Sequart Organization » Sandman (Neil Gaiman series)

The Classical Roots of Wonder Woman and Sandman

Sasha Fraze — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 13:00:42 +0000

Wonder Woman and Sandman" title="The Classical Roots of Wonder Woman and Sandman" style="float:left;" />Note: Here I am primarily concerned with George Perez’s run as writer-artist, issues 1-25 Neil Gaiman likes to wear his influences on his sleeves. Every issue of Sandman has more than enough references to classic… [more]

A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review

Stuart Warren — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:00:44 +0000

Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review" title="A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review" style="float:left;" />One of the difficult aspects of reviewing Neil Gaiman’s bookend of his long developed Sandman conceptual universe is making heads and tails of the myriad pathways that intertwine in the grand narrative. [more]

Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 24

Max Nestorowich — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 11:00:43 +0000

Hellblazer, Part 24" title="Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 24" style="float:left;" />Issue #28 “Thicker Than Water” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Ron Tiner & Kevin Walker Colors: Tom Zuiko Letters: Gaspar Saladino Cover: Kent Williams Following the brief tenure of Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman on the… [more]

Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 17

Max Nestorowich — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 12:00:53 +0000

Hellblazer, Part 17" title="Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 17" style="float:left;" />Issue #19 “The Broken Man” Writer: Jamie Delano Art: Mark Buckingham, Alfredo Alcala Colors: Lovern Kindzierski Letters: Elitta Fell Cover: Dave McKean Due to the length of The Fear Machine, 9 consecutive issues, much of… [more]

Superheroes in the Autopsy Room or: How a TV Star Tried to Save my Life

Greg Carpenter — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 12:00:48 +0000

As I write this week’s column, it’s New Year’s Day—that one magical holiday when most of us sit around following a week of indulgences and resolve to do all manner of great things. It’s one… [more]

Breaking the Silence: How Comics Visualize Sound

Eric Wong — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:00:04 +0000

Of all the elements defining comics, the most paradoxical is that it is a silent medium that nonetheless has sound represented. Comics are in the peculiar position of needing to imply sounds through images, making… [more]

A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #4 Review

Stuart Warren — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:00:30 +0000

Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #4 Review" title="A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #4 Review" style="float:left;" />Written by: Neil Gaiman Art by: J.H. Williams, III Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Variant Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean The long awaited Sandman Overture #4 has arrived, just in time… [more]

A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #3 Review

Stuart Warren — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 19:00:02 +0000

Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #3 Review" title="A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #3 Review" style="float:left;" />Written by: Neil Gaiman Art by: J.H. Williams, III Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Variant Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Since its genesis in the long distant past of December 2013,… [more]

Why Aren’t Horror Comics Scary?

Matthew Amylon — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 15:00:11 +0000

Six months out from its announcement at 2014’s Image Expo, we’re still waiting for a solicitation on Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham’s “The Nameless,” a book that I can guarantee you, based on those two… [more]

The Lion, the Witch, and The Art of Neil Gaiman

Greg Carpenter — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 11:00:26 +0000

The Art of Neil Gaiman" title="The Lion, the Witch, and The Art of Neil Gaiman" style="float:left;" />Does Neil Gaiman ever get into your dreams? I don’t mean literal dreams where you toss and turn in the middle of the night and wake up convinced that the Goodyear Blimp is being piloted… [more]

The Sandman Overture #2 Review

Stuart Warren — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:00:16 +0000

The Sandman Overture #2 Review" title="The Sandman Overture #2 Review" style="float:left;" />Written by: Neil Gaiman Art by: J.H. Williams, III Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Variant Cover by: J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Rating: 9 (of 10) After two delays and much anticipation, the… [more]

Sandman #75: How It Ends, and Begins

Stuart Warren — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 11:00:16 +0000

Sandman #75: How It Ends, and Begins" title="Sandman #75: How It Ends, and Begins" style="float:left;" />What made Shakespeare famous was his ability to pen adaptations. This salacious fact draws from his purloining of content from long dead authors, incapable of making too much of a fuss, though some noticed. Gaiman,… [more]

Sandman: Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit — Hope for the Exile

Stuart Warren — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 11:00:52 +0000

Sandman: Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit — Hope for the Exile" title="Sandman: Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit — Hope for the Exile" style="float:left;" />The words of Ovid’s Metamorphoses bear the emblematic slogan of Sandman #74, the second to last Sandman of it’s original run: “Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit.” Gaiman’s translation of the phrase in the comic is “Everything… [more]

Sandman: “The Wake” — In which a Funeral and Wedding Occur

Stuart Warren — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 11:00:53 +0000

Sandman: “The Wake” — In which a Funeral and Wedding Occur" title="Sandman: “The Wake” — In which a Funeral and Wedding Occur" style="float:left;" />The final, enigmatic issues of the Sandman emulate a diverse response to the death of the titular Dream. Though there are still two issues left to go in the Sandman series proper, this here is… [more]

Death of a Dream – “The Kindly Ones” Conclusion

Stuart Warren — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:00:50 +0000

The Kindly Ones ends much how it starts. There is a haunting momentum that drives the story forward, and yet it is clear how this narrative energy is spilling over from the entirety of the… [more]

Dream in Conflict: “The Kindly Ones,” Chapters 7-9

Stuart Warren — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 12:00:50 +0000

It is revealed in The Kindly Ones Part 8 that the identity of the furies has lain in the titular designation all along. When Lyta Hall comes upon them in a solitary shack, deep in… [more]

Justifying Deicide: Lyta Hall’s Feminist Journey in “The Kindly Ones”

Stuart Warren — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:00:48 +0000

The final arc of Sandman proceeds to bookend the series with cameos and homages to earlier plots. The feel here is different from previous arcs; Gaiman explains elements as they come, rather than holding back… [more]

Development of the Spiritual Psychosis: “The Kindly Ones,” Chapters 1-3

Stuart Warren — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:00:38 +0000

After absconding to an inn outside the bound of time and reality, Gaiman takes the reader on to the final arc that constitutes The Sandman (discounting the coda material The Wake). The first three issues… [more]

On Canons, Critics, Consensus, and Comics, Part 2

Greg Carpenter — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 18:00:35 +0000

As I explained in last week’s column, I recently asked my fellow Sequart contributors to answer the following question: “What are the 10 greatest works in the history of the comics medium, and who are the… [more]

The Power Cosmic Screams: The Death of Reality in Sandman #56

Stuart Warren — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 12:00:39 +0000

Sandman #56" title="The Power Cosmic Screams: The Death of Reality in Sandman #56" style="float:left;" />The Worlds’ End Inn: here, reality goes to die. That is the conclusion one can draw after finishing Sandman #56. Existing outside of time, this nexus of infinite zeitgeist is constantly being remade and destroyed… [more]

Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1, Part 3

Matthew Kirshenblatt — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 12:00:50 +0000

Sandman: Overture #1, Part 3" title="Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1, Part 3" style="float:left;" />The next segment of The Sandman Overture Issue #1 doesn’t have a very auspicious beginning. Pages twenty-five and twenty-six open up into a spread with Morpheus flying towards his Castle and his Dreaming kingdom: now… [more]

Our Dearly Departed: Mortality and Death in “Cerements”

Stuart Warren — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 12:00:37 +0000

There is an inside joke at the beginning of Hamlet that few catch. Shakespeare, well known for his wit and narrative charm, deals with religion quite frequently in his plays. This is to be expected… [more]

Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1, Part 2

Matthew Kirshenblatt — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 12:00:49 +0000

Sandman: Overture #1, Part 2" title="Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1, Part 2" style="float:left;" />In the next part of The Sandman Overture Issue #1, we now get to focus on Morpheus’ tools in trade: dreams. After transitioning to page fourteen, what we have waiting for us is something that… [more]

Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1

Matthew Kirshenblatt — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 12:00:48 +0000

Sandman: Overture #1" title="Flowers, Fire, and Dreams in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Overture #1" style="float:left;" />An overture is traditionally the opening or introduction to an opera. Yet if anything in the past twenty-five or so years of the comics medium can be compared to an opera–as a masterpiece made up… [more]

Let Us Worship the Golden Boy: Gaiman’s Teen Prez Messiah

Stuart Warren — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:00:36 +0000

Patriotism is difficult to define. There is no true article or concept of what patriotism is. It can, in the hearts and minds of the common man, come to signify a love for one’s country,… [more]

The Sandman Overture #1 Review

Stuart Warren — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 12:00:48 +0000

The Sandman Overture #1 Review" title="The Sandman Overture #1 Review" style="float:left;" />The Sandman Overture #1 Written by Neil Gaiman Art by J.H. Williams, III Cover by J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Variant Cover by J.H. Williams, III Dave McKean Published by DC/VERTIGO Comics Rating: 10 (of 10) The Sandman takes… [more]

Hob’s Leviathan and Other Fantastic Stories

Stuart Warren — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:00:38 +0000

A burial at sea holds so many secrets. The sea, or open waters, have upheld a strange significance in the hearts and minds of passengers, sailors, and captains alike. With satellite imaging and advanced cartography… [more]

Aurelia, Restitutor Orbis: Meddling with Sovereignty in Sandman #52

Stuart Warren — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 11:00:33 +0000

Sandman #52" title="Aurelia, Restitutor Orbis: Meddling with Sovereignty in Sandman #52" style="float:left;" />“Cluracan’s Tale” marks the second installment of single, one-shot style issues in the Worlds’ End story cycle in the Sandman. Exhibiting the wit of the Faerie and the corruption of Man, Cluracan’s yarn advances a… [more]

“Life on the Edge”: In Which a Man Named Robert Finds Himself Stuck in a City

Stuart Warren — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:00:03 +0000

Sandman has fostered its reputation as a staple in the Horror genre since its conception, often executing stories and fables instigating the subtle and unnerving fear lurking in the modest and mundane. Gaiman’s style, very… [more]

Empire of the Sun: The Golden Age of Islam in Sandman’s “Ramadan”

Stuart Warren — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:00:49 +0000

Sandman’s “Ramadan”" title="Empire of the Sun: The Golden Age of Islam in Sandman’s “Ramadan”" style="float:left;" />The previous installments of Distant Mirrors dealt with the cult of government, prospective rulers at the behest of their citizens, blindly careening through history. Caesar Augustus blazed trails, setting into motion the wheels of modern… [more]

Solidarity of Identity Founded in Change: “Brief Lives,” Chapter 7-9

Stuart Warren — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:00:47 +0000

The weight and emotional draw of the Brief Lives narrative arc is massive, serving perhaps as the long awaited catharsis for Dream’s inner anguish. Yet it also offers something new, albeit profound: Dream has changed,… [more]

Typically Endless: The Distance Between Gods and Men in “Brief Lives,” Chapters 4-6

Stuart Warren — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:00:46 +0000

Sandman’s Brief Lives follows closely with its former, titular predecessor penned by John Aubrey. His work, which compiles the veritable who’s who of the Western Enlightenment from 17th century Europe, succeeds at creating a window… [more]

Coping by Change: Sandman’s “Brief Lives,” Chapters 1-3

Stuart Warren — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:00:02 +0000

Sandman’s “Brief Lives,” Chapters 1-3" title="Coping by Change: Sandman’s “Brief Lives,” Chapters 1-3" style="float:left;" />Investigating the corpus of Gaiman’s literary contributions draws fruitful results when contemplating his creative process. Earlier works often foreshadow later ones, the latter being throwbacks to ideas at their genesis, now fully developed theses. American… [more]

Song of Death: The Tragedy of Dream’s Only Begotten Son

Stuart Warren — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:00:08 +0000

Through the Sandman, one recurring theme endures that tempers the fantasy offered by Gaiman and his titular protagonist. This is deconstructing the fantastic and popularizing ancient tales into pedestrian tongues. He is contextualizing tales culturally… [more]

Archetypes of Conflict: Weaponized Narratives in “Parliament of Rooks”

Stuart Warren — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:00:20 +0000

“How does the story end?” is a legitimate, but not often enough asked, inquiry of our narratives. Imagine any fairy tale. The Tortoise and the Hare embodies the weathered adage, “slow and steady wins the… [more]

Sandman’s Soft Places: Travelogue Through the Dreaming

Stuart Warren — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:00:26 +0000

Sandman’s Soft Places: Travelogue Through the Dreaming" title="Sandman’s Soft Places: Travelogue Through the Dreaming" style="float:left;" />Corporeality is overrated in the comic book multiverse. Grant Morrison’s theoretical conceptualizations of the infinite reality have interwoven themselves through the vein of modern storytelling, but Gaiman’s play on this concept is also well documented… [more]

The Old World: Comics and Cultural Reclamation in Sandman #38

Stuart Warren — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 11:00:44 +0000

Sandman #38" title="The Old World: Comics and Cultural Reclamation in Sandman #38" style="float:left;" />Worthy expressions of folk myth are few and far between in the mainstream media, but persist as the most iconic means of contemporary storytelling. At the conclusion of A Game Of You, Gaiman introduces a… [more]

Those that Lead the Blind: Gaiman on Government

Stuart Warren — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:00:30 +0000

Mirrors show us a reflection and repose in stasis. We can reflect upon it, perhaps adjust our appearance to fit our whim, but ultimately the mirror captures more than just personal imagery—it captures our essence.… [more]

Ascending the Throne: Dream’s Return to Dominance in Sandman #25-28

Stuart Warren — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:00:12 +0000

Sandman #25-28" title="Ascending the Throne: Dream’s Return to Dominance in Sandman #25-28" style="float:left;" />Obligation to duty is an odd way of exacting revenge for a condemned archangel. Thus far in Season of Mists, Gaiman’s philosophy of duty and right work ethic encircles the conundrum of Lucifer’s Miltonian Hell,… [more]

Sandman #21-24: Expanding Cosmologies and Dream’s Spiritual Subjugation

Stuart Warren — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:00:54 +0000

Sandman #21-24: Expanding Cosmologies and Dream’s Spiritual Subjugation" title="Sandman #21-24: Expanding Cosmologies and Dream’s Spiritual Subjugation" style="float:left;" />In the forward to The Absolute Sandman, Volume One Paul Levitz quipped that Sandman was an unfolding dialectic that narrowed the lines between folk tale and myth. Since the beginning of this narrative, Levitz speculated… [more]

Portrait of a Serial Murderer

Stuart Warren — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:00:07 +0000

Conventions exist to bring people together, even serial killers. At least that is the spin put on them in Sandman #14: “Collectors.” Those familiar with Gaiman’s catalog can attest to the diversity of his corpus,… [more]

Gaiman’s Fortunate Men: A Humanizing Tale of Time Well Spent

Stuart Warren — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:00:25 +0000

The words of John Donne’s Death be not Proud are Neil Gaiman’s badge of honor. “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful for thou art not so,” the emboldened meter… [more]

The Other Egg of the Phoenix: Understanding the 50th Issue of Sandman

Harry Edmundson-Cornell — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:00:11 +0000

Sandman" title="The Other Egg of the Phoenix: Understanding the 50th Issue of Sandman" style="float:left;" />Neil Gaiman is one of the most renowned living comic book writers, and one of the most popular authors currently working. He is best known for his long lasting Vertigo series, Sandman, but he has… [more]

Sandman #1-8: Preambles and Introductions, Full of Sound and Fury

Stuart Warren — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:00:52 +0000

Sandman #1-8: Preambles and Introductions, Full of Sound and Fury" title="Sandman #1-8: Preambles and Introductions, Full of Sound and Fury" style="float:left;" />Paul Levitz once said Sandman is about storytelling, and the point by which it vacillates between mere tales and pithy sayings to the grand myth it is today. DC is full of heroes, truth be… [more]

Abstract-Empire-China: must there be a Sandman?

Shathley Q — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 16:04:48 +0000

I am being slightly humorous with the choice of title of course, but I wish to evoke the sense that the politics in this essay have been negotiated before, in a different context. The piece… [more]

Old Worlds For New

Shathley Q — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 14:36:48 +0000

What interests me most about comics is directly, the medium itself. I came to this realization by something of a hard road. Ad astra, per aspera.About fifteen years ago, I remember attempting the, even-now, Herculean… [more]

Memoir in Ben-Day Dots

Julian Darius — Wed, 16 Apr 2003 11:00:20 +0000

I can’t recall the first comic I ever read. I’m sure they featured in my early childhood, as my family has tattered old Donald Duck and other Gladstone comics to prove it. There were also, to… [more]

The Cult of the Writer

Julian Darius — Sun, 25 Aug 2002 11:00:33 +0000

One of the major phenomena occurring in American comic books in the last two decades has been the cult of the writer, often in competition with the cult of the artist or illustrator. Various years… [more]

A Brief Consideration of Gaiman’s Usage of Lucifer in The Sandman

Julian Darius — Mon, 20 May 2002 11:00:02 +0000

The Sandman" title="A Brief Consideration of Gaiman’s Usage of Lucifer in The Sandman" style="float:left;" />Before he had his own ongoing series, Lucifer came to prominence in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. But Gaiman’s Lucifer went through three very different depictions, somewhat inconsistent with one another. The angelic appearance of Lucifer… [more]

The State of American Comics Address, 2002

Julian Darius — Sat, 02 Feb 2002 17:00:53 +0000

The American comic book industry, as an economic institution, is doing terribly. Artistically, however, this will be remembered as a fairly good period. Many mainstream titles are selling less than 20,000 copies; a few even… [more]