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Post by badwolf on Jun 25, 2019 16:08:44 GMT -5
I forgot about The Ocean at the End of the Lane! Great book!
I also love his children's picture books.
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Post by DubipR on Jun 25, 2019 16:21:59 GMT -5
Sticking with comics and items not mentioned
Gaiman Goodness:
1. Murder Mysteries- Anytime he works with P Craig Russell,it's magical.
2. Rare Bit Fiends #2-3.
3. Harlequin Valentine
Not so Goodness:
1. Superman/Green Lantern: Legend of the Green Flame. Great roster of artist talent but didn't work for me
2. Mr. Hero, the Newmatic Man
3. Angela 1-3
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2019 22:41:34 GMT -5
I'm affraid this latest Sandman's universe might tarnish the whole franchise. I am a few issues behind on all 4 titles, but I have quite enjoyed what I have read so far. Each of the writers has their own voice and perspective on the Sandman Universe It's not Gaiman, but it's not supposed to be, it's supposed to be him overseeing new voices in the sandbox. -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 26, 2019 6:56:54 GMT -5
I've read American Gods twice (re-read it when the show got announced) and while I love the concept, it just doesn't work for me. Good Omens I likely ALOT, but I read it a long time ago. so perhaps it would lose something now.
Odd and the Frost Giant and the Graveyard Book are my favorites. Sandman has moments of brilliance, but sometimes is too smart for it's own good. Coraline is probably the scariest story I've read that is actually a good story.
I agree 1602 was a cool idea that didn't work.
MY wife also really likes Fortunately, the Milk, which I don't think anyone has mentioned.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jul 1, 2019 20:50:46 GMT -5
Back
1602: Very Marvel Else-Worldy with not much too it but the premise. I was excited to buy this off the racks, then hugely disappointed.
Angela: This was a whole big thing, legally, but it seemed as forgettable as the rest of the early Spawn comics. Pretty crappy of Gaiman to outright sell the character to Marvel.
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader I liked this a lot. Very Sandman-y, dealt with the nature of stories and dreams, quite touching at the end. I'm generally quite a fan of Gaiman's DC superhero work.
Books of Magic: Forgot about this 'till you guys brought it up, even though I've read it recently. It feels more about organizing the continuity of "Magic DC" than telling a story. It really showed up Gaiman's ability to tailor his scripts to particular artists, but it didn't feel like there was much actually there, engaging-narrative-wise. (I loved the first follow-up series by John Ney Reiber and Peter Gross, though. Much funnier, much sharper characterization and not trying to be a checklist of magic-based characters."
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish: Only one of the illustrated kid's books I've read, but it was pretty great.
Mr. Punch: I'm generally not down for Gaiman's more abstract works, but I loveloveloveLOVE this book. It's a mix of quiet melancholy and very subtle psychological horror that nobody else has combined quite as effectively.
Ocean at the End of the Lane: I thought this was a short story collection, so I did not read it. I really need to fix that.
Short Story Collections: (Trigger Warnings, Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors) I read a bit of some of these. Don't remember anything about anything off the top of my head, although I remember liking a lot of the stories at the time.
Sandman: Endless Nights My favorite volume of Sandman, every story was either great on it's own right or showed some ballsy experimentalism. The Milo Manara colab/Desire story is my favorite thing Gaiman ever wrote, and the Death and Dream stories aren't far behind. The Frank Quitely story is the weakest, but it did convince me that FQ was a truly great artist.
Sandman: Overture I think J. H. Williams III is the greatest mainstream comic artist of the last 30 years, and I'm not sure anyone else is close. And this was good... but not life-changing. Overture felt more like a victory lap than an essential part of the holistic Sandman. AND IT TOOK FOREVER TO COME OUT!!! I WAS SO IMPATIENT!
Stardust: I remember some of the pictures, none of the words.
Violent Cases: What was this about again? I know I've read it at least once, but I remember nothing. Ditto Signal to Noise.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2019 22:44:29 GMT -5
I kick myself for letting my copy of Angels & Visitations go; the stories were reprinted elsewhere; but, that was published in a far smaller print run and in hardcover. I don't even want to know what it goes for.
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Post by String on Jul 2, 2019 17:07:43 GMT -5
I have a personal connection to Gaiman's work. A friend an co-worker, at B&N was a huge fan and I was a big Sandman fan, so we always talked Gaiman. Then, my friend was diagnosed with renal cancer and the prognosis was bad. He passed away from it within a year. We had a memorial service for him, in a park, and the program had Gaiman quotes, including probably his most profound piece of dialogue..... "You got what everyone gets; you got a lifetime." A simple little phrase; but, it helps you when you are grieving for a loved one. Long or short, they had a lifetime; they were here. They mattered. For that and that alone, he ranks high in my book. Yes, so simple yet so precise in it's wisdom. It reminds me of my favorite comic work of Gaiman's which is his two Death miniseries especially the first one, Death - The High Cost of Living. I have not read enough of Sandman to comment fully on it's overall quality but I have read enough to know that his sister Death was my favorite character. Gaiman wove a magical tale of her 'living' for a day and with art supplied by Bachalo, Buckingham, and McKean, it is quite a superb short series in my opinion. As for novels, I have enjoyed most of what I have read by him so far: Neverwhere and Stardust were great. I've read American Gods once and I remember finding it disturbing yet enticing. I think I was rather naive at that time which may account for my initial perception, I really need to read it again. Anasi Boys was quite good as well.
Good Omens was good but don't recall much about it. As some others have mentioned, I think I was expecting something Douglas Adams-ish at first. Watching the Prime show has rekindled my interest in reading it again. I've really enjoyed his short story collections but it has been some years since I read of them. I can't remember if it was Fragile Things or Smoke and Mirrors but one collection had a short story about spiders. I can't recall the exact specifics of what was going on with the spider(s) however I find spiders to be quite scary and menacing (regardless of actual species) so as I kept reading Gaiman's prose, my skin continued to crawl. Then, I turn the next page and the first thing I see is one of the full page illustrations for the book (by whom I cannot remember), the illustration being a large spider's face, eyes, fangs, skin and all. I howled in shock and surprise, so caught up in Gaiman's narrative and my own inherent fear of spiders that I dropped the book! No other writer has ever managed to illicit such a strong response from me and that is why I love Gaiman. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2019 19:16:15 GMT -5
Good Omens is really more of a Terry Pratchett work than Gaiman's he did the lion's share of the writing, though both conceived ideas and characters. It reads more Pratchett and not necessarily as good as his own, pure work. Some elements feel very Gaiman; but the majority seems more Pratchett. Unfortunately, Pratchett is gone, so his voice is diminished in media talk of Good Omens. Well, at least in the US. At the time of publication, Pratchett's name sold it more than Gaiman's, though it became known as Gaiman's work, outside Sandman, in the early 90s (apart from Don;t Panic, with Kim Newman.
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