25 Neil Gaiman: The Sandman
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Evan Hayles Gledhill
Abstract
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman ran for seven years as a monthly serial in the 90s, resulting in an initial ten volumes of collected tales, and a story spanning thousands of years of human history told through the perspectives of humans, cats, gods and monsters. Gaiman’s collaborative working history, and magpie approach to literary history and popular culture, results in a rich tapestry of thematic resonances. The intricacy of Gaiman’s world-building, that includes many literary, historic and artistic allusions, allows the series to be read through the lens of classical myth, postmodern pastiche, or a myriad of other perspectives. This chapter focuses on the series’ formal innovation within the context of DC comics, and its traditional content as a gothic text. The complexity of Gaiman’s fictional work is echoed in his refusal to simplify the experience of being a reader, or an author. The Sandman is a story about stories, about a curator of stories who doesn’t know how to assess his own history; it is therefore also about being an author, a reader, and a living individual.
Abstract
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman ran for seven years as a monthly serial in the 90s, resulting in an initial ten volumes of collected tales, and a story spanning thousands of years of human history told through the perspectives of humans, cats, gods and monsters. Gaiman’s collaborative working history, and magpie approach to literary history and popular culture, results in a rich tapestry of thematic resonances. The intricacy of Gaiman’s world-building, that includes many literary, historic and artistic allusions, allows the series to be read through the lens of classical myth, postmodern pastiche, or a myriad of other perspectives. This chapter focuses on the series’ formal innovation within the context of DC comics, and its traditional content as a gothic text. The complexity of Gaiman’s fictional work is echoed in his refusal to simplify the experience of being a reader, or an author. The Sandman is a story about stories, about a curator of stories who doesn’t know how to assess his own history; it is therefore also about being an author, a reader, and a living individual.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Editors’ Preface v
- Contents vii
- Comics Studies: Survey of the Field 1
-
Part I: Systematic Aspects
- 1 Comics Terminology and Definitions 11
- 2 History, Formats, Genres 35
- 3 Text-Image Relations 81
- 4 Comics Narratology 99
- 5 Seriality 121
- 6 Adaptation 141
-
Part II: Contexts and Themes
- 7 Politics 167
- 8 World-Building 181
- 9 Life Writing 201
- 10 Gender 219
- 11 Queerness 231
- 12 Science Comics 247
- 13 Postcolonial Perspectives 265
- 14 DocuComics in the Classroom 289
-
15 Superheroes
- 15.1 Historical Overview 311
- The Golden Age: Batman 317
- 15.3 The Silver Age: Nick Fury 331
- 15.4 The Dark Age: Superheroes in the 1980s 343
-
Part III: Close Readings
- 16 Richard F. Outcault: The Yellow Kid 361
- 17 George Herriman: Krazy Kat 379
- 18 Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland 387
- 19 Dave Sim: Cerebus 405
- 20 Will Eisner: A Contract with God 431
- 21 Raymond Briggs: When the Wind Blows 451
- 22 Art Spiegelman: Maus 467
- 23 Robert Crumb 481
- 24 Alan Moore: From Hell 499
- 25 Neil Gaiman: The Sandman 513
- 26 Alison Bechdel: Dykes to Watch Out For 529
- 27 Chris Ware: Jimmy Corrigan – The Smartest Kid on Earth 545
- 28 Daniel Clowes: Ghost World 561
- 29 Martin Rowson: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 573
- 30 Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis 589
- 31 Grant Morrison: Flex Mentallo 601
- Index of Subjects 619
- Index of Names 629
- List of Contributors 635
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Editors’ Preface v
- Contents vii
- Comics Studies: Survey of the Field 1
-
Part I: Systematic Aspects
- 1 Comics Terminology and Definitions 11
- 2 History, Formats, Genres 35
- 3 Text-Image Relations 81
- 4 Comics Narratology 99
- 5 Seriality 121
- 6 Adaptation 141
-
Part II: Contexts and Themes
- 7 Politics 167
- 8 World-Building 181
- 9 Life Writing 201
- 10 Gender 219
- 11 Queerness 231
- 12 Science Comics 247
- 13 Postcolonial Perspectives 265
- 14 DocuComics in the Classroom 289
-
15 Superheroes
- 15.1 Historical Overview 311
- The Golden Age: Batman 317
- 15.3 The Silver Age: Nick Fury 331
- 15.4 The Dark Age: Superheroes in the 1980s 343
-
Part III: Close Readings
- 16 Richard F. Outcault: The Yellow Kid 361
- 17 George Herriman: Krazy Kat 379
- 18 Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland 387
- 19 Dave Sim: Cerebus 405
- 20 Will Eisner: A Contract with God 431
- 21 Raymond Briggs: When the Wind Blows 451
- 22 Art Spiegelman: Maus 467
- 23 Robert Crumb 481
- 24 Alan Moore: From Hell 499
- 25 Neil Gaiman: The Sandman 513
- 26 Alison Bechdel: Dykes to Watch Out For 529
- 27 Chris Ware: Jimmy Corrigan – The Smartest Kid on Earth 545
- 28 Daniel Clowes: Ghost World 561
- 29 Martin Rowson: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 573
- 30 Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis 589
- 31 Grant Morrison: Flex Mentallo 601
- Index of Subjects 619
- Index of Names 629
- List of Contributors 635
