I had mixed feelings about this volume of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" saga. The subject matter was certainly one that was interesting, because it shifts between the real-life experiences of Barbie, a character Gaiman introduced all the way back in Volume 2, and the adventure she has inside her Narnia-esque dreamworld. We got the first glimpse of this bright, colorful, fantasy world in Vol. 2 also, and I remember even then I was interested in seeing more of it because it stood out from the dark and depressing worlds that Gaiman normally sets his story in.
My one major problem with the story was that with the exception of Barbie and Morpheus, every character in this volume is new. Don't get me wrong, adding new characters is important when one is trying to keep a series fresh, but let's not abandon all the characters that the readers have grown to love just because you want us to understand the grand scale of your imaginary world. This isn't something that particularly bothers me about this volume, but all the volumes up to this point. Yes, this is Morpheus' story and constantly changing the characters around him forces the reader to focus on him, but bringing back a major character from a previous volume to appear as a major character wouldn't be the end of the world...
Another thing I noticed reading this volume is that Gaiman is EXTREMELY interested in gender ambiguity. He repeatedly populates his stories with men dressing up as women, women dressing up as men, pre-op transsexuals, and other characters who blur the gender divide. In the case of this volume, that line is blurred by Wendy, a pre-op tranny who wants to fully become a woman, but due to her financial situation, can't afford to get rid of one very crucial bulge. After this fact is revealed, Gaiman puts Wendy in his/her underwear for the rest of the book and proceeds to graphically remind the reader in every frame that Wendy is no woman by featuring a pronounced bulge. This may be the artist's doing as much as Gaiman, but I still have yet to understand Gaiman's message about gender ambiguity (however, knowing Gaiman, it will be revealed to me at the last possible moment).
The plot of this story is exciting and the twists and turns make it very interesting to read. Barbie's dream world, where she teams up with talking birds, rats, and monkeys to take on an evil adversary known only as the Cuckoo, is both beautiful and exciting. Gaiman also manages to create a world that may seem childlike and innocent, but is still plagued by darkness and corruption however deep one must look to find it.
While I was torn on this volume, I must admit that I enjoyed it more than I was bothered by it, and the bitching and moaning featured in this entry was mostly concerning minor pet peeves. Honestly, if you're this far into the series, you're gonna keep reading anyway, so why bother taking my word for it anyway?
Annie Fuller credibility scale (pre-volume 5): 1
Annie Fuller credibility scale (post-volume 5): 2
Annie Fuller credibility scale (post-volume 5): 2
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