Sandman, Arc VI

Awhman, guys. Awhman. I'm still a buzz about this nine-issue-long arc because metaphysics. I loooooove it when metaphysics show up in writing, it's just-- it makes me so happy! I just want to run in a little circle out of pure joy~!

Anyways, this arc starts off with Delirium of all ethereals, just wandering about in a 1980'sish city, I think it's London. As usual, she's the embodiment of delirium, but she's thinking about her brother, the seventh Ethereal the readers have only heard whispers of in previous arcs. So she's a little bit out of it, and manages to work her way into a, well. I think it's a gay bar/BDSM club. But in that area, she runs into Desire, who's just doing their thing. Delirium, after returning to his realm, discuss the missing brother. As Desire wants no part in this, she attempts to talk Despair into it, but she's having none of this either and so Delirium wanders back to her realm for a while.

Over with Dream, though, he's just gotten dumped by another girl and so he's standing out on a balcony while it rains in his realm. Non-stop Abrahamic-god-flooding rains, seeing as they last twenty one days before Delirium shows up in his realm, and she's being adorable as Dream's wyvern gate keeper is swinging her in his mouth. A rather exasperated panel of Dream later, and now Delirium's discussing her plan to find their seventh sibling with Dream.

In the end, Dream agrees to help, if only to clear his mind of the person who just dumped him. Things progress, but everyone who knows what might have happened to the seventh ethereal-- who I'm not naming because hahahahah read it yourself-- but they all end up dying or just becoming not themselves.

This quest of theirs continues with some rather entertaining panels that really should be entertaining and some flashbacks of their sibling. Really, though, dream, why'd you think it was a good idea to let Delirium drive, even if Matthew the Raven was there to panic give advice? I've seen better driving in LA Noire, and that's saying something.

Also, more minor characters show up once more! Orpheus returns, and he's still just a head sitting there not doing much of anything. And so many old gods are minor characters! There's Pharamond, a Babylonian god, Ishtar, and Bubastion, although she's growing weak and frail.

Eventually, they find the seventh ethereal. And I really, really want to talk about what he says, but-- spoilers! I may tell some things, but I can't tell them all. I can say that the character changes in this are astounding. At one point Delirium becomes a bit depressed and gloomy. At that point, her usually rainbow speech bubbles become shaky with scrawly letters-- more so than usual, and the only colour to them is a thick gray border with white.

And at the end, time moves on. The tone, due to events, is sorrowful, but at the same time, well-- there's always creation. Things fade away with time-- everything does, but-- new things come up to replace the old.
Two sides to one coin, huh...?

As usual, though, Mr. Gaiman manages to weave an incredible tale full of shifting tones and tiny details that may mean nothing by themselves, but when as part of the whole add a new layer onto things.

Sandman, Arc V

Alright, so this arc is similar to one of the earlier arcs, as in it's a collection of one-shots. So, I'll be fawning over each in their own aspects for a while, while trying not to spoil anything.

First One-Shot
Okay, so this one starts off pure gold. It's a grandfather and his granddaughter bickering over a story being told. This is pretty much a universal conversation, and if you replace TV with Facebook, then hey, the tale's set in the modern era. Things I liked in this tale-- holy hell the tiny details are glorious again. Freakin' Baba Yaga shows up. And, if you read things carefully, that ending packs a punch. But seriously, the details in the story are really fun to notice.

Second One-Shot
First of all, young Marco Polo in the desert heading back to the current leader of the Khans. Second of all, holy crap that world mechanic. Imma borrow it for the novel-thing I'm writing. But yeah, Marco Polo gets lost in the desert and runs into his future companion and Fiddler's Green (Yay he showed up again~!) in the middle of the desert. They have a chat, and then the dream ends. But oh man, the characters. They all had their own personality to them, despite this being the first time most of them have shown up. And then the actual time this tale happened in-- in the very beginning of arc I! Also, damn that art style. I hadn't though of using thick lines to produce shadows like that.

Third One-Shot
So, this brings back Daniel, the child born in dreams that Dream himself claimed as his own. He's dreaming, and somehow his dreams places him on the outskirts of Dreams realm, where he runs into a Gargoyle, Matthias the Raven, Cain, Able, and I think it's Eve of all people. So, the child and the group of story tellers enjoy tea-time in Able's house of Mysteries. (Complete with Matthias getting a rat instead of crackers.) They each tell a tale, Cain speaks of a mystery of crows, Eve speaks of the story of Adam and his three wives, and Able, well.... He tells a child-friendly version of how he and Cain ended up working for Dream. And oh my god my heart at his imagining of a much younger Dream and Death. Oh my god they're so cute and I probably shouldn't say that but eh. Freaking adorable tiny Dream and Death. But still--! Throughout each tale, you can hear the voice of the story-teller behind them. Cain's seems harsh, Eve's is slightly meandering, and Abel's is a soft tale that children can hear and not realize it's about him being the first murder victim.

That's what I've got for now. For any new person reading this blog, I do ask that you at least skim the older posts.