Tradio #52 - The Sandman: The Kindly Ones

Hello again!  This week on Tradio I get my wish with a very long intricate read in The Sandman: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman with art by a bunch of artists who I have no clue who did what and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

Hippolyta Hall.  A character steeped in DC history doesn't seem like a likely cornerstone of a story that stayed on the periphery of the DC universe proper, but she is...or rather, her son Daniel is.  A character we had seen (and not realized it) many issues ago in one of the one and done issues of The Sandman.  In these issues, we see a mother trying to find her son and then wanting revenge, we see the Furies set loose upon the Dreaming, we see friends come and go, and we ultimately see the fate of Dream himself.  The tale is long, but it needs to be to tie up all the threads that has been started from the beginning of The Sandman.  I don't want to say too much since there is so much surprise and discovery to be had here, but if you aren't moved by this story, you haven't been paying attention.  By far, the best of the series, but only because so much has been so good before it.

Ok...before I go into anything else, I would love to know which of the artists did what in this trade.  There is a list of eight different artists on the front cover with no indication of who did what.  I hate that.  Most of the art was done by someone in particular and I liked it, but there is nothing so say who did what.  Yes, the story is very important and Gaiman should get lots and lots of praise for what all is done in this trade, but without the art, it isn't a comic book and there should be some indication of who did what.  It bothers me a lot...but I digress.  The Kindly Ones is good.  REALLY good.  So much of the ground work from stories before has been laid for what happens in these thirteen issues and many mysteries are revealed over the course of this story.  It is sad and triumphant and it reached an end that was laid out really as far back as issue one.  Old friends return and new "friends" are made and we get to see just what Dream is made of.  I finished it with a heavy, yet curious heart and am excited to see what is to come with The Wake.

Tradio #51 - The Sandman: Worlds' End

We are over the hump here at Tradio with the Summer of Sandman. This week, we look at volume seven The Sandman: World's End by Neil Gaiman with art by a BUNCH of artists including Mike Allred, Tony Harris, Bryan Talbot, and Micheal Zulli and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

World's End starts with yet another road trip.  But this time, not one for the Endless, but one for some regular folks who just happen to come into a blizzard in the middle of June.  The unseasonable weather only makes a difficult night's journey that much harder and the occupants of the car are quickly ran off the road by an unidentifiable creature and they have to take refuge at the World's End Inn.  What follows are tales from various other travelers from different times and time lines stuck at the inn as they waste away the hours and wait for the storm to pass.  As with most of the collections like this that we have seen before, Dream figures into each story in one way or another and we meet a few people who may have more history with Dream and his extended cast of characters in one way or another.  Eventually we see a sequence that seems to foreshadow things to come as we see a death march that includes Most of the Endless family, but not all.

There are a lot of strong things about this collection, but we get more tales that, while good, really don't deal with the Endless family directly.  The series has really fallen into a pattern of a several issue arc dealing with Dream and then a series of one and done filler issues.  Each of the six different issues presents art from a different artist with the framing sequences all by the same artist which helps to make the overall package that much more coherent than we have seen before.  But, ultimately, it slows a lot of things down and I really wish we had more focus on Dream and his family.  Also, the stories within stories within stories is kind of annoying in the middle of things.  Overall, not bad by any means, but I wanted more of the central story...which is looks like may be on the way.  See you next week for The Kindly Ones.

Tradio #50 - The Sandman: Brief Lives

Howdy all!  This week on Tradio we take a look at an oddity for The Sandman series.  We look at The Sandman: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman with art entirely by Jill Thompson and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC comics.

Brief Lives is, I think, the first volume of The Sandman series where the art done entirely by one person, Jill Thompson.  What we get is a story that is the classic road trip tale but with the typical Sandman twists.  Delirium misses her missing brother Destruction.  Destruction left the endless three hundred years ago with instructions for his family to leave him be and not follow him.  After asking her sister Despair and brother/sister Desire for help, she ended up asking for help from a recently jilted Dream who is in the depths of depression.  Wacky adventures ensue as Delirium and Dream hit the road to talk with people who may know where Destruction is and we see just how much Dream cares for his siblings.  The story full of highs and lows, we get to see just what is at the heart of Dream and he ultimately has to make a great sacrifice in order to give his sister what she wants.  It seems like we get to see a major turning point for Dream and it will be interesting to see where it all leads.
Brief Lives is great arc of story telling and the use of one artist for the entire run really helps to lead to a cohesiveness that the series as a whole has lacked.  The cast of characters is varied and rich and Thompson really adds a distinct personality to each one.  The story itself seems to have a lot of weight and I really think it is a big event in Dream's tale that will have major repercussions as the series goes forward.  Highly recommended and one of my favorite stories overall. See you next week with World's End.

Tradio #49 - The Sandman: Fables & Reflections

Welcome back The Summer of Sandman here at Tradio!  This week, we hit the half way point with The Sandman: Fables & Reflections by Neil Gaiman and art by a huge cast of artists including Kent Williams, Shawn McManus, Bryan Talbot, Jill Thompson, and P. Craig Russell and published under Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

Fables & Reflections is another collection of one and done stories that unlike the past collection like this, is full of great stories.  We get to see more insight into Dream's family and get to meet his son and learn what all he gone through for being part of the Endless family.  Each story uses a different artist to differentiate it from the next and we finally get to meet the wayward Endless brother, Destruction.  The final story, illustrated by P. Craig Russell is a tale of a king with everything who makes a request of Dream where the consequences may not be what he exactly bargained for.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories.  The art has it's ups and downs but the work by both Shawn McManus and P. Craig Russell are very much my favorite.  Overall, the Russell story is the most imaginative of the lot, though each one has it's own merits.  What we learn of Dream's son is awesome and sad at the same time and really helps add depth to character of Morpheus.  A great collection and a great midpoint for the series as a whole.