"Young Liars V3 by Lapham"
They traded the whole series? Awesome. I have the singles (strewn about) and I am going to get the trades now. I am glad I experienced it monthly. I am glad it was enjoyable in trade format to you. Outstanding comics there.
Sandman Mystery Theater v1 by Wagner and Davis
-Years ago, I read the acclaimed Phantom of the Fair arc, but wasn't overly impressed. I thought I'd give the series another shot, and I'm glad I did. The most ntoable element of this arc is the perspective; Dian Belmont is more the protagonist than Wesley Dodds or the Sandman. Dodds does act as narrator at times and may have more face time than Belmont, but the reader is kept at arms length from him, there's not real entry into his pysche or motivations (aside from his being smitten with Belmont). It's an interesting even daring choice for a superhero comic to take, and one that has me looking forward to reading more.
Can anyone clarify why Sandman:MT is a Vertigo title though? Was DC just unwilling to publish a non-Code superhero comic from the mainline at the time?
Funny, but I loved the Phanton arc but was largely cold towards the rest of the series.
As for the reason it was Vertigo, partly it WAS a non-code superhero book (which is still a big deal at DC as far as their reluctance to publish non-code cape books, unless it's Wildstorm) as well as:
1. The fact that the series was published at a time when the JSA was completely persona non-grata within DC and publishing it in Vertigo (and largely downplaying all of the Golden Age super-hero stuff) was a way to get around the editorial fiat at the time that the JSA was franchise that was dead and worthless.
2. There was a haphazard attempt to tie the book to the Gaiman Sandman series (via the retcon that Dood's dreams were the result of Morpheus being imprisoned fucking up people's ability to dream) and making it Vertigo allowed them to half-assedly "protect" the "Sandman" trademark via keeping the book in-Vertigo.
"As for the reason it was Vertigo, partly it WAS a non-code superhero book (which is still a big deal at DC as far as their reluctance to publish non-code cape books, unless it's Wildstorm)"
Most, if not all, of DC's line has been non-Code for ages now.
"1. The fact that the series was published at a time when the JSA was completely persona non-grata within DC and publishing it in Vertigo (and largely downplaying all of the Golden Age super-hero stuff) was a way to get around the editorial fiat at the time that the JSA was franchise that was dead and worthless.
2. There was a haphazard attempt to tie the book to the Gaiman Sandman series (via the retcon that Dood's dreams were the result of Morpheus being imprisoned fucking up people's ability to dream) and making it Vertigo allowed them to half-assedly "protect" the "Sandman" trademark via keeping the book in-Vertigo."
Good points.
I'll have to check when I get home to sure, but I remember the Morpheus/Wesley Dodds connection happened in the first issue of SANDMAN, long before SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER or even SANDMAN MIDNIGHT THEATER. It wasn't really much of a tie-in since it took place in one panel, but MIDNIGHT THEATER later on fleshed out the connection a bit more.
Yes.
Three panels, events of 1939.
"The universe knows someone is missing and slowly attempts to replace him" "Wesley Dodds nightmares have stopped since he started going out at night."
"He puts evil people to sleep ..." "The idea came to him in his sleep."
"He doesn't dream about the man in the strange helmet any more. No more burning eyes."
And it's a retcon of the Wesley Dodds Sandman but there was loads of that deliberately incorporated in Gaiman's story of Morpheus.
Does anyone know if War of Kings Hardcover is out of print? Amazon just cancelled my order.
Ah! Thank you. All I could remember was the panel of Dodds sitting in a chair.
Midnight Theater is included in the Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days collection, and not in any SMT collections proper, IIRC.
Anyone remember how Kevin Smith crowbared a Morpheus cameo into Green Arrow?
Anyone remember how Kevin Smith crowbared a Morpheus cameo into Green Arrow?
I forgot about Kevin Smith's horrible run and would like to keep it that way.
I think Sandman Mystery Theatre also was released when Vertigo started as an imprint, they may have thought it would increase sales by having it as Vertigo.
Cheers,
Mark
When Vertigo started, it was a blanket imprint for, basically, books Karen Berger's editing. It grew out of Berger's contemporary horror revival, then about 5 or 6 years old, which itself was a result of the success of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. So the reason it was Vertigo was that DC wouldn't have published something like that at all except that it came through Berger's part of the shop.
--Alex
Sandman Mystery Theatre V2: The Face and the Brute by Wagner
Sandman Mysery Theatre V3: The Vamp by Wagner, Seagle, and Davis
-All three stories are pretty good, though the Brute is the weakest of the three. V2 misses Davis's art something fierce, the artists for it have little personality or ability by comparison. I've been a fan of Davis since reading the Marquis TPBs back when Oni was publishing it, but The Vamp is some of the storngest work I've seen from him (the Marquis aside).
Wagner (and Seagle) continue to hold Dodds at arm's length from the series and use Dian Belmont as the focal point for the series. 16 issues in, and Dodds is still almost as much a mystery to the reader to Belmont. It's impressive. The only hint of his secrets have been references to his time in Asia and a disturbing reaction when Belmont touches his Sandman fetish (I assume that's what it is).
Sandman MT V4: The Scorpion by Wagner, Seagle, and Davis
Sandman MT V5: Dr. Death and the Butcher by Wagner, Seagle, Davis, and Locke
-Belmont solves the mystery of the Sandman's identity during the Scorpion, and confronts Dodds about it during Dr. Death, leading to Dodds finally talking abit about why he's driven to dress up in a costume and fight crime. She leaves him after the discussion, leading to an itneresting reversal in the Butcher arc, where the focus switches to Dodds for once and Belmont haunts the periphery of the story.
The Butcher arc also breaks with a major established convention of the series, as through that point, every case was connected to Belmont, and was one element that was frankly becoming more than a little contrived. I've also found myself wishing the mysteries were a little more, well, mysterious (the Butcher again is notable for not being a mystery. The killer is apparently a hillbilly living in the NYC sewers). I had doubts about the identity of the Scorpion merely because it seemed too obvious, even for a series that hasn't really gone out of its way to create elaborate mysteries.
The slightly tired conventions of the title (probably exaggerated by reading so much of it in a row), the Dr. Death arc is a real standout, despite only having Davis on layouts. The main story is deftly interwoven with Belmont and Dodds personal drama, and the relationship between Dr. Death and Belmont's cousin is one of the series's more eye-opneing look at 1930s mores versus current ones.
Question: During "The Butcher," Dodds talks a bit about seeing a Eugene O'Neill play with an ex-girlfriend. It's a vague discussion and there don't seem to be any specifics. Of his work, I'm only familiar with the Iceman Cometh and A Long Day's Journey Into Night; Wagner and Seagle definately aren't alluding to the latter (unless it's anachronistic reference), Iceman is the most contemporary play to when the story is set, but prior to the series starting. ANyone have any idea if Wagner and Seagle meant to be specific?
Shade, the Changing Man Vol. 2: the Edge of Vision- can I finally just say it? Bachalo always sucked. Bill Jaaska's story was the best one in this. BILL JAASKA!
Aside from this, it's a generally nice combo of early Alan Moore influences with Milligan's own skewed perspective on American life, stronger when dealing with diversions like the one in issue #10 and Lenny than on the overall arc, which is still going at the end.
...can I finally just say it? Bachalo always sucked.
You're high. 1) It's early Bachalo in this volume and he was still feeling his way around, 2) Mark Pennington's inking at the time didn't do Bachalo any favors, and 3) both Bachalo and Pennington improve over the course of their run on SHADE.
Yeah, Bachalo's stuff peaks around Shade 30 or so, I think.
No way! He did the best work of his career on Generation-X by my reckoning.
I think having Mark Buckingham inking him helped a lot to rein in the OTT ultra-dense linework that we've seen more recently (eg Carey's X-run and the WTF-is-going-on STEAMPUNK.)
But then I <3 Buckingham so...
Yeah, his second run on Gen-X was outstandingly bonkers.
Was that when he switched to drawing more cartoony bodies with less excess of lines? It was nice, and less confusing than Steampunk and his Uncanny run. His best work was on the Age of Apoc Generation Next - the brutal, bandana-sporting Colossus was damn neat.
It was following on from Age of Apoc but before Steampunk. Clean lines, detailed borders and frames, but yet to descend into the MOAR DETAILS bugfuckery.
He seemed to transition a fair bit during Gen-X. Started out like this:
Then changed from his Shade style to a new one like this:
Then went a bit mad with proportions to produce, around the time of Bastion and the Sentinels:
Which is similar to the style he's stuck with since, though less... cluttered.
I loved all the weird background patterns and white space he used.
Eoin
Adams inks over Bachalo, I think. When I looked at it, it screamed Adams, but the figures aren't anything like his style.
He does tend to compensate for his overly detailed art. Have you seen the Dark Avengers Annual he did? It's gorgeous, and he uses a lot of empty space on that. And he had a hand in the colours too, so made full use of that. It's one of the few comics I've seen recently that I genuinely liked the colouring on (most comics seem to look like they're coloured by an ADHD ridden 12yr old with a plug-in laden Photoshop). If you take the colours out of this page, it's spectacularly understated:
Bachalo's Generation X run is my favourite work by any comic artist.
I really dug his work on X-Men recently. I can't remember who was writing it, but it was when he was trading off art duties with Ramos.
I was struck by how I still really liked Bachalo's style, but Ramos' did nothing for me.