Batman #686 Cover

Fittingly enough, DC has decided to call the latest 2 issue arc in Batman and Detective Comics “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”, a question that has been on many fans minds for the past few weeks, after the end of Batman R.I.P. and issue 6 in Final Crisis. Well, while it is unlikely that these issues will provide the answers to the questions that are on all our minds, it is still a worthy book to take a look at.

Why’s that, you might ask? Well, that’s because Neil Gaiman is writing it! Not even joking, I picked up this issue simply because he was writing it. Yeah, I’ve been following the ongoing Batman storyline and such, but even without that, I still would have bought this issue. With all that said, however, I was greeted (unsurprisingly) with an extremely well done comic that exceeded even my lofty expectations. I’ll tell you more if you just continue reading below.

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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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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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So, this new idea came to mind just a few days ago that we here at DestroyTheCyb.org should get together and let you guys all know what our favorite comics were for the month of November. We all have our favorites and even with the short amount of time we all managed to come up with our favorites, so without further ado, DestroyTheCyb.org’s Favorite Comics of November.

**possible spoilers after the break**

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The Mighty #1 Cover

Here we are, mid-November and things here in West Michigan are just now starting to turn towards the bitter cold of winter. But in the forever-looking-ahead world of comics, we are already starting to think about February, when we start breaking out of the dead of winter and spring is just around the corner.

I was hoping that by February solicitations, all those cryptic Dark Reign comics would be revealed for all the world to bask in their glory. Unfortunately, with Secret Invasion not ending for a couple of weeks, we are once again left with several Marvel books without proper solicitations. Despite this, there’s still a ton of comics to look at in February, including a bunch of Marvel stuff, a few DC books and maybe even an indie thrown in for good measure.

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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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I had planned to write a post reviewing Grant Morrison’s New X-Men from the early 2000s, but unfortunately, I failed to finish those over the weekend, due to many factors. Hopefully I will have that review up soon. But I still wanted to get a post out tonight, so I thought I would talk about the news story I am most excited about coming out of Comic-Con International in San Diego: Neil Gaiman is taking the reigns on Batman starting in January.

There are several reasons why this is huge news. First, I love Neil Gaiman with a passion. Not even joking, I worship the man’s books. American Gods is probably one of the best novels I have ever read. On top of that, he has, in my opinion, single-handedly redefined the fantasy literature genre. On top of that, he has written some of the most critically acclaimed comic books. Sandman is still considered a great comic book and I haven’t met too many people who didn’t love Marvel 1602. I have only read Marvel 1602 as far as comic books by him, but I have to say I was blown away.

Simply put, I am excited to see what he can bring to Batman. The 2 part story that Gaiman writes will spin directly out of the Batman R.I.P. arc from Grant Morrison, but will also apparently herald back to Batman from the early days, like a retrospective of the character.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Gaiman’s partner from 1602, Andy Kubert is going to be penciling the issues? Oh yeah, he is. So there is even more reason to be excited.

It sounds like Gaiman’s arc will not require too much knowledge of the current goings-on in Batman, so even those who are not currently reading about The Dark Knight should be able to pick the issues up with no problem. After his work, Grant Morrison will pick back up the pencil for Batman and continue on with his master plan for Batman.

You can be assured that I will be picking the books up and I will review them for you right here. So look for my reviews of Neil Gaiman’s work on Batman coming this January to a computer screen near you. Until then, stay tuned to DestroyTheCyb.org for more news about your favorite comics!