Neil Gaiman: Classic Or Dud

I just wasn't goth enough to get worked up over him.

i enjoyed sandman up until i realized neil gaiman ends all of his complex multi-issue storylines with the same damn whimpering deus ex machina non-ending every time out. i'd still probably rate a couple of the short story issues. (i haven't dared approach his novels for this very reason vis a vis time-investment.)

I'm not very goth and don't care about Gaiman's writing but I would fuckin' wreck that.

I only know anything about either Gaiman or Palmer because of my friends going on and on about either/both all the time. I've only ever read one Gaiman book (the one he did with Pratchett) and I'm no Dresden Dolls fan at all.

i'm a sentimental fool and all but the neil gaiman & amanda palmer thing delights me so much-- they are such a power couple!

At Worldcon, the international science-fiction convention, where he was the guest of honor in August, people walked around wearing pins that read “Neil Gaiman! Squeeeeeee!”—an expression of hysterical enthusiasm.

Ian R-M has so much to answer for.

"Squeee" has been around a lot longer than our young mr cuddlestein. God, I hate that word.

Fair to blame Jhonen Vasquez for that one. Wonder what he's been up to, post-Invader Zim?

Have we mentioned his non-fiction biography of Douglas Adams, written in an annoying faux-Adams styleeee?

The NYer link notes the faux-Adamsness. (Americans should beware, their editions are often heavily revised by other hands.)

Wonder what he's been up to, post-Invader Zim?

Apparently he's working on a (presumably animated - fuck, I hope so) movie version of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac! I was no fan at all of Zim, but THAT as a dark, scribbly animated movie could potentially be freaking awesome.

It could also be hideous. Please don't anyone let Tim Burton touch it.

okay this is weird, i found out today that one of my close associates is his son, which was very strange as most of our other associates operate on a vastly different arts/culture platform and have no idea who NG is. son and dad are quite, quite different afaict.

you work at g00gl3?

yeah he's said that he doesn't understand half of what his son tells him about his job, and usually just smiles and says "That's brilliant."

no, not a work association. but i will say his son is really, really talented in quite a few different ways.

Don't know if I ever posted this, a 2006 interview:

http://www.citypages.com/2006-11-29/news/enter-sandman/all

http://io9.com/5628181/neil-gaimans-sandman-coming-to-tv-at-last?skyline=true&s=i

Would watch. A way better idea than a movie.

Wow. Sandman could actually make a really great series, esp if it's on HBO or something.

that nyer profile of him last year was pretty great - kinda let him hang himself with his own rope

I think this would work only if it was traditonal animation. No way do I want to see a CGI Sandman.

Who said anything about animation?

I did. I said that this would work only if it was traditional animation. If they're gonna make it in live action, it will look awful.

Well, you know best.

He pioneered the author-as-internet-celebrity trend, right? So, dud.

Doesn't have to be CG Tuomas, just a decent actor with white make-up, a wig and a big black cloak.

will watch. I saw some Supernatural and it was alright. just glad someone got in before Tim Burton.

the right wig is key

He pioneered the author-as-internet-celebrity trend, right? So, dud.

Wait, what?

He has had a blog for like ten years, and I think it's pretty popular. Not sure if he really pioneered it, or if he's totally a celebrity though.

It's not a bad blog, really.

Anyway, rumor has it he's still trying to make a movie of "Death: The High Cost of Living", and that he plans to (ulp) direct it. Oh ffs, let Del Toro do it.

"let"

Like he wouldn't.

He got married last night in Berkeley.

I'm sure goth girls are rending their garments on livejournal at this very moment.

Hob Gadling is prolley one of my favorite characters in all of comix.

I don't like Amanda Palmer and sadly it has a lot to do with me liking Neil Gaiman far too much. I'm not proud of it.

You're allowed to not like Amanda Palmer, she's very irksome.

I thought all these years it was Hob GaLDing, I can't believe it. But Drugs OTM, he is a great character.

I've been slowly and not particularly intently re-reading Sandman over the last couple of weeks, and I've been finding the quirky historical one-issue stories generally a lot more arresting than the long Important arcs so far, which is pretty much the opposite reaction to the one I had when I was first reading the series as a teenager. Just read the Augustus issue followed by the Emperor of the US one, both of which are great.

Yeah - I've noticed he works better in short form. My two fave bits of his are probably that Emperor Of The US story and the Warhol story he did in MIRACLEMAN. Probably add "Murder Mysteries" in there as well.

Actually, I think I ripped off (well, not necessarily, it is a true story, minus Gaiman's embellishments) that Emperor story for a story I submitted to my high school anthology.

New prequel miniseries announced with JH Williams on art:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=39721

^ Sandman, that is.

!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=48465

“The room broke out into cheers again as the panel brought up the image of the name Miracleman, playing a video of writer Neil Gaiman speaking about the character.
“Miracleman #25 has been sitting in the darkness, nobody’s seen it…I love the idea that it’s finally going to be seen,” Gaiman said, calling it the “big incomplete book of my life,” and announcing Marvel’s intention to bring the material back into print.

Quesada told the cheering audience that in January 2014 they will be printing the “Miracleman” material and Gaiman’s end to the story.”

I'm thinking abt reading The Sandman and don't know whether to get the new recolored editions that are the only ones available in print, or track down the old original ones. The new ones look more "true" to the subject matter and are probably "better" but gosh they look so generic and sterile and lack all of the charm of the original ones (which are so much more true to their era)

OG on left, new recoloring on right

http://comicsalliance.com/files/2010/09/sandman1.jpg
http://comicsalliance.com/files/2010/09/sandman2.jpg
http://comicsalliance.com/files/2010/09/sandman3.jpg

it almost looks like the way that remixed/remastered version of Pearl Jam's "Ten" sounds, like do you not realize that so much of the charm is that it's a product of a specific era??

I would go with originals for the sake of nostalgia, but some of that '90s Vertigo coloring was the worst. Looked like somebody puked rust all over the page.

can't accuse Oliff or Vozzo of that though. seps got terrible around Brief Lives but solid after that.

a lot of his novels are cheap on amazon kindle today, in the UK anyway (maybe connected with new neverwhere story on the radio?)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_clnk_r?node=4725112031

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080xppt

Quesada told the cheering audience that in January 2014 they will be printing the “Miracleman” material and Gaiman’s end to the story.”

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, October 13, 2013 7:48 AM (three years ago)

lol