The Sandman: Endless Nights

Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Bill Sienkiewicz, Glenn Fabry, and Frank Quitely

Back when it was coming out each month, like most readers who were looking for more from their 90s comics than shoulder pads and leg pouches, Sandman was one of my favourite titles.  In a lot of ways, it was Gaiman's series, alongside books like Starman and Sandman Mystery Theatre that kept me going through what I've come to recognize as comics' Dark Ages.  When the series ended, I felt like Gaiman had brought things to a nice, complete close.  A few years later, when the Endless Nights anthology was announced, I felt no need to dive back into his world (kind of like how I feel about Before Watchmen now).  I wasn't sure that there was any need to return to these characters, as anything new that would be said about them would be ancillary to Gaiman's original design and vision.

And then, I completely forgot that this project ever existed, until I saw a copy at a used book store a month or so ago.

While my original assessment, that the book wouldn't add anything necessary to the story of Dream or his siblings held true, it was really very nice to revisit some of these old friends, and to reminisce about how much this comic meant to me at a certain point in my life.

The book holds seven stories, one for each of the Endless.  It opens on a Death story, drawn by P. Craig Russell.  Like most people who read Sandman for the first time in their late teens, I always had a bit of a crush on Death, as she was shown in this series, so it was nice to see her again, in a story that is kind of predictable, but beautiful (thanks to Russell).

The best story in this volume is the Dream one (illustrated by Miguelanxo Prado).  It is set a very long time ago, and does more than any other issue of the series to remind us that the Endless exist in the DC Universe (at least, pre-New 52 they did).  Dream takes a mortal lover with him to a meeting of stars, who have taken human form.  We meet Rao, and the star of Oa, as well as our own sun, although he is still very young.  The story is full of interesting little Easter eggs for long-time readers, but also does a good job of reminding us what a bit of a tool Dream is.

This whole book has incredible art in it, from Bill Sienkiewicz's trippy Delirium story, to Barron Storey's haunting portraits of Despair.  Glenn Fabry's never been a favourite artist of mine, but his Destruction story works quite well, as does Milo Manara's story about Desire (who better?).  Frank Quitely's work on the Destiny story is beautiful, but the tale itself is just an epilogue to the book that isn't necessary at all.  I guess it's hard to write about a character like Destiny.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and am now very tempted to re-read the entire Sandman series; something I've always wanted to do, but haven't been able to invest the time in.  I'm curious to see how they stand up now.

Greatest Hits #6

Written by David Tischman
Art by Glenn Fabry and Gary Erskine

For the most part, I have enjoyed this series about a documentary film-maker who is manipulated into making a film about Britain (and America's) greatest super-hero team, The Mates, who were filmed and accompanied by his estranged father. The book's constant flipping back and forth between the present, interviews from the documentary, and flashbacks to the past gave it a documentary feel, and I enjoyed the realistic portrayal of a group of heroes who both changed with, and were a product of, their times.

I felt that this last issue was a little flat and anti-climactic though. Much was made over the last two issues of the secret that was discovered about Archie Suggs, the newsman who is Nick's father, but it is not mentioned in this issue at all. The resolution to Nick's story and issues makes sense, but is lacking in dramatic force.

The art on this title has been surprisingly good. I've never been a fan of Fabry's covers, where many of his characters, to me, don't look like the people inside the book (Hellblazer!), but his interiors work well in a Steve Dillon sort of way. I do have to question why, over a couple of pages where Nick is talking to his ex-girlfriend, so much panel space is given over to a fat guy who's dog takes a dump on the sidewalk. It made me feel like I was reading Mad Magazine.

Overall, this is a good title, which would read well in trade format.

Greatest Hits #5

Written by David Tischman
Art by Glenn Fabry and Gary Erskine

I've been enjoying this series, but I found this issue to be a little off somehow - I'm just not sure how exactly. The revelation of what happened on the spaceship didn't do much for me, and I'm finding that more and more I dislike the character of Nick.

What saved this issue though is the scene where the Solicitor and Soul Sister cast themselves as the super-hero John and Yoko, appearing naked for a press conference where they reveal their identities (although for some reason the Solicitor kept his weird goggles on).

There have been a lot of great ideas and concepts in this series - I feel like a few more passes over the script could have made this title fantastic.

Greatest Hits #4

Written by David Tischman
Art by Glenn Fabry and Gary Erskine

I've been enjoying this series more as it's developed. I found the first issue to jump from scene to scene very quickly, making it difficult to understand who the characters were or when a given scene was happening. As the issues have come along, I found the rhythm for the book, and have liked the way Tischman has portrayed the classic super hero team, if they were Brits in the '60s who moved to the States.

I don't as a rule like Fabry's covers, and this is what almost kept me from buying the book, but his interior art is much easier on the eyes, and reminds me quite a bit of Steve Dillon (Preacher Dillon, not Wolverine Origins Dillon).

This issue leaves us ready to learn the secret of what happened to The Mates (great team name) in space, and subsequently, why they broke up as a team. Next issue should make or break the series, based on what this secret is.