The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1132: Sandman Mystery Theatre #12, March 1994

I will try to be a bit more verbose.

Punishments are meted out but, as usual, it is the survivors whose punishment is unending, rather than the mercy that is death. That sounds very much like something the Sandman, Mr. Dodds that is, would say. Which might say something about how much this series is getting under my skin. It's very good.

Matt Wagner promised to look into social ills in this series, and he's not shy about showing some of the worst. It's sad that a series set in the 30s had so much resonance in the 90s, and continues to do so in the second decade of the 21st century.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1131: Sandman Mystery Theatre #11, February 1994

Again, no blog today. Bad pain.

But, holy shit, things get dark. As. Fuck. in this one.

I forgot how unapologetic early Vertigo is.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1130: Sandman Mystery Theatre #10, January 1994

Won't be blogging this. Having some bad pain in my wrists the last few days.

I have decided that I'm going to try to track down the rest of this series, though. It's amazing.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1129: Sandman Mystery Theatre #9, December 1993

There's three nice things about this comic. First, Wes and Dian go on a date. It's a moderately successful one from the sound of things, and Dian's desire to simply sit and chat the night away is, as anyone whose had such a desire knows, a very good sign. Second, the boxer featured in this issue is set up to become an underground fighter, and seems to be taking that option at one point in the comic, but then is revealed to have gone to the police. We're programmed to expect deceit, I think. The third thing is Matt Wagner's "On the Ledge" column in which he sets out exactly what he hopes to achieve with the series. Quoth the scribe "...the focus of this series will be on crimes and attitudes spawned by hate -- by prejudicial animosity towards what a person is as opposed to what they have either done or what they own.  Be they based on gender, ethnic backgrounds or age, these are the crimes that, I feel, might show us how to redefine our ever-changing world..."

I can get behind that.

More to come...