Preludes & Essays

Comics have always been an extreme passion of mine and have always enjoyed the idea of magic and fantasy worlds contained within them. The reason I gravitate toward fantasy comics rather than prose novels is the addition of artwork within them. The artist is able to actually take us to this world rather than having our imagination doing most of the work.

As we were brainstorming in class Professor Hatfield explored the topic of "The Sandman" comic book series. These comics were published in 1989 and ran until 1996 under DC Comics vertigo line. They were also written by Neil Gaiman, who has also written Coraline (one of our required texts for class). I've heard so much about this comic over the years. Graphic literature enthusiasts seem to categorize it next to the works of classics like "The Dark Knight Returns" or "Watchmen". It suddenly came to me that with the fantasy elements contained in the Sandman this could be a viable topic for my essay. So from that I would like to study: How does graphic literature depict the concept of creatures and creating the extraordinary.

I picked up the first two volumes of the series and started going through them. The first aspect that really grabs you is the horror style the books are written in. The artwork is reminiscent of comics such as "Tales From the Crypt" with a fantastical cast reminiscent of classic horror archetypes. From simply flipping through it the different ghouls are so different. One one page you have this pasty pale rock star figure and on another you'll have a goblin looking creature. An important aspect of the novels we have read thus far is the creatures that inhabit these portal worlds. The authors of our readings usually take the ordinary and make them extraordinary (the supporting cast in The Wizard of Oz and many of the creatures from our readings).

Another thing that was completely unexpected as I was flipping through the Sandman is that it is somewhat contained in the DC Comics continuity. I haven't read the books yet so the context is still a mystery, but it seems that the pale rock star figure at one point confronts Martian Manhunter from the Justice League. I have been pretty familiar with Vertigo over the years having read my share of "Y: The Last Man" and "Sweet Tooth" and it was not cannon with the Superhero books. Over the years I've heard mumblings of Sandman and DC books in the same sentence, but haven't really thought anything of it. I just assumed that none of it related. I was wrong!

I plan on reading all the volumes of "The Sandman" in preparation for this paper. In fact, after each volume I finish I would like to do a reading of them in terms of our class. It could be a very enlightening project that would no doubt help the quality of my paper.

Neil Gaiman's reputation has always been for the fantastical. I haven't read much of his work with the exception of starting Coraline and a few other comics he did. The Batman book he did, "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader" seemed to have fantastical elements within it, but I would never call it a straight up fantasy book. I also started reading his Marvel 1602, but it didn't grab me right away.

Most of my familiarity with Gaiman comes from a now out of print book he did for DC Comics entitled Green Lantern Superman: Legend of the Green Flame". This series took two popular DC Characters and set them on an adventure through the fantastical. It really lent itself to the concept of the portal when through a Green Lantern Power Battery, they are transported to a different realm. Here they encounter some ghastly looking concepts including Deadman and a pirate ship floating amongst waterfalls of lava. I might even be referencing this book at some point during my paper.

In addition to "The Sandman" series I would like to explore other types of comics that deal with the folklore genre. One of the most stylized and recognized comics for it's folklore storylines is the Hellboy series.

The great thing about analyzing the Hellboy books is they can be coupled with the motion pictures based off them. I could possibly compare and contrast the the book and the movie. Both movies are also very different from one another. The first one deals more with science and history while the sequel delves into more mythological creatures.

While Hellboy is creature who was supposed to be a bad guy who now fights for good I might also like to analyze superheroes who have monstrous appearances. The first character who comes to mind when I say this is Swamp Thing. This character is a vegetable type monster who fights those who try to destroy his swamp. I would like to analyze Alan Moore's run on the book where he explored where the lines of the monster and the hero cross over.

Another comic that would be interesting to include in the paper is "Fables" written by Bill Willingham. This comic book series revolves around our favorite fantasy characters (Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, The Big Bad Wolf and more). These characters were mysteriously exiled from their home world and now inhabit ours. The catch however is that by living in our world they must stay incognito. For example, Big Bad Wolf is now a reformed private investigator. The series is violent and takes an entirely new take on these characters in a way that is different.

As far as the films of this go I would explore what film borrows from fantasy elements of graphic literature. How has this blending of writing and artwork changed the way fantasy films are made? For example, can any of the characters in "The Sandman" be reminiscent of the protagonists, antagonists, or allies we have been reading about in class.

If anyone has any suggestions for texts let me know?