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Wordly Obsessions

~ … the occasional ramblings of a book addict …

Wordly Obsessions

Tag Archives: greek mythology

Summer Reads #2 – The Sandman Saga by Neil Gaiman

10 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Authors, Book Review, Philosophy/ Religion, summer reading, Uncategorized

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american gods, book review, books, christianity, comic books, coraline, god of dreams, greek mythology, literature, mirrormask, moirai, morpheus, mythology, Neil Gaiman, ramadan, Reading, religion, stardust, the kindly ones, The Sandman, the three fates, Vertigo Jam


the kindly ones

According to Neil Gaiman, if the Moirai (the Three Fates) lived among us, they would be harmless old cat ladies with a penchant for yarn-bombing.

 

This year I managed to complete the Sandman Saga, which was a big one for me, because after reading a lot of Neil Gaiman, I was still undecided on how I felt about him and his writing.

He’s one of these authors who is gifted and has a prolific output of work – the man can turn his hand to anything literary and make a success of it. The Sandman comics have also long been touted as his magnum opus, but I just didn’t have the time to get through it due to work commitments.

But 2018 was the year for it, and I’m sooooo glad I got through this, because it was AMAZING! Neil Gaiman is everything they say he is – an absolute genius.

If like me, you weren’t that particularly impressed with Coraline, Mirrormask, Stardust or found American Gods to be too steep and cryptic in terms of plot and character development, then The Sandman Saga is definitely for you.

In my humble opinion, this has to be Gaiman’s biggest achievement. In it he display’s his amazing prowess and knowledge of world mythology; creates a world where all gods, of all races across all times exist in the here and now, some as faint echoes and others as living amongst us, unbeknownst to us. In a way, The Sandman is not just about the adventures of Morpheus the Dream-God (one of the Eternals); it is through his interactions with humans, his losses and gains, his victories and calamities that Gaiman puts together a meta-mythology, a place where all gods are a figment of human imagination and exist as long as we exist.

I love this idea – it’s fresh, new, and something that he goes into in great detail in American Gods where he explores how ancient gods gain new grounds through the diasporas of different peoples’ across the ages, and how genocides are enough to wipe out the existence of others. It is powerful in that it puts the existence of faith into the hands of story-telling. The gods travel and stay tethered to survival through our stories. According to Gaiman, without the tradition of oral story-telling, our gods would come to naught. Being a story-teller, I like this idea, a lot!

Thus I found Sandman to be a bibliophile’s delight, because Morpheus, the god of dreams is the ultimate storyteller. He controls the gateway to the subconscious, he is a merciful god to a certain extent, yet when the world of dreams is in flux (as it is when we are first introduced to him in Preludes and Nocturnes issue #1), it causes chaos in the human world.

The saga begins when a group of Occultists (among them, the infamous Aleister Crowley) gather to summon and entrap Death itself. Their little parlour game goes awry and instead of entrapping Death, they manage to snag Death’s twin brother, Dream. Morpheus, therefore begins his 70 year confinement at the hands of these occultists, which results in terrible consequences for people around the world. Some fall asleep never to wake up again, others die stark raving mad because of their inability to sleep, others are subjected to terrible nightmares that are endless. In short, the world is thrown into flux, but the Lord of Dreams finally finds a way to escape his fate as a ‘genie in the lamp’, and must begin a journey across space and time, and between worlds to claim back the power that was seized in his absence.

This is of course, just the beginning of the saga. So much more happens, and I can’t remember a time when I was so engrossed by mythology as I was with this series. It has made my understanding and appreciation of American Gods much more meaningful as I see now what Gaiman was trying to do.

The Sandman was him playing in the sand pit. He stated himself that the series made him grow as a writer as he became bolder with his world-building, and with those amazing connections he makes between character and the series.

My favourite issues comprise of the stand-alone Ramadan, which has a very 1001 nights flavour to it and the masterful way he put together The Kindly Ones, the penultimate volume to the saga, where he explores the potency of the female in mythology. The Kindly Ones as they are referred to, assume the avatar of the mother, the lover, the female scorned. The way he portrays the Three Fates and the alchemy of feminine ‘madness’ was especially breath-taking.

I’ve made up my mind: Neil Gaiman truly is one of a kind.

I can only hope to meet him in person one day and listen to his pearls of wisdom about writing.

NOTE: Special mention to the illustrator David McKean, whose illustrated the front covers for each volume. His style artfully illustrated the nightmare and the dreamscape of Morpheus’ world. But if you look carefully past the disturbing nature of his images, you will see a balance of symbolism, which like a dowling rod divines the very heart of each volume and issue. A wonderful collaboration.

 

 

 

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Book Review | ‘Marvels’ by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

15 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Book Review

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Tags

alex ross, civil war, comic books, frankenstein, greek mythology, Human Torch, john milton, kurt busiek, mark millar, Marvel, mary shelley, paradise lost, prometheus, science fiction, victor frankenstein, violence


MarvelsMarvels by Kurt Busiek

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here’s yet another graphic novel with an explosive cast, another ‘alternative’ view on superheroes. But unlike Millar’s ‘Civil War’, the ‘Marvels’ creators Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross get the art AND the storyline spot on. This time the story actually works and I think that may have something to do with the fact that not only are they putting the reader firmly in the place of ‘helpless spectator’, but cementing this angle with a narrator who (by default) is in that situation too.

Meet Phil Sheldon, a rookie photojournalist who recounts first-hand experiences and close encounters with the ‘otherly race’. Sheldon is unique in that he witnessed the initial advent of these synthetic gods and takes us not only through their creation and evolution, but also conveys the hopes and fears their presence triggered among mankind. Initially hailed and feared as gods, they are later reviled, and then supported as heroes only to fall yet again in the eyes of the public. This is a complex story to tell, especially from the perspective of your average American citizen who is struggling with his own inner demons.

As a character Sheldon was extremely likeable. I found that he added credibility from both a professional and private stance. Him being a photojournalist meant we really COULD look at things through a ‘lens’ of sorts, and experience what the average person would feel if a world full of unruly superheroes was our everyday reality. Too many graphic novels glorify superheroes; make them the safe, good guys. At least here there is a questioning of motives and a look at the destruction that they leave in their wake and what this really means for normal people.

Other aspects of the book I applaud is the literary nod in the direction of Mary Shelley, as Busiek cleverly parallels the legendary creation of Frankenstein’s monster with that of ‘The Human Torch’. The panels are artfully done, and the short history of ‘The Human Torch’ really does strike a mixed chord of terror, pity and sympathy.

Using ‘The Human Torch’ was a stroke of genius, as the little known second title of ‘Frankenstein’ is in fact ‘The Modern Prometheus’. For those that don’t know, Prometheus is famous in Greek myth as the man who stole fire from the gods and was duly punished for his transgression. Needless to say, this ties in very nicely with the Busiek’s ‘homage’ to Shelley and also (maybe I’m reading too much into it) Milton’s Paradise Lost, as angel’s are purported to be made of ‘holy fire’, which makes ‘The Human Torch’ the perfect character to use.

I don’t want to give away the story too much, but it is definitely worth a read. I was especially amused by a section at the back of the book that showed how the creators captured poses by using models (usually themselves, family and friends) to make the characters more realistic. The colour scheme suited the 1950’s feel of the story/ setting giving it a retro effect that I thoroughly enjoyed.

One thing: I would dearly like to know what happened to the alien-faced girl. She was a great character and I still feel very sorry for her, but she just disappeared from the story without a trace. Very frustrating. Please, if anybody knows about her, let me know!

View all my reviews

Related articles
  • Superheroes/The Scale of Problems (aproposofanything.wordpress.com)
  • Robot Roulette | Kurt Busiek (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
  • Alan Moore and Superfolks Part 2: The Case for the Defence (comicsbeat.com)
  • Artist Feature – Alex Ross (printsblog.com)
  • Cleopatra (worldofblackheroes.com)

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