The Sandman: Dream Country
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Dream Country is the third graphic novel collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics. It collects issues #17-20. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran and Malcolm Jones III, coloured by Robbie Busch and Steve Oliff, and lettered by Todd Klein.
It was first issued in paperback in 1991, and later in hardback in 1995.
This volume contains four independent stories. The first story, "Calliope," contains the first reference to Dream's son Orpheus, who will play an important role later in the series. The second story, "A Dream of a Thousand Cats," is one of the most enduringly popular issues of the entire series. Sandman #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," introduces Morpheus' creative partnership with William Shakespeare, and was the first and only comic book to win a World Fantasy Award. Lastly, this volume has the first story in which Dream does not appear, "Façade." The collected edition also includes Gaiman's script for "Calliope."
It is preceded by The Doll's House and followed by Season of Mists.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Like the sixth collection, Fables and Reflections, and the eighth, Worlds' End, Dream Country consists of short stories that do not have a common storyline running through them, though it has been argued that most Sandman stories are not entirely self-contained and are part of a larger story arc that encompasses the entire series.
Dream Country is the shortest of the ten Sandman collections, featuring just four issues ("Calliope", #17, and "A Dream of a Thousand Cats", #18, both pencilled by Kelley Jones and inked by Malcolm Jones III; "A Midsummer Night's Dream", #19, drawn by Charles Vess and coloured for the first time by computer colouring pioneer Steve Oliff; and "Façade", #20, penciled by Colleen Doran and inked by Malcolm Jones III).
[edit] Calliope
This is the story of a frustrated author, Richard Madoc, whose first book has been released to critical acclaim but who simply cannot write a page of the promised follow-up. He strikes a deal with an elder writer, Erasmus Fry, for Calliope, one of the Muses of Greek mythology, whom Fry had captured earlier in his life. Fry kept her imprisoned and regularly raped her, and her presence provided the inspiration for his successful novels.
Madoc also takes her captive and has great success in writing, but Calliope calls upon the triad of witches known by many names, such as the Furies, the Kindly Ones or the Gracious Ladies, for help. They direct her to Morpheus, who we are told was once her lover (this relationship is elaborated on later in the series), and who is currently similarly imprisoned. Upon his release, he comes to rescue Calliope, and visits a terrible punishment upon Madoc.
Though the story of "Calliope" was not criticized for unoriginality at the time of its release, its concept is apparently a very popular one; a list of overused story ideas at Strange Horizons included "Creative person meets a muse (either one of the nine classical Muses or a more individual muse) and interacts with them, usually by keeping them captive." (See Neil Gaiman's post about Strange Horizon's list.)
Madoc's Book "Her Wings" appears in a few other stories by Neil Gaiman including The Last Temptation as a sort of inside joke. Rose Walker is later seen reading Fry's book "Here Comes a Candle".
[edit] A Dream of a Thousand Cats
This is a curious story concerning an inspirational cat with a vision of an alternate reality where cats are huge and humans merely their playthings, tiny servants which groom their bodies and which the cats can kill at their pleasure. She preaches her vision to motley assortments of wild cats around the world, hoping that if she can make enough believe in and dream of this reality, the world will change to conform to their dreams. Although seemingly a complete diversion from the basic story of the Sandman, it in fact illustrates one of the core themes of the series: the idea that reality is shaped in the most literal sense by the dreams, beliefs, and expectations of humans (and, in this case, of other animals as well). It is also a welcome break from the human-centric stories of the rest of the series and serves as a reminder that dreams are truly universal.
[edit] A Midsummer Night's Dream
This is a core issue of the Sandman series, sometimes cited as the best in the series. It concerns the premiere of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which we are told was commissioned by Morpheus as part of a bargain in which Morpheus granted Shakespeare his extraordinary skill with writing.
Performed on a hillside before an audience of bizarre creatures from Faerie - including the very characters who appear in the play, Titania, Oberon, and the hobgoblin Robin Goodfellow (Puck) amongst them - the Sandman's version of reality and Shakespeare's play are merged and interact with one another.
The issue received a World Fantasy Award for short fiction in 1991, which caused an outcry of indignation amongst people who felt that a comic book should not have won the award. The rules were subsequently changed to disqualify comic books from winning.
Dream first meets Shakespeare in Sandman #13, "Men of Good Fortune," and the final issue, "The Tempest," focuses on the second of the two plays commissioned by Morpheus.
[edit] Façade
This is another odd issue, featuring one of the methods Gaiman played with in the first, and to a lesser extent in the second, collection: it takes one of the neglected characters from the DC Universe, this time Element Girl (Urania Blackwell, a female version of Metamorpho), and shows her in a completely unexpected situation. A reluctant superhero at best, she has now retired, and lives a meagre existence, rarely leaving her flat due to her self-loathing of her "freakish" appearance.
An extraordinarily poignant (and controversial, with its apparent endorsement of suicide) piece dealing with identity and, subtly, the gap between the world portrayed in the more naïve of DC Comics' superhero comics and the true reality of everyday life, it ends on a curiously happy note, with Death answering "Rainie"'s telephone and informing the caller that "she's gone away, I'm afraid."
[edit] Issues collected
- Sandman #17: "Calliope" ... art by Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III
- Sandman #18: "Dream of a Thousand Cats" ... art by K. Jones and M. Jones III
- Sandman #19: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ... art by Charles Vess
- Sandman #20: "Facade" ... art by Colleen Doran and M. Jones III
| Preceded by: The Doll's House |
The Sandman collected editions |
Succeeded by: Season of Mists |
