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...

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

Thank you, I'm glad! I really have little to no clue what to expect here; I'm almost entirely in the dark.

Hob/Robert Gadling is one of my favorite characters, and you get a little more of him.

Hm, I wouldn't put him as one of my favorite characters right now, but I do want to see how he figures in later.

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

You bitch! I mean...well, I would hope so.

Did you get "Endless Nights" too?

Not yet, but I think the library does have it, so I will grab it when I'm done.

Just finished Dream Country (what, it's four issues, why put it off till tomorrow?). Good stuff, though obviously not as compelling as the last series, what with the four isolated tales.

It's hard to sympathize with the main character in "Calliope," and I don't think Gaiman expects us to. Still, the plight hits home for writers, and Dream has a very sadistic streak when it comes to punishment (I still love Eternal Waking, which I first interpreted to mean Never Sleeping before I discovered it was something more clever).

"Dream of a Thousand Cats" is very cute, and it's a neat way of taking the cliché of "Dreams can change the world" and...interpreting it literally.

"Midsummer Night's Dream" is all right. I feel like it doesn't really rise above its premise. Yes, it's clever to have the characters represented in the play watch the play being performed, but the actual story doesn't have much going for it. I liked the backseat comments from the peanut gallery ("But issa love story. Not dinner."). Puck's taking over Puck didn't really lead to anything. I like it for continuing the Shakespeare plot from the Gadling story, and I find it interesting that Faerie is a world all to itself, distinct from the Dreaming. I begin to wonder how many different realities are meant to interact with the mortal plane. Also, I can understand why Gaiman ended up writing American Gods, because he clearly has a fascination with the interplay between immortals and mortals. Finally, this story and "Calliope" are signs that he also has a fascination with the nature of stories and storytelling, and for that, I love him.

"Facade" may have been better if I had any idea who Element Girl was. But I liked that Death was "just passing through," and I was very amused that right after I had the thought, "You know, Death can't go around taking everyone's soul personally. People are dying all the time, all around the world. She can't be everywhere at once," she said, "I can be everywhere at once, so suck it, Sunil."

The included script for "Calliope" was very enjoyable. Gaiman has all these random comments about what he's watching on TV and what the weather's like, and the descriptions are very casual, beginning with "Okay" and "Right."

Tomorrow, Season of Mists. This better be as good as everyone says!

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?

In a neat little bit, that story also subtley tied in to "Swamp Thing" and "Hellblazer."

It's hard to sympathize with the main character in "Calliope," and I don't think Gaiman expects us to.

Eh, Gaiman manages to elicit a modicum of sympathy for even his most wretched characters. But then, "Calliope" is my favorite single issue. ("Season of Mists" being my favorite arc, with "Brief Lives a close second.)

In a neat little bit, that story also subtley tied in to "Swamp Thing" and "Hellblazer."

Heh, yeah. Someone told me that Swampy killed the Bogeyman. How did it tie into Hellblazer ?

Eh, Gaiman manages to elicit a modicum of sympathy for even his most wretched characters.

Yeah, maybe a modicum. And Gaiman seems to love writing about wretched characters.

I'm halfway through SOM now, and I see why everyone loves it. This is some crazy cool shit going down here. First, it's great to get all the remaining Endless (I still can't figure out who the missing D is...Darkness? Dumbledore?) in one place, and it's rather telling that ten thousand years have gone by, and Dream never even gave a second thought to what he did to Nada (and what an ironic name, huh?). Also, I think the brother/sister relationship between Dream and Death is really cute. Especially because he's the little brother.

Dream is such a drama queen! "Bye, everyone. I might never come back. Just so you know. Here I go to Hell. Remember, you might never see me again. Because I'm going to Hell. Did I mention I might never come back?" And yet, I still don't have a sense of why he was so afraid; we haven't really seen an example of Lucifer's power, per se. What makes him the second-most powerful being in the universe.

Of course, there are other kinds of power. I enjoy Lucifer's characterization, the way he's so resentful of mankind. And I would never, ever have predicted his little gambit. The whole issue I was thinking, "This can't be for real. There has to be an ulterior motive. How is he going to screw Dream over?" And then it comes. All it takes is a key. It's a constant theme in this book, masking punishments in things that don't look like punishments.

And now everyone wants a piece of Hell. So cool! Dream should set up time-shares or something. Plus, the dead are returning! Zombies everywhere! I'm halfway through the zombie issue, and I hope it gets better than little dead schoolchildren running around.

Heh, yeah. Someone told me that Swampy killed the Bogeyman. How did it tie into Hellblazer?

The Family Man, the guest of honor who didn't show, was the serial killer who killed John Constantine's father, and who died in those pages.

Oh, nifty.

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

Good heavens, yes.

Morpheus is my woobie.

Big angsty drama-queen woobie.

My favorite Sandman stories constantly change, but right now they're "A Doll's House", "Brief Lives", and the single issue of "Three Septembers and a January".

The Family Man, the guest of honor who didn't show, was the serial killer who killed John Constantine's father, and who died in those pages.

Ah, I was trying to remember where he'd shown up. Thanks.

Good heavens, yes.

Yay!

"Season of Mists" is one of my favorite arcs just because of the interplay between the various realms that have a vested interested in the outcome. And, like every other arc, it has little callbacks and foreshadowings for the other arcs, and for the Big Arc that is the entire series.

So many parts of me want to comment about your comments, but I have taught myself not to spoil, so my tongue will stay bitten. Painfully bitten.