And I finished The Wake. I really liked the art; it was like colored charcoal.

It, appropriately, had a very denouement feeling, and I liked the way it dealt with some of the consequences of having a new Dream, in that it's hard to accept him. It's hard to accept the other denizens of the Dreaming who were brought back as well. Their very existence pokes at the nature of identity and the idea that death defines life. Poor Fiddler's Green, who merely wants to rest in peace.

I love Delirium. And the word "forgettery."

Matthew is awesome. Best talking bird ever!

So the first Despair was killed a long, long time ago, huh? I wonder how that happened. Now I understand the bit about Despair "becoming" Desire's twin: they were always twins, of course, but the "becoming" part was referring to the new Despair taking over.

Ha! The chick who dumped Dream and forced him into Brief Lives was THESSALY?!

And oh! Aw! Destruction showed up!! I mean, he didn't show up, show up, but he stopped by. I like Destruction for some reason, even though we don't see much of him.

The wake and funeral were both very lovely. I think it was exactly what the story deserved, if that makes any sense. It felt right. Even the breaking of the fourth wall to include the reader in the ceremony.

I don't understand why Gaiman wrote two extra issues after it, though. "Exiles" was better than "Soft Places," and I must say, it was nice to see the old Dream again for a bit, but "The Wake" closed things out so nicely it didn't feel necessary. "The Tempest" was better than "Midsummer Night's Dream," even though I don't really care for The Tempest. And I do wonder whether the Guy Fawkes thing was a V for Vendetta shout-out. Since I am a Shakespeare fan, it was cool to have an issue with him as the main character. Still odd as the final issue of the series, though. Or maybe not so odd. It's a bittersweet tale because we see that Dream, even 300 years ago, was so very trapped by his sense of responsibility. He will never leave his island. And it takes 60 years of hardcore captivity to give him the perspective that leads to his way off the island.

I have now read Sandman. I feel enriched and cool.

Thanks for the link - I really should remember Wikipedia as a info source.

So the death of Tara isn't technically a refrigerator death, because Willow's not a male superhero, but it's pretty damn close. Closer conceptually than it is to the "dead lesbian cliche" that got brought up at the time.

Heh, and I just realized that ALIAS is built on a reverse-fridge death.

Ha! The chick who dumped Dream and forced him into Brief Lives was THESSALY?!

Does Victor know about this?

I have now read Sandman.

Actually, in addition to the two Death on-off paperbacks, there's another Sandman book that Gaiman wrote where different artists tackle a story for a different eternal.

I think the trope ends up being a chick dying to motivate a guy because our heroes are guys. So don't fight the deaths of the women--fight their non-heroness. Also, the gender of a character has very little to do with how much I like them. And I hate the premise that it should. Just write characters well, and I'll be there.

there's another Sandman book that Gaiman wrote where different artists tackle a story for a different eternal.

Yeah, Endless Nights. I'll have to check that out too sometime.

I'll have to check that out too sometime.

It's hit and miss, but the guy who did Destiny (my memory fails me) took my breatha way.

There's a Dream story with a Japanese artist that's just freakin' gorgeous, too.

Dream Hunters. I saw that in the library but didn't know if it was worth getting. It seemed like most of the one-shots I didn't really like.

It's worth a check-out from the library. I bought it, but haven't ever re-read it.

I love figuring out the French expressions that they use like "a bras raccourcis" (which is how you hold your arms when you set upon somebody for a fight) for the chief. And how do they translate "idée fixe" for Obélix's dog who only cares about bones? That is one of the most perfect names.

Well, the English names are usually portmanteau words and phrases too, but they often have the extra beauty of hinting at something about the character--more often than the French originals, IMO.

It's interesting you bring up Idéfix, the dog--he's one example where I really appreciate the English version IN VIEW of the original. (Btw, do you know if the authors MEANT his name to signify specifically obsession about bones, or is that your surmise?) In English he's Dogmatix, which is different from "idée fixe", but at least nebulously related to some psychological characteristic, obsessiveness/stubborness, AND there's that extra kick of "Dog" in a dog's name.