Sandman, 2022, Netflix
Paper Girls, 2022, Amazon
Ms Marvel, 2022, Disney+
Saying there would never be a screen media adaptation of The Sandman, the seminal non-superhero comic that started in the 90s, is like saying, "They could never adapt The Lord of the Rings." In other words, it was entirely legit to say such a thing, as they are such beloved entities, how could anyone do them justice? But it happened, and despite some minor quibbles, I am a huge fan of both. Both are grand and sweeping in their own right, but also very very different from their source material. And that's just fine.
I remember picking up one of those early issues of The Sandman from Mukey's bed in university res. I didn't much like the art work, but once I read a bit of the story, I was hooked. I also liked the idea of where it came from, in that Gaiman was tasked with writing stories to connect DC's superhero properties with the horror & fantasy properties that they also owned, such as House of Mystery, and the ones that blurred the lines, such as Hellblazer. And thus began a life long love for this title, and all its multitudes of spin-offs, until my comic book reading days faded.
My participation in this early example of "fandom" was pretty deep for the time. We owned all the comics, and a lot of the merchandise (such as the collector cards), read the novelizations & anthologies (where I also scored an unpublished Dream short story by an author friend of mine), bought the toys and we even had a black leather jacket painted with an iconic image of Death. We had become fans of Gaiman enough to adore that episode of Prisoners of Gravity where he keeps on talking (and talking) as they reduce him to the lower third. I even got to play the part of The Corinthian for Mukey, as he did his own versions of the comic covers for an art school project. This is all to say that the images of his characters were pretty solidly imprinted in my head.
Decades later, the characters are still there, while the stories have faded somewhat. So, when the adaptation was announced by Gaiman, I was respectfully a skeptic. Sure, they would do what they would do, even with his blessing and guidance. All adaptations for screen have to be tweaked somewhat to lend themselves to the media. Most are butchered. And most creators are wearing blinders caught up in the fun of making it happen. But I can honestly say, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It resurrected the memories of the stories for me, of how much I enjoyed the plot thread, even along with the episodic nature of monthly comic books, and the disparate characters. I really, truly enjoyed it.
Morpheus (Tom Sturridge, Velvet Buzzsaw) is the god of dreams... no, not god, but definitely a god-like entity, but more the anthropomorphic icon of dreams, along with his other siblings called The Endless. In the show we meet Dream, Death, Desire and Despair. There are more yet to come. Dream (or Morpheus, or Oneiros) is captured in 1916 by a sorcerer seeking to capture Death and force her to return his son. Instead he gets Dream, and takes from him three of his talismans: his pouch of sand, his bright red gem, and his intricate helm. With Dream captive, the sorcerer gains long life and some minor powers, and for over a hundred years, he tortures and torments Dream seeking even more. In the waking world, the lack of the King of Dreams is seen by "the sleepy sickness", as some fall into dreams and do not awake, while others go mad from the inability to sleep. In The Dreaming, Morpheus' realm, things just fall apart without their liege and many nightmares & dreams escape into the real world, *ahem* The Waking World; it's all real.
Things really kick off when he escapes.
A lot happens in these 10 (no, 11 !) episodes, as it should in a serialized comic adaptation, but they do a good job of tying together the overarching story (Dream rebuilding his realm, and collecting his missing vassals) but still giving us the little nuggets of individual characterizations and individual comic issue moments.
We meet all the familiar players including the delightfully dysfunctional Cain & Able, and get to finally hear what Goldie's *meep urkle* sounds like. Squee! Matthew the Raven, voiced by Patton Oswald, the man who blurs the line between being the voice of imaginary creatures and himself, is spot on. Some choices are surprising, such as Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Veronica Mars) as Death and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer. Others are like characters lifted from the book, such as Boyd Holbrook (The Predator) as The Corinthian or David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as John Dee. And some are just delightful in their entire reimagining, like Jenna Coleman's (Doctor Who) Johanna Constantine (TINE as in VINE).
All in all, I was satisfied a depiction, but I couldn't leave this post without slightly commenting on some of the changes. Am I bothered when genders or races of fictional characters change? Not really. While I am the first to be disappointed that Death was not depicted as a petite, spunky, white-skinned (as in, alabaster white) goth chick, my internal image is based on 30 years of established iconography and that's a little hard to alter. But the portrayal of the character, and not the image, was faithful, in her gentleness, her compassion and her dedication to her mission. Dream is forever mopey, morose about what he went through, and Death is there to call him on his bullshit, and that is what solidified her in the role for me.
So, what about Sturridge as Dream? Not spot-on but entirely satisfying, once I got over his pursed-lips pout. But the pout had to be depicted, or what would Death have to tease him about. He does alter the character ever so slightly, in that this is a human actor portraying a character often seen more as mist and shadows than a person. But he does the "growing humanity" very well, as his time away from The Dreaming has more of an impact on him than he ever realizes.
All in all, loved it. Season 2 please!
It's the 80s and a group of girls delivering newspapers by bicycle get caught up in a Time War. IIRC the comic book took a bit longer to establish their inadvertent friendships connected by the early morning delivery of rolled newspapers (something I did myself in the late 70s), but the show almost immediately dispenses with it, diving into the time travel antics. THIS is where the girls get to know each other, as do we.
Its kind of a wonky show. Given that it spends almost all of its time dealing with anachronistic portrayals, I guess that comes with the property. But, and I cannot put my finger directly on it, its a sort of low key mood. I almost dropped it, but very glad I persevered, as it was rather rewarding, in that I got what I usually want more of -- a new experience.
Gawds, could I be any more vague? The show has a rather dream like quality to it, in that some things happen and you are never sure quite why, given that they are making choices most formula TV doesn't, which I guess is by staying rather faithful to the comic.
We have Erin "new girl" (Riley Lai Nelet, Altered Carbon), Tiff (Camryn Jones, Perpetual Grace LTD), KJ (Fina Strazza, Above the Shadows) and Mac (Sofia Rosinsky, Fast Layne). Erin is the Asian girl, dealing with being new to town, and family challenges. Her future is not bright. Tiff is the motivated, smart girl with a plan. KJ is rich, with a desire to not only be defined by that. Mac is the tough kid from the wrong side of the tracks, angry and punky. Her future is not bright, at all. Three of them already have a contentious comradery, which they quickly incorporate New Girl into, but the time travel antics not only force them together, but also challenge their ties. How the fuck do they get back? How do they survive the very real dangers of a real time travel war they got dragged into?
Now completing this post months later, the vague reasons as to why "i liked it" are even more vague.
Kent described the show as propulsive, as in always moving forward. Not knowing the source material as precisely as him, I did wonder about the forward motion in a few bits of a few episodes, but I also understand the need for TV to slow down, take its bearings, let the plot breathe a bit. It also took this time to have some time travel shenanigans, as the girls met or observed their older selves. There was none of this "touch and we end the universe" BS, just border of adolescence/teen girls being exposed to their own futures, for better or for worse and trying to digest & cope. This is where the cast really shined. The show is not polished, often very low key, but I am sooooo glad I pushed through it.
Kent's post.
By all means of the current meme fueled culture debated, this show is woke. We cannot argue that a MCU show about a Muslim Pakistani-American teenage girl becoming a superhero is not trying to identify and fill a gap. But I honestly thought this is what made it so utterly, fucking charming. How many more superhero stories do I need to see about white, 30sumthin, American males? Like the real world, the MCU is bigger, and broader, and brighter! Let me see it! And very little of American pop culture ever gives us the Pakistani backdrop, with that niche filled by India.
Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani, her literal first role [WOW!]) is a teen girl living in Jersey City. She's more than a bit of an Avenger / Captain Marvel fangirl, writing fanfic, doing cosplay and plastering her bedroom with posters. Her parents play the typical "tiger mom" role and don't understand or support her obsession. And she finds a "bangle" in her grandmother's possessions -- more a bracer than a traditional bangle from the Indian subcontinent. But it gives Kamala light powers, the ability to form objects from light, making her a somewhat Green Lantern for Marvel. In the comics, she is exposed to a substance that gives her actual body powers, but in this case, it mostly works. Almost immediately, she is beset by learning to master her powers, hide them from her family, and deal with the infamy using them comes with. And the darker forces from her family's past come seeking the bangle.
Initially, with the bright and colourful opening, this is unlike any other Marvel series. Its vibrant, fun and Iman Vellani is just utterly brilliant as the character. Not being an Internet Troll, I don't care if I cannot relate to the character; the MCU was not just made for my personal demographic. But the way she plays her character lets us really see the challenging world through her eyes. She's just good at playing the character. Later on, the series does kind of lag as the weight of the MCU and making connections, and playing out the expected "bigger picture" situations take over, but she continues to carry the story forward.
I doubt we will get it, but I would love to see a second season, as the character can only be better after we have dispensed with the required origin story.
Kent's post.
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