I am pretty late into the game, but I finally read The Sandman (the first book)! My, it was dark, disturbing, yet enjoyable. At this point, I still barely know anything about Dream as a character. All I know is he is the one bringing dreams to people, and has immense power that goes beyond realms. Oh, he also has very stylish hair. Yet he spent most of the first book trying to retrieve the very power he was robbed of, and we learn the ugliness of humanity in the process.
This edgy graphic novel doesn't skimp on depicting human's carnal desires and sense of hopelessness. The wife of a seemingly happy couple desired to once again sleep with a dead body, as she once did at a mortuary under the influence of alcohol. A maniac on the run gained his hostage and the readers' trust, leading us to believe that he had been wrongfully prosecuted, only to betray us by shooting his kindhearted hostage at point-blank range once she served her purpose. A comatose girl who was asleep for decades finally woke up, never knowing that she had been violated and lost her baby in the process. Reading these shocking and dreadful portrayals made me pause and wonder if all hope is lost in humanity. Yet the story carried on, leaving me little time to despair. What I learned from this is that everyone have deep-dark desires that are usually not apparent when viewed from the surface.
Despite the dark overtone, there are some lighthearted moments too. My favorite example being Dream's showdown with Chronzon. In this battle of wits, Dream won by stating that hope is the most powerful of all, even more so than the end of the worlds. After all, what is life without hope? People dream of their ideal lives, and it is their hope of fulfilling those dreams that gives them purpose of life. To hope is to dream.
I will definitely continue to read The Sandman, and see how the story develops!
No comments:
Post a Comment