself, and that is the most important theme the
reader should keep in mind when reading this story.
	"Bad Moon Rising" is a song by Credence Clearwater Revival; the
relevant line in the song is "I see a bad moon rising".  It is remotely
possible that the "3" in the title of this issue is supposed to be a stylized
"A" (But compare to the "A" in "BAD").  "3" can also make sense considering 
the maiden-mother-crone motif in this issue.

Credits:  Yes, the art looks really bad.  It's George Pratt's fault.  According
to hearsay, Pratt inked Doran's pencils in two days, so he could leave for
vacation.  Doran has threatened to "break Pratt's fingers" if he ever comes
near her art again, and now has an "inker approval" clause in her contracts
with DC.  Giordano probably went back and re-inked some of the figures; IMHO,
his touch can be seen in most of the close-ups of Thessaly.

Page 1 panel 2:  The birds, which were causing or feeding off of the bad dreams
of the house's occupants, disappear, quite probably at the exact same time that
George was killed (last issue, last scene).

Page 2 panel 5:  Note the poster of the angelic figure.

Page 4, panel 6:  Thessaly has no sense of humor; this will be elaborated on
later.  Note that Wanda lives in apartment 2, which is probably a numerological
reference to her dual nature (explained later).

Page 5 panel 5:  This is one of the few places that Doran's style survived the
inking; Wanda's hair in particular, as well as her stance, screams "Doran".
Note that Barbie lives in apartment 1; fitting, since she is the primary
character and the center around whom this arc revolves.

Page 6 panel 2:  The Porpentine has changed shape again.

Page 7 panel 6:  Shortcomings: a pun.

Page 10 panel 4, 6-8:  Another obviously Doran sequence.  Keep in mind that
Gaiman usually writes in full script; this is a good example of Gaiman's
technical skill and flexibility, to write to a particular artist's style.

Page 11 panel 3:  This is probably the same utility knife George used earlier.

Page 12-13:  Supposedly, Thessaly's flaying of George's face is taken directly
from the practices of Greek witches.  It is extremely significant that Mount
Thessaly in Greece was a center of activity of these witches.

Page 14 panel 3:  High Shore of the Silent River:  No refs.  In Greek
mythology, the River Styx was one of the boundaries between the land of the
living and the land of the dead.  Other mythological rivers include Acheron,
Cocytus, Phlegethon (the River of Fire) and Lethe (the River of Forgetfulness).

Page 15 panel 1:  Gwas-y-gog:  George's real name.  No refs.
	Panel 5:  It is a cliche that you pinch yourself to shock yourself out
of a dream.

Page 16 panel 9:  Is Thessaly referring to Dream's ruby, or to another,
similar, stone brought forth from dreams?  Most likely the former.

Page 17 panel 6:  Even assuming that all four women are capable of
menstruation, and assuming that Hazel and Foxglove aren't in sync, it's only
about 50% probable that any one of them would be menstruating at any given
time (based on a period lasting five days in 30, which is a simplification).
Given that Hazel and Fox are in sync, and Thessaly and Wanda are incapable,
it's really only about a 1 in 6 chance that menstrual blood would be available.
This is perhaps the first time that Gaiman has had a story point depend purely
on luck.
	Thessaly, it is hinted, is very old.  Since ovulation is a lynchpin in
the menstrual cycle, and since the supply of eggs in the human female is finite
and in the hundreds or thousands, it is no surprise that Thessaly has stopped
menstruating, even though she retains apparent youth.  She's simply run out of
eggs.
	Panel 9:  We have seen no other evidence that Dream bears some sort of
prejudice against lesbians or witches.  Dream generally spares little time for
any mortals.

Page 18 panel 3:  Thessaly, Hazel, and Foxglove together make up a maiden,
mother, crone triune; this summons the power of the Triple Goddess.
	Panel 4:  Gorgo:  No refs.  Mormo:  A Greek female monster, similar to
the Lamia.  Ereschigal:  Ereshkigal, also known as Allatu, is the name of the 
chief Babylonian goddess of the underworld, sister of Ishtar, and who shares 
the throne of the underworld Irkalla with Nergal.

Page 19 panel 1:  Note the three faces.

Page 21 panel 1:  The bag lady says "Moon's gone weirdzo/Look at the son of a
bitch."  Weirdzo is a reference to the Bizarros, mentioned earlier.

Page 22 panel 4:  Lunatic, meaning madman, originally arose from the belief
that the full moon influenced madness.  Its use here is overtly ironic.

Page 23 panel 1-3:  The baglady, possibly mad, recognizes what happened to the
moon.  Is it a consequence of her madness, or is it simply as she says in panel
3, that no one bothers to look at the sky any more?
	Panel 6:  Rabbit hole:  a reference to Lewis Carroll's _Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland_, where the heroine falls down a rabbit hole into a
strange other world.  Stephen King:  An extremely popular American writer of
horror stories.
	Panel 7:  Wanda is playing "the game of you".

Page 24 panel 2:  Margaret Hamilton:  Played the Wicked Witch of the West in
the movie version of _The Wizard of Oz_.
	Panel 5-6:  George should be enjoined from speaking except with
Thessaly's permission; see page 16 panel 1.  This is handwaved away in the next
issue.

Revision history:
Version 1.0 Released 1 Aug 92
Version 1.1 Released 27 Sept 92

Contributors include:
	Jim W Lai <jwtlai@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca> points out the correlation
between George's death and the disappearance of the birds; Thessaly's sense of
humor and the significance of apartment numbers; mythical rivers; Dream's
attitude toward mortals; Mormo's meaning; and the connection between the mad
and the moon.
-- 
"My obstetrician was so dumb that when I gave birth he forgot to cut the cord. 
For a year that kid followed me everywhere.  It was like having a dog on a     
leash."--Joan Rivers                                                           
  
elmo (morrow@physics.rice.edu,morrow@fnal.fnal.gov)



--
-Hades (Brian V. Hughes) 
   "You know Television has gone to hell when, with every commercial,
	 you find yourself hoping to see the Energizer Bunny."
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