Hal Phillips

14 Jun 2013

I transcribed a Neil Gaiman interview from 1993 that wasn't online anywhere.

I liked this interview a lot when it came out. I was 14 and at my most impressionable in all the right ways. I was only faintly aware of Neil Gaiman as someone I might want to go become a fan of, and I remember this interview inspiring me to read Sandman. (I think it also inspired me to get really into Elvis Costello.)

I was sad to see that it wasn’t online, so now it is. It’s a nice time capsule. Sandman was current. Ice-T references were topical. Everything was nice.

20 May 2013

My favorite moment in Sandman, from the finale by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. The first time you read Sandman, you realize early on that while Morpheus is ostensibly the lead character, he’s seldom the most interesting. You don’t dislike him, but he doesn’t stand out. Several of the best stories barely even involve him. Then you get to the ending, and you see how the entirety of Sandman ties together into one big thing— a story about stories. You understand Morpheus’s role. You get what’s really going on. You catch how borderline meta the whole thing has been, with Morpheus representing Neil Gaiman more than might have been obvious. You figure out how central of a character Morpheus was, even when he was nowhere to be seen. “I am prince of stories… but I have no story of my own. Nor shall I ever.” And then, when you go back and read Sandman again with this in mind, it’s different. Better. Sadder, but happier. And that’s when Morpheus becomes your favorite character.

My favorite moment in Sandman, from the finale by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.

The first time you read Sandman, you realize early on that while Morpheus is ostensibly the lead character, he’s seldom the most interesting. You don’t dislike him, but he doesn’t stand out. Several of the best stories barely even involve him.

Then you get to the ending, and you see how the entirety of Sandman ties together into one big thing— a story about stories. You understand Morpheus’s role. You get what’s really going on. You catch how borderline meta the whole thing has been, with Morpheus representing Neil Gaiman more than might have been obvious. You figure out how central of a character Morpheus was, even when he was nowhere to be seen.

“I am prince of stories… but I have no story of my own. Nor shall I ever.”

And then, when you go back and read Sandman again with this in mind, it’s different. Better. Sadder, but happier. And that’s when Morpheus becomes your favorite character.

6 Nov 2012

a nice bonus of Sandman is that talking about the Endless also sounds like you’re talking about the things they represent too

Delirium used to be my favorite, and Dream used to be boring. Now, Dream is my favorite and the one I relate to most, more than I realized. Delirium used to seem charming and fun, but now seems cutesy and grating sometimes. Destruction is still one of my favorites, but I’m less like Destruction than I like to think I am. And I like Death, but not as much as everybody else does.

Does that still work if you use lowercase “d”s?

22 Oct 2012

two quotations from neil gaiman’s bio at the end of sandman: endless nights that make me like him more

  1. He thinks the best graphic novel he ever wrote was Mr. Punch.
  2. He is listening to the Breeders’ Title TK on a battered iPod as he types this.

16 Oct 2012

Long Naps, Strudel, and Improvisation: Distant Mirrors: "Thermidor," "August" and "Three Septembers and a January"

emilyhoffman:

Before I begin writing about my reaction to these issues I would like to make note that I am following the order of stories as presented in The Absolute Sandman books. It has been explained to me that certain issues were published differently and therefore they are often put in strange places in…

The “August” issue is one of the first Sandman issues I read, and one of my favorites. Just one long philosophical conversation about the nature of power. When I was 15 and dazzled by the idea that comics could be about more than just people fighting, this was exactly what I wanted.

I also LOVE Bryan Talbot’s art in that one (and all of his Sandman art in general). The attention to detail is ridiculous. He drew page after page of two guys sitting and talking, and managed to keep it exciting, varying everything from their mannerisms to the people around them to little details like the accumulated garbage on the street. Easily one of my favorite Sandman artists.

Reblogged: emilyhoffman

12 Oct 2012

upon rereading

I like Delirium less than last time, and I like Dream more than last time.

10 Oct 2012

This page by Marc Hempel may be my favorite page from Sandman. I’d hang a framed copy of this on my wall.

This page by Marc Hempel may be my favorite page from Sandman. I’d hang a framed copy of this on my wall.

5 Oct 2012

The AV Club is going to start reviewing Sandman.

Good time for a reread (or a first read).

(Currently up to Worlds End in my own reread.)

Tags: Sandman. AV Club.

30 Aug 2012

“A Hope in Hell,” “Passengers,” and “24 Hours”

emilyhoffman:

I’m in. “24 Hours” was the story that did it for me. I find this series most interesting when it’s about bizarre slice of life/human experience things that just happen to have this sci-fi aspect going on too. I really liked “24 Hours” for that reason. The sci-fi/horror stuff was totally there but it didn’t feel like that was the point. Bette, the waitress who is also a writer but keeps her writing secret was a perfect character for me and the diner offered a great place to see lots of different people in different situations. I hope the series continues in this direction. 

I still feel like not being a real comic book nerd does put me at a minor disadvantage when reading this. I have enough cultural literacy that non of the references to other parts of the DC Universe are really throwing me but I feel like I could get a lot more out of them the allusions if I had a fuller understanding. Knowing everything is hard.

You’re going to get a lot more of the kinds of things you’ve been liking, and a lot less references to other DC stuff (as Sandman increasingly becomes its own thing in its own little world with its own fanbase). Disadvantage: fading. Enjoyment: scratching the surface.

Reblogged: emilyhoffman

29 Aug 2012

Dream a Little Dream of Me

emilyhoffman:

At this point I don’t really care too much about the Sandman character. I’m much more interested in the human emotional side of things than any science fiction of fantasy that sets a backdrop. So I liked John Constantine in this. I assume his presence would matter more to me if I had a full understanding of his place in the DC/Vertigo cannon, but whatever. I still found him interesting here.

Morpheus frequently feels like almost a side character.

Sandman overall is sometimes more human-y and sometimes more fantasy-y; I’m with you in liking the human bits more. (Gaiman’s great at that sort of thing.)

Constantine has his own separate thing going— don’t worry about it (although he’s a great character too, worth checking out if you liked him here). Sandman had more connections to other DC stuff early on, and then mostly dropped that as it came into its own.

It’s still going to get better! Those earliest issues were Gaiman trying stuff out, finding a voice, figuring out what Sandman was going to be. It’ll become that soon.

This post began life as a reply. Did you know there’s a character limit for replies? World’s crazy.

Reblogged: emilyhoffman