On the note of Shakespeare, I am still amused how there's a scene in Macbeth that's basically Shakespeare swearing out his actors for deviating from his script.
I think I'd get more out of Issue #19 if I actually read A Midsummer's Night Dream.
Part of me kinda wonders why this was the issue that won the World Fantasy Award when either of the prior two issues in this volume are more deserving to me, though.
Oh, I see that it's a bit more complicated that this.
I'm actually okay with Element Girl's fate here since it's presumably in her future, and it fits in perfectly with the message at the beginning of issue #6.
Also, personally speaking, unpleasant things are easier to handle when Death is around.
Despite my slight misgivings with issue #19, it was pretty great on the whole, and confirms to me that Gaiman should've done more of these standalone stories.
Also factoid: Destiny is the only one of the Endless not created by Gaiman, like Cain and Abel, he was a horror comic anthology host. That's why he shows up more often than the other Endless in other DC comics.
Yeah, Wanda's portrayal so far has been fine. That line just gave me pause, but then again, I suppose I can understand why someone like Thessaly would be so blunt when explaining why she can't menstruate.
Interesting to hear about Destiny. I also know that Death's turned up in some DC comics, and also in Matt Wagner's Madame Xanadu, which I really have to read sometime.
Interesting that it's "Weirdzo" instead of "Bizarro".
Did DC not allow Gaiman to use Bizarro or something?
Apparently, they didn't:
"I once dreamed I was making out with Weirdzo Lila Lake. ... The Weirdzos, from the old Hyperman comics. They lived on this square planet somewhere in outer space, and they did everything backwards. "Us do opposite of Earth things in Weirdzo World." They had these white faces, like they were made of crystal or something, and, like, they were all Hyperman or his friends. And all the women were Lila Lake. They had this Weirdzo Code..." (32.16.8-13.17.1). To a long-time DC reader, these "Weirdzos" are instantly recognizable as "Bizarros" from the pages of various Superman comics, accurate in every detail but their names. The original Bizarro was created in 1958. The character grew popular, and featured in more stories, gradually accumulating its own sub-mythology over the 1960s. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Bizarro was far less developed, and was generally used as a source of pathos, rather than humor. Gaiman wants to engage with metaphors from old DC comics as comics, as cultural artifacts that Wanda read in her childhood. In 1991, this kind of playful interaction of fictions looping back on themselves would have been welcomed in a postmodern prose novel. In the corporate world of DC comics, it was considered a step too far. Having a Superman comic book appear within a DC Universe book would be a fundamental violation of continuity. By editorial decree, Gaiman's references to "Superman" and "Bizarro" in the script had to be changed to the fictional-within-the-fiction "Hyperman" and "Weirdzo" (The Sandman Companion, p.125). Interestingly, the original publication of #32 still used the word "Bizarro" on page 17, panel 8. This oversight was corrected in subsequent reprints.
Comments
Issue #18 stars a cat.
I'm actually okay with Element Girl's fate here since it's presumably in her future, and it fits in perfectly with the message at the beginning of issue #6.
Also, personally speaking, unpleasant things are easier to handle when Death is around.
Maybe I'll seek it out at some point.
Despite my slight misgivings with issue #19, it was pretty great on the whole, and confirms to me that Gaiman should've done more of these standalone stories.
This one goes back to the story, which I'm not entirely sure about, seeing how much I liked the standalone issues in the third volume.
"Why sweet Morpheus, are you scared of me?
"Yes."
Okay, this made me laugh.
I wonder where the volume is going to go from here.
I do admit I like the way that Sandman!Odin and Loki look, though.
Disregard my prior comment about "pocketbook fantasy".
This is quite interesting after all.
Basically, the mention of Asgard kinda worried me before I realized they weren't going to be central to the plot.
I have to sleep now, but I'm eager to see how Dream handles them all when I can get back to the volume.
I'm actually starting to get really interested in the story now.
I wonder if the kids from issue #25 ever come back.
I'm not sure how to feel about that.
Did DC not allow Gaiman to use Bizarro or something?
I'm not sure I like where this is going...
Interesting to hear about Destiny. I also know that Death's turned up in some DC comics, and also in Matt Wagner's Madame Xanadu, which I really have to read sometime.
Good song to reference, too:
Yeah, Wanda's portrayal was pretty perfect and I do honestly wonder why people have issues with it now.
Still, I like how that story was told like an actual old man would tell a story.