Delirium’s Party
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I have written about as much as I ever need to write about The Sandman series itself. I think that’s pretty clear.

Part of me thinks Jill Thompson’s Little Endless is absolutely wrong and “Delirium’s Party” is no exception to that. But in Thomspon’s hands, it’s also beautiful and wonderful and childlike, like the original The Little Endless Storybook before it. But The Endless was meant to be pretty permeable and adaptable. They are archetypes you tell stories about, even if those stories aren’t necessarily adult. Why not tell children’s stories featuring them?

Delirium, the youngest of The Endless, was always the most immature and the one that mostly remained in her own little world. She never thought much beyond herself. With her love of color and excess, it makes sense she’d be the focus of Endless stories for younger readers.

In Delirium’s Party, Delirium throws a surprise party for her sad sister, Despair to cheer her up. She invites all her siblings and attempts all kinds of things — a gigantic cake, presents — to get Despair to smile.

Yes, there are plenty of jokes if you’ve read The Sandman (part of Thompson’s skill is that the characters basically behave as you’d expect them to, even if this is a kid’s tale), but it’s also innocent and completely charming. Delirium’s guileless oblivion is sweet — she doesn’t realize that you’re not really going to make an embodiment of Despair happy — and her (mostly) unwavering optimism is delightful. Even the talking dog Barnabas, who provides a voice of practicality, is kind to Delirium. In Thompson’s hands, he’s never making fun of Delirium but just trying to reason with her (and maybe get her to let him take a nap).

Thompson’s watercolors are gorgeous and playful, as always. Sure, the chibi Endless are ridiculous, but she revels in that. Delirium’s penchant for rainbows and insanity gives Thompson freedom to paint cakes covered in everything from action figures to flowers and feathers as well as Delirium’s insane “thinking cap” that consists of musical organs and pencils and bubbles. Studying the art for surprising elements is part of what makes this so much fun.

I realize that the appeal of this may just be for people who are fans of The Sandman or people who are fans of The Sandman with children, but it’s a joy in its own right. If The Sandman gave us this (and the original Little Endless Storybook), that’s a good legacy. I’d love if people pick this up without even knowing about what came before it. It’s that much fun.

Scary Godmother
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For real this time!

OK, I know this book isn’t quite out yet, but it’s October. How can I not be recommending Jill Thompson‘s Scary Godmother?

It’s spooky, but in an all-ages friendly way. It’s delightful and cute, and Thompson’s art is always gorgeous. And there are recipes and craft projects!

I’ve often lamented that it’s a shame Scary Godmother lapsed out of print because it’s a wonderful title and one more people need to discover. I am beyond delighted that Dark Horse is publishing this and I can’t think of a more appropriate time for it to be coming out.

Buy it to celebrate Halloween, October and all things spooky and fun as well as one of the best artists making comics today.

Magic Trixie #1

Jill Thompson can do no wrong.

I mean, really, are you going to argue with that statement? To me, anyone who has a bad word to say about Thompson isn’t someone I want to associate with.

Which is to say Magic Trixie #1 (Harper Collins, 2008) is absolutely delightful.

As a sort of Scary Godmother Jr., Trixie is an adorable pink-haired moppet, a kindergarten-aged witch in training, dealing with her family’s tendency to pay more more to her baby sister than her. Her classmates and friends are vampires and zombies and a stuck-up werewolf serves as her rival. Her teacher is a ghost. Thompson’s ability to make all of this innocent and delightful is to her credit — there is absolutely nothing menacing about any of these characters.

Trixie’s a bit of a brat as she tries to get attention, but she’s easy to relate to, even for me (which may say more about my ability to empathize with 6-year-olds than anything else, of course). I love her attempts to try to outdo her baby sister and prove what a big girl she is. While her eventual understanding (and love) when it comes to her sister is obvious, it’s still a worthy and lovely lesson.

Thompson’s watercolors are bright and fluid. She has an eye that’s all her own — it’s animated and dynamic and always fun to follow. It’s cute and cartoony, sure, but it is always gorgeously rendered and I love studying the details.

I love Thompson’s unique touches — Trixie’s grandmother, who insists on being called Mimi (it’s explained a “Mimi” is “a Gramma that thinks if she’s never called the G-word, no one will know she’s a Gramma.”) and Trixie’s harried but loving family, which includes a purple-haired big sister and sweetly hip parents. Underneath the supernatural trappings, Trixie’s family is wonderfully recognizable.

(The back of the book says this is for ages 8-11, but that seems a little old to me. I’d gladly give this to my boyfriend’s 6-year-old niece.)

So yes, I love this, but that was basically a given. I’m happy we have Jill Thompson, no matter what she’s doing.

And things are about to get busier. It will be a fun fall. Here are the things I’m excited about.

There are a few other things I’m working on and we’ll see what comes of them. But I’m definitely looking forward to all of this. Fun will be had.

But I did whimper a little when I saw Jill Thompson’s proposal for a Nightmare graphic novel for Dark Horse. Nothing ever came of it.

So gorgeous, as one would expect from Thompson. I am kind of sad this didn’t happen.

(Link taken from Newsarama.)

Brief Lives Buy from tfaw.com

Brief Lives is my favorite. It always has been and it continues to be.

It’s the most straightforward and satisfying of all The Sandman volumes. It reads like there was actual planning involved – there’s no making it up as they go. Neil Gaiman’s writing manages to be both funny and dark, dramatic and playful. And while there are a lot of wonderful artists who’ve worked on The Sandman, Jill Thompson suits this story perfectly.

I love Brief Lives. I have no criticism for it. Some of that is because I have much too much affection for the book – I’ve read it the most and so it’s very familiar to me. It also has my absolute favorite line in the entire series – Ruby turning to Dream and saying “You’re a scary son of a bitch, mister. Cute as hell, but scary.” I don’t think there exists a more accurate description of Dream anywhere.

There are so many wonderful scenes. Delirium is infinitely quotable – “But they’re not flowers, they’re puppies” – and Dream making it rain so he can stand in it after being dumped is just so perfect. We have a talking dog, who seems to talk for no other reason than he does. I love the interactions between all The Endless – I think this is the point where The Sandman mythology is cemented.

It also has the most tragic, heartbreaking panel I’ve ever seen in comics. Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I can’t say my overall feelings for the book have really changed, but I saw somethings differently. I know there were some complaints about Delirium in this one – some felt she was too cute, too charming and didn’t quite represent the sad darkness she had when we’ve seen her before.

But I disagree. Delirium’s tragedy remains. Here, sure, she’s having fun so she’s more upbeat, but she’s naively self-centered. Delirium can’t think about anyone but herself. She asks Dream the word for the “moment when you realize that you’ve actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago” while Dream’s still getting over being dumped. Her reaction to Ruby’s death is “This means I get to drive.” She can care about others, want to help others, but ultimately, Delirium’s world is just about Delirium.

I think that’s the reason why teenage girls connected with Delirium, even if they don’t realize why. I know I did. She’s in between girlhood and adulthood. Teen girls are busy trying to figure out where they fit in their constantly-shifting worlds. They don’t have much time for anything else.

I honestly don’t have much else to write about Brief Lives. I can keep telling you how much I like it and keep offering examples, but I think that would get boring quickly.

Reading Brief Lives was a little bittersweet, though. Partially because of the memories it brought back (like how I traded my friend Marc the softcover for his hardcover. Hi, Marc!) and because I know I’m getting close to the end. I don’t want The Sandman to be over yet.