Reading Comics #109 "The Annotated Sandman Volume 1 #18"

After this there are only two issues to go in this extended look at The Annotated Sandman Volume 1...

The great thing about this installment, looking at Sandman #18, is that it's all about cats.  People who don't like cats are obviously bad people.

It's not only about cats but strictly from a cat's perspective.  The storytelling here is a little tricky, balancing one cat with their recollections of another cat's call to revolution.  It's a little trickier without color, I think.  Still, it's like Neil Gaiman's We3 (the great comic from Grant Morrison), with art again by Kelley Jones.  Considering I've previously referenced Jones as best known for his human figures, it's quite a revelation to think he could just as easily have made a career of doing stories with animals.  Apparently this is not his last work in Sandman, but it is in this volume.

I wrote a story (or two) myself that involved dialogue from animals, although it was in prose (you can read it in Monorama), but I sympathize with Gaiman's desire to distinguish it from human speech and not particularly wanting it to be considered thought, as Leslie Klinger's notes explain on the first page.

On the sixth page is a wonderful rendering of a cat's head in close-up from Jones.  Klinger makes reference on a later page to Gaiman's instructions to Jones about making a standout portrait that will make other artists jealous.  To my mind, this one's more striking.  Perhaps owing to the black and white nature of my edition's depiction, it looks like woodcut art.

There's a spare amount of notes in this issue.  It's funny that notes meant for the thirteenth page are printed on the twelfth's.  The twelfth page is also noteworthy for the beginning of a travel narrative that works exceptionally well, with variations on the phrase "and I walked on" concluding the captions in most panels.  I tend to be a reader who appreciates a writer's grasp of distinctive storytelling.  This is the sort of thing I eat up.

This sequence leads us to Dream, who in this story naturally is a cat (as discussed before he tends to take the form expected of him).

Another terrific sequence from the issue involves a vision of the past where cats were large and men were small, a complete inverse of their present relationship.  This is what the issue is all about, since it was a dream of men that reversed it, and subsequently the vision of the cat I mentioned earlier to cause another dream to reverse it again.  Not only did man's dream reshape reality, but it caused the previous one to no longer exist at all, like it never happened.  This I think is a pretty big idea on Gaiman's part.  I wonder if he explores it more in Sandman.  It's metaphysical and glorious.  Yes, we have a hard enough time convincing people to believe the same things about science and religion.  To through something like this in the mix?  I guess that's what great fiction like this is all about.

The twentieth page, for the record, references Gaiman's directions to Jones about the cat rendering.

The end of the story is the main cat sleeping, and its owners wondering what it can possibly dream about.  I should explain that the big development that causes the cat to go on its quest is having kittens and the humans cavalierly taking them away, like the cat can't possibly have any real concern about that (much like what Madoc does to Calliope when he gains possession of her in the previous issue).  The cat I know is usually pretty discreet when she sleeps, hidden away from public consumption as it were.  My sister's dog, however, regularly twitches in his sleep, so it's not hard to imagine that he's dreaming about something.  In Gaiman's view it must be profound indeed...

Reading Comics #108 "The Annotated Sandman Volume 1 #17"

The final issues included in The Annotated Sandman Volume 1 collect what originally appeared in the volume titled Dream Country, starting with Sandman #17.

The first page introduces the concept of the magical hairball.  I should say introduces to me, because apparently that's a thing that for some reason I'd never heard about.  My sister's cat has been giving her these things all along and never told us?  Its official term is "bezoar," and "trichinobezoar" when derived from "Rapunzel syndrome," which is to say a bezoar that is made of hair.  People in crazier and more gullible days thought they were magical.  In fact, the famous Latin phrase caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") is derived from the purchase of a magical hairball.

I will also take this opportunity to reference Tangled, the rare Disney animated movie not to feature its typical fairy tale heroine in the title.  This one, of course, is about Rapunzel.

Anyway, Leslie Klinger is quick with a reference to another movie, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which Neil Gaiman cleverly disguises as The Cabaret of Dr. Caligari.  These opening pages are introducing us to frustrated writer Richard Madoc in his desperate bid for some fresh inspiration.  The magical hairball he's acquiring will soon be exchanged for a far shadier transaction.  It may or may not be relevant (Klinger apparently didn't think so) that a Welshman named Madoc sailed to America three centuries before Columbus.  It may be the inverse of his meeting with Erasmus Fry on the third page.  The magical hairball is for Erasmus.  Klinger doesn't mention this either, but the historical Erasmus was a famous figure in the Reformation and was known for his arguments about free will.

Which is funny, because the point of the magical hairball exchange is the Muse he's been using to make his literary reputation.  I have no idea if Gaiman thought much about that.  His chief interest in the character seems to be the fact that he likes hearing the sound of his own voice, a replacement for a lonely writer just wanting to hear anyone's.

On the fourth page John Dee, the Elizabethan spy and magician, is referenced.  Klinger omits an explanation or at least reiteration, but the name evokes Doctor Destiny as featured previously in Sandman.  I'm also reminded of Detective Dee as depicted in the movie Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame.  He's based on a historical figure from the Tang Dynasty.

By the fifth page, we learn about the Muses from both Gaiman and Klinger.  Aside from specific details, I'm sure you know about them.  In Star Trek, a parasitic muse in an episode called "The Muse" helped Jake Sisko finally write the book the earlier episode "The Visitor" claimed would be his lasting legacy, while another episode called simply "Muse" echoed the more traditional Greek approach.  They were from different series.  Anyway, Klinger references the main character from Homer's Odyssey as Ulysses.  Yes, and that would be the Roman form, just as the more famous Hercules was of the less famous Heracles original. If you call it The Odyssey, then the character's name is Odysseus.  Dude was played by Sean Bean in Troy. Show respect.  Ulysses is known as Grant's first name and the title of a James Joyce book.

But I promise not to snip at Klinger again for the remainder of this survey.  Although if I do get a chance to read the other volumes, who knows?

Anyway, the sixth page gives me a chance to talk about the art.  It looks like it was the inspiration for Frank Miller's Sin City, known as much for its hard-boiled storytelling as for the silhouetted forms of naked women.  Naturally this page features the latter.  The artist for the issue, interestingly enough, is Kelley Jones, who would make his name as a Batman cover artist and illustrator of several Dark Knight vampire tales.  The earliest pages in the issue are the clearest ones to identify the distinctive Jones style (giant muscles, usually, but also the faces and a generally Gothic outlook).  He's a natural fit for Sandman.  I wonder if it was this page that inspired Miller's work for the Dark Horse comics.  I had a similar epiphany when I first saw Andy Helfer's Shadow, when evokes the later Challengers of the Unknown from the budding partnership of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.

Back to Sandman, however.  Klinger's notes for the page for some reason speak about more immediately relevant things like the identity of the naked woman, Calliope, who is the Muse in question.

On the seventh page he relates the British nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons," which Gaiman references.  I'd never heard it before.

Once in possession of Calliope, Madoc proves to be an ass.  He also gets busy writing.

The ninth page delves deeply back into Greek lore, but it also features another (this time acknowledged) appearance of the Triple Goddess seen repeatedly in Sandman.  They typically take the appearance of a Crone, a Maiden, and a Mother.  I'll just say now that it's a little weird that the oldest of them must be considered so ugly, but I guess the whole point is stereotypes, and crones are the stereotype of old women.  Maybe that's why the Hecate weren't so prominent in the arc that just concluded, because Gaiman was trying to be nice about the fairer sex.

On the tenth page we get our first reference to Dream in the issue, known as Oneiros in this particular context.  The relevant tale of Orpheus is apparently the subject of Sandman Special #1 (not in this collection).

For whatever reason, both the writers in this story take their ridiculously elaborate book titles from things Klinger gets to explain.

Like Hob Gadling before him, Madoc becomes the subject of a hopping through the timeline, seeing how his fortunes change.

It's worth speculating that how Madoc learns of Fry's death (different but in a way not completely unrelated to the time in Futurama another Fry died, from a bee sting; it might be argued that if you want another Sandman experience, that would not be a bad place to look) may tell you what Gaiman really thinks of all this artificial inspiration.  Though Fry was successful just as Madoc is shown as successful with big giant epic stories, he died in what appears to be obscurity, with the book he considered his best already out of the public's mind.  Perhaps that's the reason for the ridiculous titles?  Gaiman may be saying that flashy success doesn't always mean that it was earned, which of course in these instances it wasn't.

Dream shows up, pwns Madoc, exits.  Pretty standard Sandman at this point.  Through Klinger's notes in previous issues we've already had a glimpse of Gaiman's mindset at this point in the series.  At times he appears cocky and others frightened that he's already losing his own muse.  It's not hard to view this issue as a way of exploring the topic in the story itself.  Not to worry, though, as there are sixty-odd-and-counting stories in the future, Neil.

Quarter Bin #45 "Brother's Blitz, Part 3"

Disclaimer: Comics featured in this column do not necessarily come from a quarter bin.  The ones in the "Brother's Blitz" series, however, in all likelihood were got for a good price.  The following are the contents of several boxes given to me as presents more than a decade ago, which I did not read until recently.

Conclusion!

Alpha Flight #6 (Marvel)

From January 1997:

This Canadian team is best known these days for Northstar, a pioneering gay character who just got married.  There was a time the only relevant association was Wolverine.  Very rarely, it's the team itself.  This issue comes from Steve T. Seagle and Bryan Hitch (before The Ultimates made him a superstar), and features the diminutive Puck trying to track down Sasquatch, who's being screwed around by the authorities.  One of the more interesting reads from this selection.

Atari Force #7 (DC)

From July 1984

Atari Force#8

From August 1984:

A comic book not meant for the likes of me.  In the letters column of the latter issue, however chimes in one Thomas Paoli.  It's only the second time I've seen that surname.  The first is in the pages of Mike Costa's Cobra, where Paoli is the last name of the twins Tomax and Xamot.  Coincidence?

The Avengers #290 (Marvel)

From April 1988:

Of tenuous interest to the many viewers of this summer's biggest blockbuster.  Remember the Tesseract?  In the comics it's better known as the Cosmic Cube.  In this particular comic it's become Kubik, though it has the bad fortune of temporarily being corrupted by the Adaptoid.  Much havoc ensues.  The Avengers in the issue are very much a b-team, though Captain America is around, even though this is a period during which Steve Rogers is estranged from the US government (he does that periodically).  He sports a variation of his usual costume that looks like the one U.S. Agent wears later

Battlestar Galactica #21 (Marvel)

From November 1980:

This is not your BSG.  This is, as the publication date suggests, the original.  There's a reason it was almost totally reimagined.

Captain America #347 (Marvel)

From November 1988:

As with the above Avengers comic, the role of Cap is in flux, with a sort of prototype Jean-Paul Valley arc going on as the unstable John Walker assumes a role he makes considerably less familiar.  

The Crow: Dead Time #1 of 3 (Kitchen Sink)

From January 1996

The Crow: City of Angels #1 of 3

From July 1996

The Crow: City of Angels #3 of 3

From September 1996:

I think I've been spreading some falsehoods.  In a previous edition of "Brother's Blitz" I suggested that there haven't been any new Crow comics in years.  There is in fact a new one in print right now.  There was also a new Concrete one-shot just recently published from material previously published in Dark Horse Presents.  Journalistic integrity...eventually!  Anyway, Dead Time is original material from Crow creator J. O'Barr and features art from Alex Maleev.  City of Angels is based on the movie that tried to start a screen franchise after the infamous Brandon Lee original (infamous because Lee famously died on the set).  Yes, the franchise did happen, but to very little success.  Angels failed to connect with fans.  It's become increasingly obvious that anyone cared about the Crow at all because of Lee's death (though pro wrestler Sting took the look and has kept it in the public conscious since '96).  From this comic I think the story certainly had its merits.  If the execution was off, I suppose that would be one thing.  I may have to start watching some of this material to see for myself.  Like the Highlander franchise, it's a cult I wasn't in at the time, but have found myself increasingly attracted to.  

Elfquest: Blood of Ten Chiefs #3 (Warp Graphics)

From November 1993:

I still don't find myself caring for Elfquest.  Sorry.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #19 (Marvel)

From July 1984

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #20

From August 1984:

Anyone who thought adding aliens to the franchise in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was hopefully scratching their head in the former issue, which features a dragon.  Yeah.  The latter sees someone trying to impugn the name of Marcus Brody!

Ghost Rider 2099 #1 (Marvel)

From May 1994:

Features the art of Carlos Bachalo.  Otherwise seems to be a pretty standard Ghost Rider comic, and not particularly inspiring 2099 material.

Hawk & Dove #1 of 5 (DC)

From October 1988:

From Karl & Barbara Kesel as well as some dude named Rob Liefeld, whose legendary inability to draw feet (or so modern observers like to claim based on his current style) is somewhat belied by many feet appearing this issue.  Hawk & Dove is a pretty interesting concept (though Hank Hall is perhaps more interesting as Monarch/Extant, or for slightly more recent fans Brightest Day), and got their own New 52 comic.  This issue features the debut of the female Dove, who replaces Hank's brother Don.  Her name is Dawn.  This is what it sounds like when doves cry.

Infinity Inc. #35 (DC)

From February 1987:

Features art from Todd McFarlane, which looks nothing like the Todd McFarlane art later featured in Spider-Man and Spawn.  The team, by the way, was second generation Justice Society.

Jack of Hearts #s 1-4 (Marvel)

From January-April 1984:

This character has a terrible costume design.  Otherwise fairly interesting.  The second issue features the first reference (of many) in the comics from this Blitz to the Official Marvel Try-out Book, which famously launched the career of Mark Bagley.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #s 1-6 (Marvel)

From November-April 1984-85:

From Chris Claremont's legendary X-Men run comes this mini-series featuring Wolverine's second-ever solo(ish) adventure, which is really a supporting role in Kitty Pryde's story in which she runs away after being rejected by Colossus (which going on this information alone makes Joss Whedon's most famous Astonishing X-Men moment completely illogical) and discovers her father's dirty business dealings have gotten him into trouble with Japanese gangsters.  In his previous mini-series Wolverine's Japanese connections had just been established, which makes it awfully convenient.  As it's written by Claremont himself, this is readable material, even if Al Milgrom's art does no favors to Kitty's hairstyle, before and after it's forcibly altered by the chief villain.

Lady Death #0 (Chaos!)

From November 1997:

A character straight from the '90s bad girls scene, though this particular comic certainly makes her out to be pretty, er, matrony.  It's actually pretty interesting.  This is Lady Death's secret origin!

Marvel Fanfare #16 (Marvel)

From September 1984:

Apparently much controversy was to be had at the time by editor Al Milgrom appearing in the Marvel corner symbol, a spot normally reserved for the stars of the particular title (it's something DC did, too).  I don't know what that's about, but it's the most memorable thing about this one.  It also features work from Marv Wolfman and David Cockrum, as well as Mike Mignola (unlike McFarlane and even Liefeld above looking familiar to fans of his later work).

MASK #1 (DC)

From February 1987:

Based on a toy line I had brief experience with.  Art by Curt Swan!

The Micronauts: The New Voyages #4 (Marvel)

From January 1985

The Micronauts: The New Voyages #6

From March 1985:

Features art from Kelley Jones, who would go on to play a memorable role on the covers of the Batman "Knightfall" saga as well as several vampires tales featuring the Dark Knight.  Even moreso than Mignola, Jones' work is instantly recognizable in these issues.  It's the only thing worth noting about them, however.

The Mighty Thor #409 (Marvel)

From November 1989:

From Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the latter of whom would later work in the '90s Superman comics I enjoyed so much, except when illustrated by Ron Frenz.  Not the right style.  No label link for Ron Frenz!  Features Dr. Doom!  Hercules!  Exclamation points!  And the second time Thor was tied to the body of an ordinary human!

Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel)

From December 1983:

But featuring reprinted material from '67 and '68 and the work of legendary Jim Steranko, a conceptual genius when it came to art.  There's only a few panels here that truly reflect that, however.  It's nice finding classic work in these random comics, and for some reason this batch was just loaded with notable artists, even if some of them weren't doing their most iconic work.

Nightmare Theater #1 & 4 of 4 (Chaos!)

From November 1997:

A horror anthology that I enjoyed best for its surveys of classic Hollywood films (these issues cover the Golden Age and the resurgent '60s.  Both issues feature Eric Powell (The Goon) inking someone else's work.  The latter issue features a story from Alan Moore, in classic form taking an alternate look at familiar faces, this time movie monsters and featuring wolfman Francis "Itchy" Peterson.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #3 (Marvel)

From March 1983:

Characters from The Collector to Dracula are profiled, with Collector probably being the most interesting character, with Deathlok coming in second, though more famous ones like Cyclops, Daredevil, and Dazzler (famous?), as well as Doc Samson, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, and Dormammu (??) are also featured.  Marvel's Captain Marvel is listed in the appendix on the inside back cover.  I don't know if he got better treatment in the previous issue, but he was an incredibly notable character, especially in Jim Starlin's famous Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel.  Is it that he was dead by the time this was published?

Pitt #15 (Full Bleed)

From September 1997:

Dale Keown's Pitt was pretty famous in the '90s, and was also one of a rash of characters from the decade to duplicate the (Fawcett/DC) Captain Marvel gag of being closely tied to a little boy (or perhaps Keown was more inspired by Bill Watterson?).  Now Pitt just seems like one of those out-of-control art oddities that also littered those years.

Preacher #25 (Vertigo)

From May 1997

Pride & Glory #s 2 & 3 

From August-September 1997:

I'm lumping these together because they're both written by Garth Ennis.  I've had something of a contentious relationship with Ennis.  I've never read him regularly.  The one time I almost did, I ended up taking a fairly violent reaction to his work.  The thing to understand about Ennis is that he's not writing comics to write about superheroes.  In fact, it might be said that he really dislikes superheroes.  He's incredibly cynical about them (whether in the pages of Hitman or The Boys).  He's probably better understood outside of comics where he forces himself to write about something he neither enjoys nor particularly understands.  Preacher is perhaps his most famous creation.  These three issues (Pride & Glory has no relation) reveal a writer who has a great deal in common with Stephen King.  Both of them like to have fairly ordinary characters swap stories.  I think with this insight, I may begin to better appreciate Ennis.  Don't tell him I said so.

Robotech #1 of 3 (DC)

From January 1985:

Written by Andy Helfer!  Based on a Japanese TV show (does not feature Wolverine).  That is all.

ROM #23 (Marvel)

From October 1981

ROM #s 63-64

From February-March 1985:

I still don't get ROM.  (The first issue features Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and a cameo from the Fantastic Four.)  Great concept, terrible design.  How did this series run for so long?  I think if anyone wanted to revive it now they'd better give the lone survivor of a band of space knights a better look.

Sabretooth (Marvel)

From 1995:

From Fabian Nicieza and Gary Frank (showing glimmers of the work he'd make famous with collaborators like Geoff Johns), this one was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the last Blitz.  From the foil-embossed cover I was expecting very much the kind of (mostly) bad X-Men comics I've been characterizing in these things.  It's anything but.  This is all the more surprising because I remember being baffled that anyone thought it made any sense to try and make Sabretooth a member in good standing of the mutant community.  Nicieza crafts this tale in the fashion of Jeph Loeb (years before anyone would truly appreciate that fact), and Frank makes Victor Creed the spitting image of Wolverine...as portrayed by Hugh Jackman in movies that wouldn't exist for another five years.  In effect, this is a comics years ahead of its time, and is all the more remarkable for it.  

Shatter #1 (First)

From December 1985:

It's almost sad, the amount of hope First Comics seemed to have in this series.  Tell me how many comics fans know about either Shatter or First Comics today.  The comic features digital art, however, so that was pretty revolutionary.  The company also published Mike Grell's Jon Sable, John Ostrander and Timothy Truman's Grimjack, as well as Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! (apparently being written by Alan Moore at the time), Nexus, Michael Moorcock's Elric...Holy crap, First Comics was a precursor to the indy dream!  But is it remembered?  First indeed...

Uncanny X-Men #-1 (Marvel)

From July 1997:

Note the minus sign in the issue number...This was part of Marvel's "Flashback" event, more or less its version of Zero Month (1994 and 2012 versions) from DC.  Written by Scott Lobdell, it's another indication that '90s X-Men wasn't completely wasted by attempts to cash in on the Image art craze (which it actually began with Jim Lee's X-Men #1).  Lobdell probably did his most notable work in Generation X, but apparently he was at least as ambitious with the main group.  I'm not sure fans agreed, and the legacy doesn't seem to be there, but this was another comic worth discovering in the Blitz.  Another appearance from Bryan Hitch, too!

Vengeance of Vampirella #15 (Harris)

From June 1995:

Bad girls be gone!  Written as in previous Blitz appearances from the tramp vamp by Tom Sniegoski, sometimes collaborator of Jeff "Bone" Smith.

West Coast Avengers #37 (Marvel)

From October 1988:

More Al Milgrom!  A team of Avengers acting dysfunctional!

Wolverine: Days of Future Past #2 (Marvel)

From January 1988:

Harking back to a famous Claremont tale...but not itself destined to be famous.  The next First Class X-Men film is going to be borrowing from one of them.  Guess which.

X-Men Annual #12 (Marvel)

From 1988:

From Claremont.  Not featuring vintage Claremont.