The Sandman Overture #6- Desire, you will lead me to my end

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: J.H Williams III
Publisher: Vertigo (DC)
Released: 30th September 2015



I’m back in the Swindon town centre library, and it has to be that way, as I review a book that takes me back to the days when I was a sweaty student nobody trying to survive days of nothing, but reading, writing and hoping for a better tomorrow.

All of that internal drama was played out in libraries. All of that work, longing, thinking, questioning. It was always in libraries. Now I do it alone, isolated in a room, but for today I’ll go back to the past. I need to feel the past, as the past is writ large all over this book, and that is how I feel about it today.

I’m still a nobody, not so sweaty now, that’s been sorted out, but no longer a student with dreams about doing something interesting, or noticeable, with his life. No, today I’m just as destroyed as everybody else. Going through the routines of living, here I am, alive, barely. The dream died a while back, only remnants remain. The young bloke in the library turned into an old bloke dismissed, a bloke that writes, but does anybody care? The answer is no, and I don’t mind, and so I write these words that flow as urine into the public lavatory of the world, stinking it up, briefly, then down into the sewers of the void.

I used to care about people. I used to dream of feedback, of discussions, of debates and controversies, but now all I care about is the writing. That’s all that matters now, the writing, and the lack of reaction to it, that doesn’t bother me anymore.

That’s what’s changed for me. I read about dreams, used to dream myself, but that’s all gone now. What remains is a dry sweat rash, writing continued, but with zero desire for acknowledgement. Neil Gaiman is a world away from me. People read what he writes, they look forward to it, they demand more, and they interact with him, asking him to do more of that good stuff that he used to do in the past.

That’s what I get from ‘The Sandman Overture #6.’ I get a writer, an insular, selfish, self-indulgent person, writing for his own pleasure, but discovering that he has an audience, winning. The audience enjoys the self indulgence, the world that is created, the characters resonate and when the writer wants to end it all, they shout in loud unison chorus of desire- NO.

Sandman Overture #6 reads like a writer talking to himself. Success destroys the barriers of isolation, forcing reality into the equation, the writer telling himself that it’s all a dream, that dreams must end, but fan desire rears her head, demanding more, the writer relents, and the dream/writing continues. That’s very good news for fans of the dream, so if you are reading this review and don’t know what I’m on about, I’ll make it clear.

The world of the Sandman and the endless cannot end here. There will be more. I’ve read this book and it does not read like an end. There’s no ending here. This ‘final’ book reads very much like a submission to desire.

How do I feel about this? I’m unsure. The Sandman is a comic book very much stuck in it’s time. To me it screams early 1990’s, so how to make it resonate with the now, the world post 9/11? It’s going to be difficult. Sandman Overture is a treat, but it’s a 90’s treat, out of time and existing in a comic book world of 2015 that cannot get to grips with the realities of the modern world.

Dreams come from fragments of reality, and to be a dream of real meaning there needs to be a connection with the now. You can’t hide in Goth, you have to come outside, stare at the sun, look at the wrinkles on your face, and understand that the world has changed.

Can Neil Gaiman do that? Can he say something about the world that has changed so dramatically over the past fourteen years, or does he even want to? Will his world of the Sandman continue, but stay in the past, or will it do that most difficult of things and reinvent itself for this nightmare Orwellian world in which we are now living?

I hope it’s the later. If it’s the former, then perhaps the dream should have died? Perhaps it’s best to ignore desire? I do, but I have to. My lack of success means that a desire for anything will destroy me. I expect nothing, get nothing, and remain free from the jaws of desire.

Neil Gaiman is a successful man, and in Sandman Overture #6 I read a willing submission to desire, to give his readers more of what they want. Will it be any different for him? Will his submission to desire lead to happiness? Will it lead to the happiness of his readers? Reality says no, reality says that satisfaction can never be achieved, but this is a dream we are talking about, and dreams are notoriously immune from the mundane aches, pains, discomforts and disappointments that come with the harsh light of the day. I wish him the best, desire demands, desire wins, and the dream world of the endless, continues.


Rating: 9/10 (Insular and complex, artistically and thematically)

Comic review: Gotham by Midnight (Annual) #1- One for the Goths

Writer: Ray Fawkes
Artist: Christian Duce
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 29th July 2015


I intensely dislike comic book narratives that feature order following dogs of the state (soldiers and cops) as the heroic protagonists, and this comic book had two of them in feature roles.

These two ‘heroes’ could have wrecked the book for me, but thankfully there was a third character in the narrative, a ‘Gentleman Ghost’ who was so interesting and charming that he saved, and redeemed, the entire book for me.

I haven’t read ‘Gotham by Midnight’ before, and if all it has to offer is a fiesty, punk comic book cliché young girl detective and her gay partner (who turns into some kind of Christian moral crusader when angry) then I wouldn’t bother with it. I’m not interested in these two characters. The girl is the kind of young girl that you will encounter in just about every DC comic book today, and the guy still struggling with his homosexuality needs to wake up and realise that it’s 2015, and that being gay is no big deal these days.

Thankfully, the book’s main focus was on the villain, and not the two boring cop protagonists. Jim Craddock ‘The Gentleman Ghost’ is an old fashioned, charming, jewel thief, who will steal the girl’s hearts and their jewels as well. It’s all very old fashioned and quaint, I know, and the only reference to modernity was a quick use of a computer (as opposed to a library) when the detectives are doing a bit of homework on their foe.

Gotham by Midnight #1 is one of those comic books that could be set in 1950, or 1970, or 1990, or 2015. It doesn’t reflect anything about the world today, and it’s not even trying to. That’s okay. I can read the occasional comic book that is going for fun rather than trying to say something, and for pure fun this was an enjoyable book. It offers a mildly pleasant diversion to everyday reality, and as a gentle tonic to soothe my soul against corporate neo-liberal hegemony and celebrity culture ignorance of 2015, I found it to be an effective, if temporary balm.

Get the book if you enjoy old fashioned Ghost tales involving romance, train-top chases lit by the full moon and intriguing, villainous rogues that women will always find far more interesting and exciting than their feminised boyfriends who are waiting patiently at home for them like 1950’s housewives.

I enjoyed the book, the art has a nice ‘Gothic’ feel about it, and it left me wanting to read more about Jim Craddock, the very intriguing, charming, and roguishly handsome Gentleman Ghost.

I hope that’s not the last I hear about him, and if he returns to the DC Universe in his own title, sign me up for that one. Craddock is a fascinating character with a bucket load of narrative potential, and with a bit of updating (give the bloke a mobile phone at least) then he would be far more interesting than a lot of the other drippy, dreary, drossy, dismally PC characters that DC are unsuccessful trying to force down it’s readers throats these days.


Rating: 7/10 (Old fashioned and fun)

Comic Review: Sandman Overture #5- “Hey Barry, get out of your bedroom, it’s lovely outside.”

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Colours: Dave Stewart
Publisher: Vertigo (DC)
Released: 27th May 2015


Sandman has returned, belatedly, and I enjoyed wallowing in the slow, bedroom depressed, self questioning, unsure about activity or inactivity world of 90’s gloom once again.

The art works perfectly with the mindset on display within the book. There’s a cat, the Goth King (Dream) mopes, he’s unsure about everything, a war is going on, a battle against the blackness of staying in his bedroom, and the difficult world outside, where everything is being destroyed anyway.

Why not settle down with a nice woman, asks his Mum? Goth bloke mopes, back to his bedroom again. Who is to save him? A text message, destiny forces him out, and his cat has a nice surprise for him in the kitty litter.

The delay on this title has been so long, but it works, because when the book finally does turn up, the narrative itself is all about themes of delay, being static, thinking about destiny, and time, and dreams.

‘I did not need rescuing. I was doing perfectly well on my own.’

Of course, he wasn’t, and as he falls reluctantly back into reality would it be so hard for him to mumble a small word of thanks?

Kids, 90’s Goth kids at that, what are you going to do? They just need a bit of sunlight, to go to the park with their younger siblings, to play on the swings and have a laugh, swings always cheer them up.

Yeah, I enjoyed Sandman Overture #5. The art is beautiful, the story is as Goth as Goth gets, and although Dream doesn’t smile, there’s hope in the litter tray, sunshine on the swings, and it’s nice to see him getting out of his 90’s bedroom, at least for a short time.



Rating: 9/10 (Enjoyable 90’s Gothness)

Review: The October Faction #5- Good idea, wrong book

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Damien Worm
Publisher: IDW
Released: 25th March 2015

There is one good idea in this month’s ‘The October Faction,’ but apart from that it’s just the usual combination of a story with a muddled tone that features some very cool, gothic artwork.

The good idea is that a bloke who turns into a werewolf is suffering from terminal cancer, but that it doesn’t appear to affect him when he’s a wolf, it's just the human side that’s done for. The obvious solution to the problem then is to stay as a permanent wolf. That’s interesting, but I don’t see how it’s going to be well used in this story that is ostensibly about a jokey Adam’s family/Munsters group and their inconsequential, don’t take all of this too seriously, adventures.

Put the wolf/cancer thing in another book, a book that has a serious tone, take the same artist with you (the fantastic Damien Worm) and then you’ll have something that would really be worth following. Perhaps the wolf blood can be used to cure cancer? But does that blood have other side (murder related) effects?

Do you see what I mean? It’s a good idea isn’t it? It has loads of possibilities, and you could do an entire little series about it. But having that idea in this book as it is, with the comedy tone, and the feeling that nothing really matters, I don’t like to say this, but it’s just not working.

This is particularly evident in issue #5. The book concludes with a cliff-hanger where one of the main characters is put in a life or death situation. That’s a big deal, right? Well, it should be.  It should have a huge, dramatic impact, but because of the casual tone of the book the impact is negligible. You can’t take it seriously, because the book isn’t serious. The entire tone of the narrative is silly, light and inconsequential. You can’t get involved in it, and you can’t take any threats to the protagonists seriously, because they themselves are not written seriously.

Getting emotionally engaged in this book would be like getting worried about Wile. E Coyote as he flaps his arm and falls helplessly to the bottom of the mountain. You don’t worry about poor old Wile. E because he’s a cartoon. He’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. That’s the same feeling I get with the characters in this book, the only difference is that the Roadrunner cartoon is funny, whilst this book is just a big old muddle.

I don’t understand what the writer is going for here, or what I am supposed to make of it all. It confuses me. I don’t understand what it’s trying to be. It’s not funny enough to be a dark comedy, and not interesting or emotionally involving enough to be a drama, plus it looks spooky and creepy, but the story isn’t scary at all.

I love the dark, atmospheric, spooky art in this book, but I can’t pretend that it’s a superior comic book just for the art alone. Take away the great art from this book, and what do you have?  Let’s be honest. It isn’t great. It’s okay, but in a comic book market flooded with okay isn’t it about time that we started to ask for something a bit better?


Rating: 5/10 (Plodding script, but I loved the art, as I always do with Mr. Worm)

Comic review: The October Faction #4- Goodbye pretty comic

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Damien Worm
Publisher: IDW
Released: 21st January 2015


I don’t want to further my reputation as the grumpy old man of comic book reviewers and needlessly slag this comic book off, because that’s no fun, and it’s kind of cheap of me as well.

Let’s face it. It’s easy to go on the Internet and call something terrible, say you hated it, and string together some pretty sentences to describe how awful it is. But what kind of individual would want to spend their days reading awful comic books and then destroying them on the Internet? I know it might appear that I do that all of the time on my blog, so I think it’s time for me to rein myself in.

From this day forward I will not waste my time deconstructing silly, throwaway, light-hearted, escapist comic books. I need to acknowledge that they are not for me, put them aside, stop buying them, and move on to something else.

If I come across a comic book that is hiding it’s insidious anti-human, global Police state message under cover of playfulness and silliness then I will point it out. But if a book has no agenda other than to entertain and avoid real-world issues then I’m not going to waste anybodies time by going on a massive 2000 word rant about it.

The October Faction #4 is one of those books that appears to be purposefully ignoring the real world. I understand that is what some (a lot?) of comic book readers want, but that’s not why I am reading them. The book offers a daft plot and some cuddly characters that you shouldn’t be taking too seriously, and it’s a jumping off point for me.

For anybody interested in the plot, it’s silly, and throwaway, and it has that post-modern, knowing, too cool for school thing going on with the dialogue. Characters are linguistically clever, but no wisdom is being imparted. Death is portrayed as a bit of a joke, foreshadowing that death in this comic isn’t really death, and so the last page reveal comes as no surprise. It’s just something that of course happened, because none of this is serious, and you are a bit daft if you are taking any of it seriously.

‘Have fun with the book dammit.’ That’s what writer Steve Niles will be shouting, if he reads this review. ‘Don’t take it so damn seriously mate’ (that’s something else that I’m sure he’d say).

But for me, as the reality junkie, anti collectivism, anti globalisation Internet tough guy twit that I am, I have to bow out now. I’m a bit disappointed, as it means that I’ll be missing out on the awesome artwork of Damien Worm, but the narrative progression, themes and characters being offered up by writer Steve Niles offer very little to me personally. I can’t get much out of it, and so I’m not going to try to find something that is not there.

That doesn’t mean that I hated the book, because I didn’t. There’s nothing here that greatly offends me, but there’s nothing that illuminates contemporary real-world issues either, and as it’s not exactly a memorable book that leaves me begging for more on a strictly narrative level either, why would I continue to read it?

If you like Tim Burton/Goth kind of stuff then give it a go. You might enjoy it, the art is beautiful, but for me, it’s become a bit blah now. I’ve read four issues, and even though I still admire the art, the story is beginning to wash over me. That’s it. Indifference has set in, and there’s not enough reason to keep this one on my rapidly diminishing wafer thin comic-book pull-list. Goodbye pretty comic book, you were fun, for a while.

Rating: 5/10 (occasionally amusing, great art)

Comic review: The October Faction #3- Waiting for Buffy to make a special guest appearance

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Damien Worm
Publisher: IDW 
Released: 10th December 2014


It’s the tone of this comic book that is probably stopping me from enjoying it as much as I want to. It’s that comedy, throw-away, nothing really matters and lets have a laugh at everything in a wishy-washy politically correct, feminist, liberal, oops, is it okay if I say that, kind of way.

If you’ve read any of my previous reviews you’ll know where I’m coming from here. I want my comic books to say something, and I don’t want to see this endless obsession with gender and sexuality politics being played out again and again, where men are weak and indecisive, bordering on silly and effeminate, whilst the women are strong independent ass kicking warriors. That used to be a powerful statement, but it’s the norm now. It’s boring; it’s the consensus, stop telling me the same stories over and over again. Give me something new that doesn’t remind of cultural Marxism and Frankfurt school theories from my college days. I learnt that stuff, but its theories, it's not reality, and it’s old theories now. It doesn’t represent the current state of affairs in a post 9/11, post NSA surveillance, post Iraq, post Edward Snowden, almost post Obama (fake hope and change) landscape.

What I’m trying to say, in a ham fisted way (my bloody computer re-started just after I finished this review, deleting everything, so this is me trying to re-capture the essence of that deleted version in an angry typing kind of way) is that the tone of the narrative in ‘The October Faction,’ is a bit too mainstream, a bit too safe, and a bit too familiar for my liking. It’s saying the same old stuff, and it’s not connecting with me, not doing anything more your average Marvel X-Men book would do. If you like that kind of adolescent stuff then you’ll like this. It’s okay, it’s warm and fluffy and giggly and the old television school-hall stereotypes are thrown in there as well.

In other words, it’s doing the same old Buffy the Vampire Slayer stuff quite well. If you like Buffy or the X-Men Academy, or Wolverine Academy, or anything else that deals with teenagers on the cusp of leaving school and trying to find meaning in their lives then you'll love it.  I just want something more than it has to offer. I’m old. School was a long, long time ago for me, and I don’t particularly want to remember anything about it either.

There are two standout narrative moments in this book, firstly a scene where a tormented bully is shown surrounded by resentful Ghosts of his guilty past, and the end panel with its shocking moment of extreme…. well, I won’t spoil it. These two moments are made all the more dramatic by the stunningly atmospheric artwork and colouring from artist Damien Worm. If you want modern Goth in comic book form, then Damien Worm is your man. He has a way with shading, with bleak, dark colouring, and his grim depictions of lean, desiccated horror are an absolute joy for anybody interested in all things that could loosely be collected up within the Gothic horror genre.

The October Faction is horror in an Adams family, or Munster’s tradition. The characters are not really threatening, they are silly and you know that whatever happens doesn’t really mean anything. This tone, of soft playfulness is broken with the final narrative development at the close of the book, but because that tone of unthreatening silliness has already been so firmly established I cannot get too excited about what happens next in a narrative context. Instead, I am just going to enjoy the wonderfully evocative art, the use of the colour blue was particularly memorable in this issue, and I’ll let the story wash over me. Get this book for the art. The story is a backdrop; the art is the main attraction in this one.

Rating: 7/10 (Rating for the art alone)