I think it was to show what people did to serve in the military, the effects of war, and the effects of Morpheus being trapped.
One thing you have to keep in mind, especially when it comes to WW2 era, there wasn’t a strong distrust of government. While there were politics, it wasn’t like it was in the 1960’s or today. People wanted to serve their country and it was an honor to do so. Showing a 14 year-old kid who wanted to be a hero was not an uncommon thing. I have heard stories about my grandfather trying to enlist and wasn’t able to due to either a health issue or his height. The reason changes whenever it is told.
Another thing to keep in mind that Neil Gaiman is from United Kingdom. WW2 had a larger toll on that country than USA as battles were fought on their land.
Plus we refused to align with them or involve ourselves at all despite Churchill’s pleading. Until Pearl Harbor forced our hand. Biggest mistake Japan ever made.
There is definitely a lot that can be said about the pre-war USA and honestly, a lot of it isn’t too good. Without diving too deep into that I will say I think history repeats itself because we, as a species, do not learn from history. We like to think we do but we don’t. That is a discussion for another place but I am slowly reading Sandman and enjoying it like crazy. I have some thoughts and will definitely expand on them once I finish the 8 books.
No rush I’m leaving to read right now. Yeah. War is never good unless it’s to stop a Hitler. Plus, there’s a whole other area there happening now. Where, we’re gonna remove all these things that offend people & not recognize the next Hitler or Stalin b/c we got rid of everything that could’ve clued us into someone in the future following that same pattern. Hard to recognize the signs if u erase em from history. As u said another place & time. Off to read,
Finished this one up last night/early this morning and man…it definitely still holds up.
I read some of the series in the past when I was first getting into comics as a young teen, but not in order and from the beginning – a rookie mistake, I know! So being able to read Morpheus’ journey from the beginning was far more engrossing.
I was also surprised by how many regular DC heroes cameoed in this. From the casting for the audio drama, I knew that Doctor Destiny was going to be the main villain, and more horror/supernatural based characters I could see, like Etrigan the Demon. But I didn’t see The Riddler/Arkham Asylum playing a role, and I especially didn’t see Martian Manhunter or Mister Miracle coming in. Speaking of which, Scott’s dream sequence was really effective, especially with how Sam Keith was able to effectively ape Jack Kirby’s art. It made me stop to think: Why the HELL was there never a Neil Gaiman New Gods series? That would be DOPE.
Anyway, I also enjoyed how each issue was something a little different. I think the issues featuring Etrigan, Constantine, Destiny in the diner, and Death were the strongest of them all.
I just finished that! Loved it! I like how Dream talked about his captors in the eighth book. It kinda felt like the story ended but is still continuing if that makes any sense.
I loved the repetition in the quotes. It made everything seem much more meaningful and powerful IMO.
My favorite book was the one where Doctor Dee was driving with the woman. I loved the backstory we got and when Dee killed the woman I was in shock.
Yeah, the diner issue was…horrifying. Like, with Gaiman’s work I don’t often think of him as a straight-up horror writer, more along the lines of dark fantasy, but the idea of all control being taken away from you by the whims of a psychopath and what he does to all them are just hard to read, but you’re compelled to keep going anyway.
I’m in the same boat. Never heard of it back in the day when I could’ve literally got in on issue #1. Didn’t hear about it until mid 2000’s cuz was never on the internet. I get to start fresh with something finally. I read myself into a position where, unless it came out recently, I’ve read it. Sandman I completely missed everything. I’m so excited!!!
I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone on this site that hasn’t read The Sandman. But it is good to focus on the early issues as this was the era the comic was more Horror Fantasy than Dark Fantasy. There are some truly terrifying scenarios that are played out in these issues that still stick to me today.
