Endless Nights (The Sandman, Book 11)
Vertigo/DC Comics, September, 2003.
Hardcover, 160 pages.
ISBN: 1401200893
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to the medium that
made him famous in this eleventh book in the
Sandman series, entitled Endless Nights. For the uninitiated,
The Endless are immortal siblings with godlike powers: Dream, Death, Desire,
Despair, Delirium, Destruction, and Destiny. The tortured Dream rules
over the realm where humans go when they sleep. This collection
of stories and prose poems is illustrated by seven different
talented illustrators. The stories run the gamut in style and
content. "Fifteen Portraits of Despair" is an experimental collection of
prose poems, illustrated by Barron Storey with appropriately macabre,
disturbing images. In a revealing personal poem, Gaiman
describes Despair thusly: "It is a writer, with nothing
left that he knows how to say. It is an artist, and fingers
that will never catch the vision." Mercifully, Gaiman appears to be in
no imminent danger of succumbing to this version of despair.
He has ideas to spare and the writing talent to get his
message across easily.
In "Death and Venice," P. Craig Russell takes a lush and lavish approach to the illustrations for the story of pleasure loving aristocrats who try to escape both time and Death. "What I've Tasted of Desire," a story of one woman's eventually understanding of desire and price she willingly paid, is accompanied by the erotic and lyrical illustrations of Milo Manara, who creates one of the most compelling depictions of the androgynous Desire seen in the Sandman series. In a funny and layered story, "The Heart of a Star," we see the Endless in a time period long before any of the original Sandman stories. At a sort of annual convention of immortals, the Endless interact with suns and other supernatural beings as they squabble, discuss and vote on responsibilities and obligations to the universe. This far back in the past our sun, Sol, was still a goofy adolescent, Delirium was still Delight, an ill-tempered Death scared the daylights out of everyone, and Dream found a girlfriend. For a while Dream almost seemed happy�until the mischievous Desire introduced the girlfriend to Stoa, the Sun of her planet. Dream is furious with Desire. And Destiny comments that this little incident will be much discussed eons later when it is decreed that the Endless may not love mortals. In "Endless Nights" we visit the enigmatic Destiny, as the blind Endless walks through his garden, and reads the book : "Inside the book is the Universe." Although much too short, "Endless Nights" provides a marvelous end to the book. Frank Quitely's art is majestic and stark, hinting of the incredible complexities that lies in the mysterious figure of Destiny.
This is a rich and complex work, which reveals new nuances on the second or third reading. Sandman fans will see this is a marvelous addition to the canon, with many inside jokes and illumination of certain points raised in the series. But for those who have never read a comic or even considered picking up a graphic novel, this is the one to start with. For one thing, neophytes get exposure to a broad range of art styles from very talented artists. Plus there is the unmistakable style of Neil Gaiman's writing; although he never writes the same kind of thing twice (American Gods is pretty far away from The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish in subject matter, for example) there is a certain, ineffable "Neil-ness" about his writing. The wit, the style, the �.something. It's there, and it's worth reading, regardless of the subject matter or format.
--Claire E. White
Endless Nights (The Sandman, Book 11) is available for purchase on Amazon.com
Note: We may receive a commission from sales made through product links in this article.
This review was published in the January-February, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.
Copyright © Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved.