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.

I appreciate the blood you draw for me, Broomy. I haven't yet put together what the Big Arc really is, per se, but it's becoming clear that Everything Is Important. Which is awesome.

The introduction to "Endless Nights" includes a bit where someone asked him to sum up the series in one sentence. Look for that after you're done and I think you'll agree it's apt.

(I think I've just fallen completely in love with Vampire Loves )