In the twenty-first issue of The Sandman, Destiny calls together a family meeting of the Eternal and HOLY SHIT YES YES YES. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Sandman.
“Seasons of Mist: Prologue”
Oh, fuck yes. This is going to be INCREDIBLE. This set up is RIDICULOUS, and some of my favorite artwork in the series so far was set in Hell, and THIS IS GOING TO DESTROY ME WITH AWESOME.
I’m glad this starts off with me getting at least one prediction right. The prologue to volume four is a reunion of the Eternal. Well, not all of them. There’s a seventh one missing, I think? There’s a reference made to the “prodigal,” and Despair talks about someone else who would have made a joke had he been there. OKAY WHO ARE WE MISSING. Death, Despair, Dream, Delirium/Delight, Destiny, Desire, and… Drama? Dogs? Depends? Delicacy? It has to start with a “d.” Diesel? Dramamine? I DON’T KNOW.
I’m noticing that the art for each volume is getting progressively more inventive and colorful, and seeing a concept as surreal and ethereal as the realm of Destiny drawn out is kind of a big deal to me? That’s a big reason why I enjoy comics and graphic novels. The medium itself allows for things like this to be represented visually without distracting from the story. I remember arguing with a “friend” I once had about his refusal to read comics because they took away the chance for the reader to add their own imagination to the story. First of all, you’re now relegated to being a “friend,” so you already lose. Second, what. Third, does that mean you don’t watch movies either? Oh, you do? Then shut the fuck up. Look, I get that the comic book is not the same as the novel. That’s why I’m reading it. It’s a different experience, and it’s an experience I enjoy. Why is that so hard to understand?
Oh my god, I’m literally yelling into the void about comics. What have I become?
The set-up here not only introduces us to all of the Eternal in one sitting, but it gives us a better an idea of the various personalities at work here. I think the entire section with the vertical panels explaining the characters could have been a sludgy disaster, but Gaiman’s writing is so poetic and natural that it totally works. In a way, it reminds me of those old action flicks that would pause to introduce all the key players. More important, though, is the fact that this prologue is a way to introduce the best possible plot I could ever ask for. I can’t begin to guess what it is about Dream’s journey to Hell that is going to change everything, but I actually love this story for a different reason: Dream is being held accountable. WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN LIKE THIS. Like, as soon as I discovered out who Nada was and why she was sent to Hell… well, you saw how I reacted. Dude, she spurned you. The end. How on earth does she deserve 10,000 years in Lucifer’s realm for that?
My god, Dream’s going back to Hell. OH SHIT, I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED, Y’ALL. I CAN’T. I JUST CAN’T.
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THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE VOLUMES. I wrote part of a paper about it at school, trufax.
Your thoughts on comics are my thoughts. No one reads them because they’re ~geeky, and I want to shout NO NO NO. The thing about comics is that what they choose to show you on the panel is ALWAYS carefully planned — plenty of use of imagination left too.