THE SANDMAN #64
Kristiansen tackles an episode from Morpheus's final days.

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: Teddy Kristiansen
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Single Issue (reprinted in SANDMAN: THE KINDLY ONES)
Published by DC Vertigo 199X
$1.95 (collection $19.95)

Reviewed by Pindaros

Neil Gaiman's work in THE SANDMAN has been discussed often enough to need no further analysis here. It's enough to say that issue #64 was part of the final story-arc of the series, and as such it depicts characters and themes that were developed over years of narrative.

The art in this final story-arc was a significant departure in terms of style from earlier work in the series. The characteristic style for the series had been a sort of dream-like realism, clearly rooted in the realistic tradition of Anglo-American comic book art; in the final issues this gave way to more of a cartoon look which drew on a range of sources, such as Expressionist Art, Japanese woodcut and the alternative comic art of the Hernandez brothers.

"Kristiansen works well within this style, creating images that are both stark and emotionally evocative."

As penciller, Kristiansen works well within this style, creating images that are both stark and emotionally evocative. Of particular note is his fluency with body language, which allows him to be quite specific about the moods of characters while preserving distance from them by rendering faces more generally. Similarly, he is able to express a great deal even in wordy panels by the use of clear lines to depict quite specific environments, and almost iconic human figures.

Gaiman has been a particular challenge for comic book artists in that his public-school knowledge of literature tends to significantly exceed their own imaginative resources. This is a significant problem for Kristiansen, whose evocation of mythical tradition tends toward a "Europeanness" communicated by his Expressionist borrowings, and some eclecticism in his architectural depictions. But it must be said that the clarity of his expression, and his talent for mood more than makes up for this deficiency.

"A worthy instance of the heights to which Gaiman's words inspired his artists."

Of particular note are the pages depicting a confrontation between the animals guarding Dream's gates and the Erinyes, who have come to threaten him. The Gryphon goes from force of nature to pathetic decay in just five panels, and when, on the next page, the Wyvern lets the Furies pass, Kristiansen quite vividly imagines the dragon's hatred of this manifestation of curses.

In his depiction of the utter antagonism between figures of noble fantasy and the manifestations of vengeance and spilled blood, the artist makes a significant contribution to an imaginative tradition that goes back at least as far as Aeschylus' ORESTEIA.

A worthy instance of the heights to which Gaiman's words inspired his artists.

Recommended (with reservations: buy the whole collection or be utterly bewildered!)

Pindaros is a regular contributor to PopImage.

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