I refuse to make the obvious joke on the grounds that I will be arrested. Anyway, read this comic.

As a kid in the dark ages of the 1980s, I would bike to my local used book store (recently gentrified into a 21st century shoe shop) to pick up anthology books of the old EC books like “MAD” and “Tales From the Crypt“. “Tales” and similar magazines told one-note stories, sure, but the notes were strong and clear and pure, like a bugle breaking the dawn. “MAD”, of course, had some of the best artwork and mentally electrifying comedy plots (plotz?) in the business. (NOTE: If you remember the original horror and suspense comics from EC, you’re probably drooling away watching Marcus Welby reruns at the nursing home right now and not reading this review.) When I ran the store out of those great old half-dollar copies, I eventually stumbled across “Plop“, which blended elements of both; Sergio Aragones and weird murder.

Vertigo’s House of Mystery brings a lot of these traditions back for their thirteenth issue. While it jumps out of their active plot, it fits in with the *theme*, and that’s actually better than good.

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Fables #81 is the end of ‘The Dark Ages’, which isn’t so much an arc as it is a large prologue of things to come. As such, the main plot has to do with that. The most memorable part of the issue, however, is the last appearance of one of the heroes of the previous arc, Boy Blue. His departure is touching and sad, and his interactions with Rose Red are poignant in their honesty. Bill Willingham‘s writing is subdued, even reverent, and the art team of Buckingham, Pepoy, and Loughridge do their level best.

After reading through this issue, take some time with the final page and listen to the crack of the bat. Fables only use wooden bats.

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #3 cover

Previously in The Sandman: The Dream Hunters: Onmyogi, bound on killing the young monk in order to gain his strength, attempts to do so through dreams. Within each of these dreams the monk receives a different gift: a box, and then a key. In the third dream, he is supposed to open the box with the key, and upon doing so, will die. However, the fox, aware of Onmyogi’s plan, attempts to save the monk – sacrificing herself in the process.

Upon waking from the third dream unharmed, the monk finds the fox lying unconscious on the front steps of the temple. He leaves the temple to get help at the nearest village, but is stopped by Binzaru Harada disguised as an elderly man. He explains to the monk that he must return to the temple with the fox and sleep with a  token of the King of all Nights’ Dreaming for it is in dreams that the fox is trapped. With that, the monk returns to his temple, places the token – a slip of paper – beneath his head and falls asleep with the fox.

**Spoilers after the break**

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I don’t know how he does it, but Brian Wood keeps reeling me in further and further with his series DMZ. In this month’s issue, I was simply blown away as the series delves further into the story in the new “War Powers” arc.

In case you missed out:

The DMZ is crazy. There was an election to see who would run the DMZ after a lot of fighting and the DMZ candidate, Parco De la Gato, won despite an assassination attempt. Post-election, things are effing insane. Matty Roth, our lead character, is out and about and totally confused as to what’s going on, especially since 1) he’s a reporter who needs to know what’s going on and 2) he thought he was in with Parco. Last month, Parco sent Matty in to meet with the leader, Wilson, who Matty is friends with, of the Asian gangs in the DMZ to get the rumored “Chinatown gold” aka a shit-load of gold the Asian gangs took from a bank just as the fighting started in the DMZ because his new regime needs money, and fast.

And here’s where we begin issue #38.

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The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #2 Cover

Previously in Sandman: The Dream Hunters: At a small temple in a far off region of Japan, a fox and badger make a wager: whichever of them succeeds in driving the monk from the temple will keep the place as a home.  However, the monk is more cunning then he appears and sees past the animal’s trickeries.  And as time passes, the fox begins to fall in love with the young monk.

Some nights later, the fox overhears some demons talking about the young monk and her.  Their master has foretold that, come the next full moon, either she or the monk shall be dead.  Their master intends to kill the monk through dreams.  For three nights running, the monk shall have evil dreams.  During the first night, he shall dream of a box.  On the second, he shall dream of a black key.  And on the third night, he shall dream of unlocking the box with the key.  When he opens the box, he shall lose all connection to the world and die.

The next day, the fox takes her most prized possession and offers it to the sea asking for knowledge on how to save the monk’s life.  She has a dream that night where she speaks to a great black fox, which is actually Dream of the Endless.  He explains to her that if she loves him enough, and is willing to die for him, then that she should stop him from having the dreams.

**Spoilers after the break **

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Sorry for the wait, everyone!  College applications and magazine interviews can really get in the way.  Just today, I finally had the chance to read one of my favorite comics, Madame Xanadu, hope you enjoy!

Previously in Madame Xanadu: Fast-forward to France’s late 1700s.  Heirs to the throne are young Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XVI.  Having befriended Nimue, now known as Le Madame de Xanadu, Marie Antoinette relies on Xanadu for her divinations.  Shortly after befriending Marie, Xanadu vows to never again interfere in matters of state, and leaves her court.  But before leaving, Xanadu warns Marie of the coming French Revolution.  Although saddened by her departure, Marie expresses her thanks, but pays no heed to her warnings: a vital mistake.

Upon leaving, Xanadu reunites with Phantom Stranger during the brink of the revolution. Stranger makes clear that nothing can be done to alter the fate of the monarchy.  Instead, he suggests that, perhaps, a time of peace and unity will come after times of hardships have passed – a time that will not come for another ten years.  With that, Stranger departs and leaves Xanadu alone again.

Freeing herself from the pain and guilt, Xanadu moves to Provence, in the southeastern part of France. But after finding out that the royal family have been arrested and tried for treason, Xanadu finds her guilt overwhelming.  Four years pass when Xanadu finally leaves the peaceful countryside for Paris.

With the help of her witchcraft, Xanadu makes her way through the chambers until she finds Marie, a woman strained of her youth after four years of torment.  Phantom Stranger soon reappears and explains to Xanadu that she should have paid heed to his words and not involved herself in these affairs.  Marie, unable to see Stranger, suspects Xanadu of necromancy and calls for the guards to take her away.  They attack her, take away all of her belongings and imprison her within the chambers.

**Spoilers after the break**

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Madame Xanadu #5 Cover

Previously in Madame Xanadu:

After saving Kublai Khan’s favored consort from assassins, Marco Polo and Nimue are awarded for their bravery. Marco Polo accepts an emerald lantern from the Khan’s grand chest, a descendent of the Green Lantern lamps. Upon receiving the artifact, Phantom Stranger escapes the prison. He reunites with Nimue and they share an emotional moment together, until Khan’s guards find him. Aware that she is now as much a criminal, Nimue and Phantom Stranger flee to the outskirts of town. However, as an agent of fate, Phantom Stranger abandons Nimue in the desert to fend for herself.

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The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1 Cover

It’s a surprise that the original The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano) has been around for ten years now – time passes and this prose begins to build up dust as each year seems to float by, although you’d never know it. The Dream Hunters is another example of Gaiman’s fine work in storytelling. One of which never ages, but instead stares back at the reader with a wistful smile, looking to be broken into and enjoyed again and again. As though the writing itself is lost in time and the reader’s imagination is all that can ignite thoughts and feelings.

Ten years later, those thoughts and feeling have been ignited once more, this time in the form of a comic drawn by P. Craig Russell. Anyone unfamiliar with Russell ought to know that he loves adapting prose into comics. As Gaiman puts it, “His opera comics and his [Joseph Rudyard] Kipling and [Oscar] Wilde adaptations are remarkable and fine”. Russell’s sense of design and flow, are key. The way that he keeps his opposing lines dynamic, not forming symmetries, while keeping his lines fine and nuanced allows him to suggest the volume of the figure with shape alone (note the wave-like curves in his lines). The cartoony elements give his characters warmth and life, and his backgrounds are ornate without being over-rendered. This balance of halves remains the pinnacle of Russell’s art, establishing him to be one of the most admired and original artists today.

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I’ve always been at least a casual fan of Neil Gaiman‘s original Sandman series, but then, who hasn’t? Dream‘s intrigues with his family, the crazy art, the way it leaves you often thinking at the end of an arc, the little stories nestled away, just stellar stuff.

Sadly, the original coloring doesn’t live up to the discerning eye of today’s comic reader (at least, not mine); plus, it can be difficult to pickup an old issue for the sake of one-shot enjoyment without having to be intimately familiar with every ounce of backstory that has happened before.

This is part of what makes this comic adaptation of Gaiman’s novel “Sandman: the Dream Hunters” so wonderful. Starting as a simple Japanese fairy tale about a monk, a bold badger, and a wily fox, the tale time-releases mood and energy with fantastic lines, color, and page design by P. Craig Russell.

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Madame Xanadu #4 Cover

Previously in Madame Xanadu:

Nimue finds herself in the great halls of Xanadu – the palace of Kublai Khan – working as his favored soothsayer.  While waiting for the return of the Polo brothers to China, Nimue warns the emperor of the one ‘wearing the large gold medallion’.  Unbeknownst to her, this man is the Phantom Stranger and is imprisoned upon his arrival.

Phantom Stranger later warns Nimue of deception within Khan’s court. Disguised as Europeans, assassins have been dispatched to rape and murder the Khan’s favorite consort.  Determined to help her people, Nimue wakes up Marco Polo and asks for him to help stop the coming treachery.

**Spoilers after the break**

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