Hoping to evade the parking pontianak, I thought I’d spend a few minutes away from the carpark while she feeds. This in turn leads me to the library in its closing hours. I went up to the graphic novel section, and browsed. And there it was, the Absolute Sandman collection.
It was huge. It was like an ancient book. I’ve come across trade paperbacks of the Sandman series many times before but never a collection this big. It couldn’t fit my bag, or my bike. But I chose to borrow it.
I had wanted to read the Sandman for a long time but the art simply puts me off. Neil Gaiman is a great storyteller and like Vasquez and del Toro, I loved how his twisted mind churns out these kind of dark stories. And so I began reading it at home.
The Sandman is about the Sandman (obviously). He’s the king of the dreamworld, in case you’re not familiar with the term. He was ‘abducted’ from his realm by a cult who seeks to capture Death. And for 2 generations, he sat imprisoned in a glass cage, not giving in to the captor’s requests of immortality and other sick stuff. And finally he escapes, and he seeks to regain his inventory, and revenge. Of course, while the art pretty much sucks, the story telling is, as expected, excellent.
But what caught my eye and heart was how he said to the son of his dead captor, “You are lucky to have failed in capturing Death. Instead you have ensnared Death’s younger brother.”
This goes to show how fearsome Death would’ve been. Dream (the sandman’s other name) is already quite scary.
The other cool thing is that it takes place in the DC universe and there’s a cameo of the Martian Manhunter, and other members of the Justice League, although in a very unexpected fashion. And there’s Constantine in the book too.
I’ve read almost half of the volume. And when it came to the part where he meets Death, I wanted to stop to build the anticipation.
The thing is, I’ve read Death: the High Cost of Living. Also by Gaiman. And it’s really great. So I already know who Death is gonna be. It’s a she. And she’s probably the coolest goth chick ever. This whole fantasy thing is cool, but it’s nothing like the real thing. Gotta always keep that in mind. Sort of a leash on your mind while you let it go wondering.
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