Gaiman's said "24 Hours" was one of the most disturbing things he'd written to date, which is probably true.

I don't doubt it. It's completely unrelentless and unsympathetic and brutal, with no happy ending in sight. As you read it, you just keep thinking, "This can't be happening."

I like the way Dream talks in black text bubbles.

I always thought of "A Doll's House" as the very best arc of Sandman stories, though I gather that Season of Mists is more popular and definitely had greater impact on the Vertigo setting.

Everyone I've talked to has named Season of Mists as their favorite, along with Brief Lives.

I'm going to start A Doll's House tonight. Yay.

All right, I'm halfway through A Doll's House, and I'm loving it more and more. It's becoming a whole lot more epic, with the tale of Nada and the machinations of Desire and Despair and the escape of Dreaming citizens and everything is connected and important!

I wasn't surprised to see Unity Kinkaid again because Gaiman specifically mentions her in his recap of the first volume, so it was like being spoiled by a previously. I think it's amusing thar Rose's hair is about four colors, and depending on what angle you see her, you only see one at a time.

Comic books are such a physical, tangible medium. It's such a strange experience to have to turn the book ninety degrees for four pages.

Dream is kind of a badass ("I don't think you'll enjoy the next few thousand years"), but he's also kind of a jackass. What he did to Nada was asshattery of the highest degree. "You won't marry me, so here's a hot cup of eternal torment"? The hell? That's a new twist on the old "Immortal in love with a mortal" story.

I've decided that the ending of Part Three is a good stopping point until tomorrow. It's when Jed gets picked up by the Corinthian, which made me audibly say, "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," and, well, I love when stories make me do that.

I will not be surprised if I have nightmares about the Corinthian. Dude has TEETH FOR EYES.

All right, I'm halfway through A Doll's House, and I'm loving it more and more. It's becoming a whole lot more epic, with the tale of Nada and the machinations of Desire and Despair and the escape of Dreaming citizens and everything is connected and important! I wasn't surprised to see Unity Kinkaid again because Gaiman specifically mentions her in his recap of the first volume, so it was like being spoiled by a previously.

Yeah, characters recur from start to finish. Just about everyone who's of any importance appears in more than one story, and occasionally a few incidental characters. Gaiman's got a thing for interwoven character arcs.

Dream is kind of a badass ("I don't think you'll enjoy the next few thousand years"), but he's also kind of a jackass. What he did to Nada was asshattery of the highest degree. "You won't marry me, so here's a hot cup of eternal torment"? The hell? That's a new twist on the old "Immortal in love with a mortal" story.

Makes you feel sympathy for Angel. Immortals? Not so good at personal relationships. You start to wonder if it just comes with the territory.

I will not be surprised if I have nightmares about the Corinthian. Dude has TEETH FOR EYES.

Seriously. I had friends try to get me into Clive Barker for years, but I can't think of anything he ever did that was as menacing as the Corinthian, and 90% of the time he doesn't even get his hands dirty.

Morpheus is my woobie.

Just finished Doll's House, and damn, this is good stuff.

How twisted is Gaiman to come up with a SERIAL KILLER CONVENTION and how dumb am I that it took me half the issue to figure out that's what it was?

I like Gilbert, especially because he can inspire exchanges like "What a wonderful place."/"Yeah. It was a friend of mine."

The ending felt a little deus ex angina, but it worked. And it ties in to the Big Picture of Desire trying to fuck with Dream for...some reason. The Endless are one wacky family. Dream and Death seem to get along, and Desire and Despair are tight, and Destiny seems like he might be the oldest, and there's this D who's disappeared that I don't know. I like how the final panel of Desire with her arms in the air made her look like one of the natives from the first issue.

I'm a sucker for Lost-style random connections like the fact that Rose's best friend was in the diner with John Dee.

I will wait for the time when Robert Gadley becomes important, though there was another instance where Dream acted like an ass, all, "You DARE accuse me of being lonely? I'm ENDLESS, bitch!"

I'm loving the worldview being presented here, just the way the Endless and the living interact, how the anthropomorphic characters really do represent facets of humanity, and thus Gaiman manages to say a lot of interesting things without actually saying them.

PC, just so you know, I'm getting a huge kick out of seeing your unspoiled and utterly fresh reactions to "Sandman."

Me too. I had basically the same reactions. Hob/Robert Gadling is one of my favorite characters, and you get a little more of him. I also don't think it's spoilery to say that we find out why Desire's trying to fuck with Dream the way it is (I also love that Gaiman managed to exactly split the genders among an odd number of siblings).

Did you get "Endless Nights" too?

I'm going to have to go get the rest of the series, aren't I? I've read either 3 or 4, and haven't been willing to drop the cash for the rest, and they aren't at the library here (dammit). I always mean to...maybe after I finish all my homework...