Season of Mists (1992)
Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrators: Malcolm Jones III / P. Craig Russell / George Pratt / Dick Giordano | Page Count: 218
"To absent friends, lost loves, old Gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the Devil his due."
Volume IV of X in the Sandman saga introduces more of the Endless as they gather for a family meeting. What invariably happens at family gatherings? Shit hits fans. It seems anthropomorphic personifications of abstract terms aren't exempt. It's a hard life being an Endless.
Lord Morpheus' conscience gets the better of him and he attempts to right a wrong that he committed centuries before (see Volume II: The Doll's House) by going somewhere that he's no wish to ever go to again (see Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes). Now seems like a good time to stress again how beneficial it is to read them in order, despite claims make by the publisher.
Morpheus has something he doesn't want; whereas everyone who doesn't have it wants it. The Lord of Dreaming must decide which of them, if any, deserve to have it. For me, it's the best multi-part story yet. Gaiman wove a garment so elaborate, with so many strands of weave flying loose, that it gave him the means to knit any number of scarves from in the future. There are flaws in the weave if you look closely, but it's so beautiful that you maybe won't care.
Later in the book is a second gathering that creates more of those delightful ripples - they're so big that they're probably best described as immense crashing waves, leaving dead fish all over the place. Not literally, there aren't actual dead fish, but there are a few dead school kids who got a spin-off, first in The Children's Crusade (1993-94) and then later in their own series.
Talking of spin-offs, if you ever wish to read Mike Carey's spin-off series Lucifer, it would be a good idea to read Season of Mists first for some important background.
If you've read comic books for any length of time, then you'll perhaps know that Todd Klein is believed by many (including myself) to be the best letterer in the business; Volume III is a good showcase for why that is. I'm willing to bet that he had as much fun making it as I did reading it.
Later in the book is a second gathering that creates more of those delightful ripples - they're so big that they're probably best described as immense crashing waves, leaving dead fish all over the place. Not literally, there aren't actual dead fish, but there are a few dead school kids who got a spin-off, first in The Children's Crusade (1993-94) and then later in their own series.
Talking of spin-offs, if you ever wish to read Mike Carey's spin-off series Lucifer, it would be a good idea to read Season of Mists first for some important background.
If you've read comic books for any length of time, then you'll perhaps know that Todd Klein is believed by many (including myself) to be the best letterer in the business; Volume III is a good showcase for why that is. I'm willing to bet that he had as much fun making it as I did reading it.
The book collects together Sandman issues 21 - 28.
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