Classic literature and an oft-forgotten DCU superhero make for strange bedfellows in these two final issues of the ‘Dream Country’ arc.
Cover by Dave McKeanWritten by Neil Gaiman
Additional Material by William Shakespeare
Illustrated by Charles Vess
Colored by Steve Oliff
Lettered by Todd KleinIn this World Fantasy Award-winning standalone story featuring art by Charles Vess, visit a traveling road show of dramatic actors led by William Shakespeare as they unveil a new production called A Midsummer’s Night Dream for a very peculiar audience…
Cover by Dave McKeanWritten by Neil Gaiman
Penciled by Colleen Doran
Inked by Malcolm Jones III
Colored by Steve Oliff
Lettered by Todd KleinThe Dream King relinquishes center stage to his sister Death for a standalone issue, as she visits a long-forgotten, cult-favorite DCU character called Element Girl. Check in with the former hero as she deals with the devastating reality of her tragic existence…
“Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgot.”
If there ever was a statement of values for Morpheus, that comment from issue #19 would probably be it. And for it to be said by Morpheus itself in the midst of a production of William Shakespeare’s new play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is just pure poetic justice and timing. The master of dreams, watching a play about dreams, musing on the permanence of fantasy in our world.
Morpheus’s tentacles into human history continue to reach back, this time to the 16th century as Shakespeare travels with his troupe and his son Hamnet, who just wants some father-son time. The Bard and Morpheus have a deal for two plays in exchange for securing his literary legacy. The first of those plays is the story we know as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which Morpheus commands Shakespeare to perform right there in the field for his hand selected audience: the fairies who are the stars of the show. There’s multiple stories taking place in this issue: the play itself, the dialogue between the fairies and Morpheus that reveals the price that Shakespeare is about to pay for eternal fame (and more chillingly so, that he is not aware of this cost), and the fairy Titiana’s interest in young Hamnet.
What is that price? It’s never explicitly said in the issue, but the afterword after the play concludes and the mortals wake up from a deep sleep caused by Puck (who decided he wanted to play himself on stage for the second act) reveals that young Hamnet died not long after this experience. When one considers that young Hamnet just wanted time with his perpetually busy father, you can almost hear Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” in the background, that song about a father who realized how much he missed out on his son’s life from all his busyness when it was too late.
Gaiman balances all these multiple storylines well, giving just the right amount of play dialogue in between the offstage drama, but remembering to include the most iconic of scenes and script from the source work, like Puck’s speech to the audience at the end of the play. And there’s some room for tongue-in-cheek humor, such as when Hamnet remarks that if he died, his father would just write a play about him. (Several Shakespearean scholars speculate that this father-son relationship had connections to several of his works, including Hamlet.)
This issue also brings us a new artist and colorist to the series, both of who do well to replicate with the series style with just the right amount of their own touch. Charles Vess has a lighter hand on inks than his predecessors, but that lends itself well to the pastoral, peaceful setting – – which itself is complemented well with Steve Oliff’s colors. And like past issues, that peaceful color palette hids something more sinister beneath: Morpheus’s doubts about the deal he’s struck with the Bard, and Hamnet’s fascinating with Titiana, suggest something darker at play. Has Robin restored amends, as Puck promises? One is left to wonder.
Issue #20 moves to something completely different, and compared to its predecessor, is quite weaker. While it’s always a joy to see fan favorite Death again, the meeting is between Death and superhero Element Girl (aka Urania Blackwell) who just wants to die but can’t seem to die. While there’s enough in this story to enjoy it on its merits, there’s an implication that the reader knows who Element Girl is and her history. Like with issue #12 that focused on Fury, there’s a depth to the character that is missing that takes the story to a whole new level. Gaiman is creating something unique and magical here, and there’s no need for him to lean on DCU superhero canon to get the job done, as 18 other issues (to date) can attest. If he’s going to do more of this in the future, it would be wise to spend more time on some character backstory for new readers.
Continued belowThis is also one of those issues where you can see why Death is a fan favorite. Her flippant but compassionate attitude towards Element Girl when she encounters her by chance on another mission underscores her complex nature. She knows she has a job to do and must not stray from it, but there are moments where her heart goes out to those she encounters, and this is one of them. I’m looking forward to what Kirby Howell-Baptiste brings to the role when the Netflix series drops this week.
In the end, Rainie finds the death she seeks in the light, begging for mercy from the sun god Ra to take her life as she no longer wants it. I’m reminded of writer Robert Dodsley’s words on the sun in this moment: The Sun is not God, though His noblest image. It was the sun that finally took mercy on Rainie, removing her from that painful existence that is the double edged sword of superhero life: infinite powers to save the world, but at the loss of any sort of normalcy. The bright light of sun did what the darkness of Death could not, or would not, do. In this case, light was not hiding the terrors underneath the surface, but cleansing them away.
As much as I have enjoyed these one-off stories, I think I’m ready for some more longform storytelling, which looks to be on tap for next week. See you then, friends.
Next week we start the ‘Season of Mists’ arc with issues #21-23.
If you want to read along with me this summer, single issues and trades are available through comiXology. As of this writing, the first eight issues of the comic are also available on DC Universe Infinite. You can also check your local library for trade and collected editions of the series.
