Tradio #48 - The Sandman: A Game Of You

Happy Summer everyone!  This week on Tradio we are continuing the Summer of Sandman with The Sandman: A Game of You as written by Neil Gaiman with art by Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, and Brian Talbot and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

A Game of You focuses on a group of people living in a small apartment building in New York City.  Pretty standard stuff on the surface.  A pretty, young thing from the country, her best friend pre-op transsexual, a lesbian couple, a awkward, bookish lady, and an odd older man all living in a building and going about their separate lives.  Or so it would seem.  As it turns out, they are all interconnected and the young thing from the country is actually Barbie that we met in The Doll's House and one of the lesbians is actually an old girlfriend of a character that died in the initial Sandman story arc.  What do they have in common?  Not a lot, save being thrown into a situation that will end up killing a couple of them and exploring the dream world of Barbie and how she must defeat the Cuckoo.  Black magic, murder, talking animals, a homeless lady who hates dogs, and a hurricane all make for a story that whips around on itself and really plays with the ideas of dreams and their origins.

...or maybe that was what it meant.  Honestly, I am not sure what all happened toward the end of the story.  Barbie was in a dream land that wasn't her own and there was a jewel and a rune and a forgotten childhood.  I don't know.  There was so much good in the story, that final arc of the action really left me wanting.  Maybe I need to reread it, but I don't think I should need to, honestly.  There were a lot of good ideas there, they just never really seemed to gel like they should have.  The very end did tie up some loose ends in a way, but there were a couple inconsistencies even in that.  I totally understand that no writer is perfect, but I don't know, it was kind of a let down in a way considering how good Dream Country was.  It was still good, just not my favorite so far.  That said, the art that was done by Shawn McManus is pretty incredible and he ranks up there with Kelley Jones in a lot of ways in my book.  Anyway, it is a good read, I just hope you understand it a little better than I did.  So, see you in a week for Fables and Reflections.

Tradio #47 - The Sandman: Season of Mists

This week we march on through the Summer of Sandman with The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman with art by Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, and Matt Wagner and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

With this arc of The Sandman, we get a bigger sense that Gaiman has a lot in store for all the characters that he has introduced up to this point.  References and allusions in the past come to the fore as we see a lot of characters make a return and several characters that have been mentioned before giving their grand entrance.  The story begins with a meeting of the Endless family...well the ones that want to be known and they are told by their brother Destiny about an event that will profoundly change them.  This ends up being Dream needing to rescue Nada from Hell, where he condemned her to remain for spurning his affections many, many years ago.  In order to rescue her, he has to confront Lucifer who is his sworn enemy after an earlier story in the series.  What follows are some twists and turns as Lucifer doesn't quite put up the fight that Dream expected and we see Dream is given a gift that is much more of a curse than a blessing.  Eventually, we get to see Dream do that right thing, but not everyone is happy about the outcome.

Overall, Season of Mists is really good.  The way that Gaiman describes each of the Endless and gives a real sense to what each one of them represents is very informative.  The only downside to all the information is the way that it is given; in short prose pieces, where as some sort of illustrated story for each would have been a little more enjoyable.  These are comic books after all.  In the interest of getting to the meat of the story, I understand the decision he made, but it still would have been nice.  And speaking of art, I have to say that so far, Kelley Jones is my favorite Sandman artist.  This may change as the series moves along, but I love his sense of detail and how he adds so much character to everyone who is included.  Anyway, this is a great collection and though the way the cover dress may suggest reading any of the trades in any order, this group definitely benefits from the stories before them.  Keep that in mind.  Talk to you next week with A Game Of You.

Tradio #46 - The Sandman: Dream Country

Hi again!  Summer is in full swing and I hope everyone is having a great and safe time.  Week 3 of the Summer of Sandman brings The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman with art by Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and Malcolm Jones III and published under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. 

Dream Country is a rather slight volume of four different one and done stories where Dream appears very little.  We are given a tale of a one hit wonder of a writer who finally finds his muse and is eventually driven mad by her, a story involving cats which is probably closer to truth than it is to fiction, a tale of young William Shakespeare putting on the performance of a lifetime in front of the most unique audience you can have, and the story of a young woman who is driven insane by her super powers.  Each story is illustrated by a different artist to reflect the tone of the story and each adds their own spin on the world of the Endless.  The volume also includes a script from one of the stories to walk us through what happens from the written word to the illustrated page.

Overall, I liked the volume, but it's length is disappointing.  Only containing four comics worth of work, it is short...no other way to put it.  The addition of the script is nice, but I am honestly not one to read scripts for comics.  I like to think that what we buy springs fully formed from the heads of the writers and artists and am a firm believer that sometimes it is better to not see what was left on the cutting room floor, so to speak.  Anyway, the stories are very good, with Calliope and Facade being my favorites.  The story A Midsummer Night's Dream is included in this volume and is an award winning story, but I honestly wasn't a fan.  It was OK, but I have a feeling that it probably would have meant more to me if  I had spent more time paying attention in my English Lit class in high school.  I got bored with it.  Anyway, happy reading everyone and see you next week for Seasons of Mist.

Tradio #45 - The Sandman: The Doll's House

Welcome to week two of the Summer of Sandman!  This week we look at Volume Two which is titled The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman and a whole passel of artists including some very early work from Chris Bachalo and published under the Vertigo banner by DC Comics.

The Doll's House consists of a large over arc with a couple other stories thrown in for good measure.  The main thrust of the trade deals with a young lady named Rose and her family.  As it turns out, Rose's grandmother is Unity Kinkade, who we met in the first trade as one of the people who was affected by Dream being imprisoned for so many years and had basically lived in a coma for the entire time.  During this time, she was raped and gave birth to a child who is Rose's mother.  As it turns out, Rose is a vortex of dreams and her very existence could bring about the end of the world in which she destroys the walls separating all peoples dreams. Throw into to this a search for Rose's brother, a serial killer's convention, and Dream looking for some of the lost denizens of the Dreamlands and you get a very twisty tale full of disturbing images and heartfelt emotion that is very well-crafted and laid out.

Again, Gaiman crafts an amazing tale and you can tell that he is getting better and better with the subject and the characters.  The interweaving of the main story will keep you guessing up until the end and the introduction of his sibling, Desire, is interesting, if not a little confusing.  But I trust this will be explained more in time.  The lead in story is good, but really doesn't seem to pertain to the overall arc, which is fine, but the story in the middle has nothing to do with anything and really kills some momentum.  It is a good story about a man living forever and his relationship with Dream, but it breaks up The Doll House, just when you want to know what will happen next.  I am guessing it was an art issue that did it.  Speaking of art...love the early Bachalo.  I am not a big fan of Dringenberg, but it works and he does seem to have a range, it is just his usual style does nothing for me.  Anyway, another great trade in a series that really seems to be getting better.  If I do have one complaint, it is the design of the interiors of the new editions of the Sandman series.  The lettering has a very Se7en feel that is hard to read and distracting.  I have no clue for the change, but I am glad that this is my only edition in this style.  Next week, Dream Country...can't wait.  Till then...

Gaming Marathon Anyone?

So...last summer I tried something stupid.  I gathered a bunch of crap games that I had gotten dirt cheap and set out to play through as many of them as possible.  It didn't work out.  I got bored really quick and ended up reading for most of the summer...which in and of itself isn't a bad thing at all.  What it did do was put me behind playing some really good games that I had and I have felt like I have been playing catchup a lot over the past year.  Well, starting June 1st...all that changes.  I have a stack of games that during the months of June and July I am going to make an honest stab at.  The Mass Effect Trilogy, Red Dead Redemption, Battlefield 3, GTA 4 dlc, a ton of Silent Hill games, LA Noire, Skyrim, and then a stack of games that I will work on with the kids if they want to play.  I want to work through a lot of good stuff and prepare for all the goodness that will be hitting in the fall.  Over the past month, I have been reading a lot and now it is time to jump back into some gaming.  We will see how I do this summer and if I can redeem myself for my failure of last summer.  Might do a review here or there or I may just play...which is much more fun anyway.  Have a great summer and stay out of the sun.  It only causes cancer anyway...

Tradio #44 - The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes

Happy Summer everyone!  This week, we start my summer-long trek into Neil Gaiman's dysfunctional Endless family as I read the complete Sandman regular series and give my thoughts and feelings about the Sandman series as a whole over the course of the summer.  Feel free to read along and will keep things as spoiler-free as possible.  We start at the beginning with The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman with art by Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III and published under the Vertigo line at DC Comics. 

The Sandman.  Morpheus.  The Lord of Dreams.  Or simply Dream to his friends and family.  The Sandman series starts with him brought to his knees by people looking for power over death...or actually Death.  See, a dark cult is looking to harness of the power of the entity Death and gain immortality, but instead they capture Death's brother, Dream.  Trying to make the most of the situation, they steal artifacts from Dream and go about trying to get him to use his power for their gain.  He ignores their requests and waits.  And waits... And waits... Eventually, decades later, the people who trapped him are all dead and he is able to make his escape and is set upon a quest to regain the objects of power lost to him.  From the house down the street, to the very gates of hell, and finally to the dream world itself, Dream must use his power and wisdom to overcome the obstacles put in his way to regain what he has lost.  In the end, we get to experience a nice coda where were meet Dream's sister, Death, in an interesting tale where he gets his act together and finds some new direction in his life.

In many ways the Sandman series itself appears to be reflection of title character and the author in that both are trying to find their way and discover their direction.  The first few issues are a pretty standard quest tale that helps to give the character a voice and set his place in the DC Universe.  If there is something that I wasn't crazy about, it was all the DC character cameos that really didn't seem all that needed.  I can see why they are there to help show that the series is in the DC Universe, but I really don't think they add anything meaningful.  The end issue that introduces the character of Death is really the standout and seems to really be Gaiman himself in the role of Dream being shown that he needs to focus his efforts and give his character a greater purpose and a more focused voice.  It really seems to be setting up what is to come with a series where anything can happen, just like in the dreams that are the focus of the series.  On the art side, Sam Kieth is really the standout and gone way too soon.  His images are dark and scary and amazing.  All in all, a great start to a series and makes me want to keep reading and get more into the world that Gaiman has begun to craft. See you next week for The Doll's House.

New Tradio Series Starts Next Week - The Summer of Sandman!

This summer I wanted to do something new for my weekly trade review series.  Over the past year, I have been buying used Sandman trades and I finally got the last one that I needed for a full run of them.  The Sandman is one of those series that I have heard over and over that I should have read and just had never gotten around to it.  So I figured now that I have them all, I am going to sit down and read them from beginning to end and let you all know my thoughts about what is considered the granddaddy of the Vertigo Comics line.  Will I like them?  Will I be engaged enough to finish the twelve trades that I have?  We will see...together...and if you aren't much for this series, maybe I can give you a different spin on them. Hopefully by the end we will see just why this series is lauded as one of the masterpieces of the comic form.  Or maybe we will get bored and have to read something else.  Either way, I have a plan and an idea of something a little different to do while we waste away the days of summer.  Hope you enjoy the series and if you want to read along with me, your thoughts will be appreciated.  Next week is volume one of The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes.  Talk to you soon.