In our look at the final three issues of ‘A Game of You,’ we play that game of you by considering how the arc views gender identity.
Cover by Dave McKeanWritten by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Shawn McManus
Colored by Daniel Vozzo
Lettered by Todd KleinBarbie finds herself far from home and wandering alone through the Land, finally encountering the enemy she’s been waiting for–the Cuckoo. Part 4 of 6.
Cover by Dave McKeanWritten by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Shawn McManus, Bryan Talbot, and Stan Woch
Colored by Daniel Vozzo
Lettered by Todd KleinThessaly, Hazel and Foxglove enter The Land for a terrifying showdown with the Cuckoo! Meanwhile, a magic-induced high wind in Manhattan threatens Barbie’s physical body in “A Game of You” part 5 of 6.
Cover by Dave McKeanWritten by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Shawn McManus
Colored by Daniel Vozzo
Lettered by Todd KleinIn the conclusion of “A Game of You,” Morpheus decides the final destiny of the Land and is determined to decide who among Barbie, Hazel, Foxglove, Wanda and the Cuckoo who will live–and who will die.
Last week, our look at ‘A Game of You’ ended with Hazel, Foxglove, and Thessaly traveling to The Land to get Barbie back, leaving Wanda behind in New York. What is noteworthy about this is that the three who made the journey are all biological women, and the one left behind, a male-to-female trans woman. It raises questions about gender identity that were not in the common vernacular when this series debuted, as they are today. It’s led to accusations that the series was transphobic, which Neil himself denies, pointing to the ending of the arc as proof that it is not that.
Let’s explore other ways he subverts and explores gender, femininity, and identity in these three issues.
The character of Wanda is the obvious subversion of gender in this series, for all the reasons detailed earlier: she’s male-to-female trans, she’s left behind while the others, women by chromosome, travel to The Land to bring Barbie back. The dead face of George and Wanda argue over just who she truly is, with George parroting a line that you can still hear today in 2022: “Gender isn’t something you can pick and choose as far as gods are concerned.” And there are moments in the art that emphasize that Wanda was born male. When she picks up the homeless woman she and Barbara encountered on the train earlier in the day (named Maisie), you can clearly see a bulge in her underwear. At the same time, Maisie refers to her good Samaritan as a woman and with female language throughout their time together, only commenting in passing on that bulge in the panties.
But let’s also consider Barbie for a moment. In her journey in The Land, the look we see is very stereotypically feminine. She’s wearing a pink princess dress. Her face grows softer, rounder, with larger eyes in the journey, almost taking on an anime look. And while there wasn’t much attention paid to her shape in the New York scenes, here we have a Barbie made for the male gaze: large breasts, curvy hips, tiny waist – – all in proportions that don’t appear realistic, just like the Barbie doll she’s (presumably) named for. In contrast, Hazel, Foxglove, and Thessaly are the antithesis of convention – – women who neither care nor have those conventional trappings of beauty.
Barbie’s search for self also takes a journey that doesn’t seem typical in its nature. Indeed, Barbie dreamed of a princess land, populated by creatures that looked just like her toys. But there were many ways she was not the typical girl. She attempted to fly off of her roof as a child, getting a cut on her knee that required stitches – – something that boys tend to only pretend to be or do. She also had dreams of witches and ghosts, not something “typical” for a young girl – – at least according to her parents. Ghosts can be omens of death, and witches are symbols of magic. Was Barbie searching for something in these dreams about herself? Had this been 2022, Barbie wouldn’t be trying on identities by painting her face – – she may be scrolling through WitchTok on her phone, trying out emoji spells, or even buying her own deck of tarot cards.
Continued belowOne aspect of her identity that she can’t seem to let go is her childhood. Mundane as it was, it built her fantasy world, which is why the Cuckoo’s Citadel took the form of her childhood home, and the Cuckoo her younger self. This ‘Game of You’ is a journey to adulthood of sorts, finding that identity she craved in painting her face.
By the end of this arc, Morpheus enters to destroy The Land in line with a previously made compact. In New York, a freak storm collapses the apartment building, killing both Wanda and Maisie but sparing Barbie’s life. Her journey to self-acceptance and understanding is meant to continue, while Wanda’s ends. In the real world, nothing is perfect, though. Note how Barbie looks flawless and beautiful as her body is pulled from the rubble, while Wanda’s lies in a body bag. Wanda’s funeral features the caricatures of the conservative family that shunned their child, even calling her by her deadname of Alvin at the services and on the grave. It’s Barbie who provides one final moment of grace for her friend, crossing out Alvin on the tombstone, replacing it with Wanda – – in a garish bright pink lipstick that she’s convinced Wanda would have loved.
The final acceptance comes from the Endless. As Death greets Wanda, she’s seen with long flowing hair and a bright pink dress – – granted the wish to live as a woman that eluded her on Earth. George insisted in their conversation that the Endless would not accept her as a woman, and here they have done just that. Indeed, that is a beautiful thing to see.
But was it necessary for Wanda to die to come to this moment? Resorting to that is resorting to the fridging trope for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans women. So her death was gratuitous and unnecessary, and I can imagine a rewriting of the series today (or the TV adaptation of this story, should Netflix’s Sandman get a second season) granting her that acceptance of her female identity without resorting to taking her life.
The most feminine of Neil Gaiman’s stories certainly has a lot to unpack about gender and identity, and how I wish it had been just a bit longer to give us time to consider these complicated themes, themselves revolutionary in 1991.
Perhaps we shall see Barbie again. I’d like to know how she’s doing.
Next week we conclude our 2022 Summer Comics Binge of this series with the special one shot “The Song of Orpheus.”
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.
