The Sandman Mystery Theatre Thread

[HugoDeVries]

DC’s Vertigo imprint produced some of the best comics of the copper era and in my opinion non better than the vastly underrated Sandman Mystery Theatre, so in homage to the work of Matt Wagner, Guy Davis and the rest of the team I thought I’d start a thread to discuss, reappraise and generally show some love to the adventures and romances of Wesley Dodds and Dian Belmont.

 

Needless to say I’m a HUGE fan, with a well thumbed always to hand run of the comics and a fairly decent collection of the original art of the series, just check out my CAF gallery,

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=74686

 

Why is the series so good, simply the double whammy of Matt Wagner’s storytelling and Guy Davis’s art, together they tell stories that blend film noir, horror, romance, social commentary and superheroes in a way that’s realistic. The series always has a strong sense of character and place that overrides any need for endless men in tights action.

 

This is illustrated in the first page of art I purchased from the series Page 5 Issue 16 from the Vamp storyline. The Vamp, along with The Tarantula, The Phantom of the Fair and Dr Death are the storylines I rate the highest with the Vamp being the one I initially intended to collect solely, though luck soon changed that.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=648444&GSub=74686

 

Dian Belmont plays detective and discovers the hidden life of her friend and also the hardships within society, it’s a simple talking heads page but one that illustrates what the series does best, the depiction of women, in how they were drawn and written is one of the best in comics, and in many ways its Dian that’s the true main character of the series, we are introduced to the Sandman and Wes through her eyes and loves, we watch her become the detective in many stories and see her grow as a person as she considers her place in a rapidly changing world. The page, like the series is all about the period and full of typical Davis detail and superb line work, his attention to the backgrounds (check out the detail on the window in the final panel!) really roots the series in the period while Wagner’s stories offer up subtle social commentary of the time and also places the ‘mystery’s’ with the events of the period, horrors within an increasingly horrific world, but shows that its love and relationships that ultimately either redeem or condemn us.

 

The title of the series is in some way’s misleading, the mystery elements are far from the classic whodunit and the culprit is usually fairly obvious in each story line, its more about the why dunit, the motivation for the often horrific crimes is more the revelation, in SMT it’s all about character, Wes, Dian, the villains, how they grow, change and interact with each other.

 

Basically i love this series and could bang on endlessly about it, so come on one and all lets discuss it, what’s you’re favourite storyline, do you have any original art (and more importantly message me if you want to sell!!) etc etc.

 

Tickets to the theatre of mystery are now on sale! Come one come all!

 

[lb jefferies]

I'll chime, although only quickly for now, but I also adore this series. It was frustrating how they weren't able to finish the series as they started. Even the last four planned issues were squeezed into only two. A harsh end to one of the BEST series from the nineties.

 

My favorite storyline is the very first one - The Tarantula - and I'm trying to put together the OA from that issue here:

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?Order=Date&Page=1&GSub=57589

 

11 out of 26 pages. I hope to find the other 15 before I die.

 

Next favorite storyline would have to be The Vamp and Frank has some STELLAR pieces to that tale as he's linked to above.

 

I'd love to hear what others think of this series.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

 

 

[rjpb]

My favorite Vertigo series, and one of the best series in comics period.

[HugoDeVries]

I’m sure we will both track down some more art soon, they must be out there somewhere, now if you guys and gals on here could just give us a few hints or two as to where!!!

 

Though this thread could quickly become a stellar art off Simon, as you know the love I have for those elusive issue 1 pages of yours. My CAF gallery really could do with a tidy up, I’ve tried to show a good example page from each of the Guy Davis issues, aside from issue 1 DAMMIT that displays what i consider the strengths of the series, character, filmic panels, perverse villains and period details, love a good architectural background! Was often hard to pick a ‘favourite’ page so many including my newer pickups haven’t really been featured, especially the Vince Locke collaboration issues which, The Vamp aside, I’m really fond of, his willowy look and scratchy style gave the SMT world a haunted feel that made a nice one off contrast to Davis’s rounded realism.

 

Anyway best move on before this becomes purely an original art love in!

 

From the praise to the problems, the frustrating elements of the series were indeed its abrupt cancellation, though I’m sure most fans bemoan the end of any cherished title, and as a fan of the original art the lacklustre standard of either the colouring or the print quality is my pet peeve.

 

Guy Davis’s subtle details and superb line work, especially on the early issues, are often lost or overshadowed by the one note blobby colouring (I think it was the printing as while the issues were ropey don’t get me started on the trades! Come on DC while I’ll admit there might not be the market for an absolute SMT slipcase...hint hint... the trades do look like you’ve used a colour photocopier from the 80’s! And why reprints don’t ever include the comics’ letters page, a good letters page can really add to the reading experience, almost like a DVD movie commentary, whinge whinge)

 

Plus as a noir series it just works so much better in black and white, it’s like colourising an old movie.

 

Ok that’s enough criticizing come on folks why else was the series great.

 

[rjpb]

I'm not a collector of OA, but looking at examples in the CAF, it is clear that there is more detail than in the comics (hardly unusual with comic books, unfortunately), but I actually liked the muted coloring in the series. SMT was my introduction to Guy Davis, and I became a fan instantly. If anything he has only gotten better, and I find his work on B.P.R.D. to be some of the best stuff currently being published.

 

While I am a fan of B/W comics, especially strips conveying a dark mood, I find that B/W art that was designed to be colored is often lacking in shading and use of blacks, as the artist was aware that some of the contrast was to be provided in the coloring process.

[lb jefferies]

I liked the muted coloring in some of the stories in the series, but some were really just god awful. Poor paper quality didn't help, either.

 

Although black and white production art was designed to be colored (as you say) I do feel that work prior to the last fifteen years looks far better as original art. In the mid nineties and earlier the penciler and inker supplied all the subtle nuances necessary for the work to exist as stand alone pieces of art. After this period, digital colorists enhanced every page, sometimes for the better but IMO most often to the detriment of the final product. Nowadays spotting blacks is something a lot of creators do without as that responsibility has fallen elsewhere - which is a shame - but thankfully Guy Davis' SMT artwork more than holds up without color.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

[MisterX]

Love Sandman Mystery Theatre!

 

I remember it was one of the only comics I was buying off the rack in the 90s. And I've still kept them, even though I long ago purged most of my Moderns.

 

And now I will make a heretical statement: I like the solo Steven Seagle issues the best. He took over the writing full-time with #61, pretty close to the end of the run. (He collaborated on the writing with Wagner from #13 thru #60.)

 

But I haven't read them again in a long time, so I can't quite remember now why I like them better. Myabe they just had more zip.

[mister_not_so_nice]

This is illustrated in the first page of art I purchased from the series Page 5 Issue 16 from the Vamp storyline.

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=648444&GSub=74686

 

 

I remember that page very well, and it looks like in selling it to you I created a monster suitable fit for a four issue arc in SMT.

 

SMT is one of those series that gets pulled out about once every 18months for a re-read. The first arc with the washed-up streetfighter trying to take care of his daughter is such a well written(and heartbreaking) story.

 

I also remember distinctly reading the SMT Annual, turning the page and seeing Alex Ross' work for the first time and think, "Who the heck is this guy?!" As much as I like the other artists, his 2 or 3 pages of talking heads left a lasting impression.

 

 

[HugoDeVries]

Ahh now I know who to blame for my SMT art addiction, it’s monstrous indeed, turning me from casual art buyer to an all consuming fiend almost overnight, though has been lots of fun so maybe should be thanks instead. Off the back of that auction i was offered another page from the Vamp storyline for private sale and then I just got lucky with a couple of purchases and now have a pretty good collection.

 

But if anyone has any more pages the beast always needs feeding!! More art, more art...

 

As for the solo Seagle point I think you are right about the zip in his stories, they do have a lighter tone, though do still touch on some heavy issues, abortion and child cruelty for example and The Crone is certainly a standout tale from the later issues.

 

Though i prefer the brooding darkness and perversity that hangs heavy in the earlier tales, coupled with the tight, detail packed, heavy inked art of the early run, the grit does go from some later stories and the elements of the series, the structure of the mysteries, the Dian and Wes relationship do verge on become routine, plus the art becomes looser and more relaxed altering the atmosphere. It’s the classic problem of romance in ongoing stories, the spark was with Dian when she was becoming close to Wes and starting to become a detective, the will they won’t they thrill of the chase, when characters get together its often the ‘moonlighting’ effect.

 

Though certain late stories like the City show that Seagle was attempting to play with the series format and look at the world through the eyes of the supporting cast and it’s a pity we didn’t follow the Sandman to war torn Europe as the series would have been ripe for some Third Man style intrigue and commentary on the ordinary monsters that lurk within the horrors of war, though I don’t think fighting Nazi’s would have been great idea!

 

Nice to see the series still has re-reads by a loyal following, and odd that we all seem to choose roughly the same year or so cycle, I’m currently on the Dr Death story.

 

[rjpb]

SMT is one of those series that I tell myself I 'm going to reread, but haven't as yet. I guess I should get on it. I tend to move very slowly in this regard, I still haven't gotten around to rereading the Miller Daredevil run.

[lb jefferies]

As someone who only buys one new title (and even that one I wait for the Trade), re-reading is all I do!

[HugoDeVries]

Thought id give the SMT thread a bit of a kick and I’ve just updated my CAF gallery with two recent additions to my SMT art collection, pages from the Guy Davis Vince Locke collaboration story Dr Death, an underrated story in the series, lovely contrasts between the artists styles, yet also really complementary, issue 21 in particular has some lovely art check out the piano recital sequence. Plus not only does the story really advance the Wes/Dian relationship, hell it’s when she finds out he’s the Sandman once and for all, but also the the themes of aging, lost youth and male ego are well, yet subtly, explored, a tale worth a re-read

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?Order=Date&Page=1&GSub=74686

 

Dian’s dream page from issue 22 and the title splash from Issue 23 both really good examples of art from the series, with the dream page being particularly interesting as the art was digitally manipulated to give a blurry darker look to the published version, while this original art shows a wealth of more texture and detail, a great example of Locke’s scratchy art style at its best, who doesn’t like moody nightmarish horror!

 

If anyone has any more art from this story please let me know!!

[rjpb]

Nice pages!