Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess ::
by William the Bloody
Gaiman and Vess together again. It's the duo that the World Fantasy Awards couldn't refuse, even though they had never before awarded a comic book and have since changed the rules so they never will again. These 2 are best known of course for that award winning issue of Sandman "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Stardust, however is not really another Sandman comic, so much as a mini series about the Faerie.
In Victorian-era England, the is a remote town called Wall; so named because of the huge wall on the East of town which comes out from the Eastern woods, borders the town, and goes back into the woods. There is only one gap in this wall, and it is within the town. And everyday, in 8 hour shifts, there are 2 men guarding this gap to make sure no one from the town goes in. Folks are only allowed to cross the gap once every nine years, when the field between the wall and the woods draws folks from around the world and from within the woods to hold a market. And it was at one such market that 18 year old Dunstan Thorn met a girl working in a booth. To say that this girl was a foreigner would be an understatement, but young Dunstan desired her more than anything he had known, and the 2 made love that night beneath the moon. The next day, the market broke up, and life went on. Dunstan married a local girl and the 2 herded sheep. Then in the following winter, for the first time, somebody approached the gap from the woodland side. That somebody was a baby in a basket, left discretely by parties unknown, with a note attached which read "Tristan Thorn." The baby grew up as babies do, unaware of its mysterious origins, and at the age of 17, fell in love. Her name was Victoria, and she would scarcely give him the time of day, being of the most beautiful of young ladies in Wall, and he being somewhat of an awkward and odd duck. On the night in which Tristan is permitted to escort Victoria home, he gets down one knee and proclaims his love and how he would do anything for her. At that moment, a star fell from the heavens far off and to the East. Victoria says she will give Tristan anything he desires if he were bring to her that very star, and laughs. Tristan strides home, packs a bag and heads East. At that very moment that Tristan is on one knee, in far off lands... A king is dying. He has 3 sons surviving him and only one shall inherit the kingship. Unable to decide, the king takes the royal jewel from his neck and throws it out of the highest tower in the citadel. The jewel sails higher and farther into the sky than thought possible, and in the distance, a star falls. The son to retrieve the pendant shall be king. Further away still, 3 old women, the queens of the witches prepare dinner. As one filets the fresh caught meat, she chooses to perform a reading from the entrails. Entrails do not lie. A star has fallen, and such things are good for the most potent of magics, that of granting youth. An old woman takes what youth they have stored away in a box, and sets out to search for more. And in the middle, a bright shining light bears down on a clearing in a wood. The light is so potent it is blinding, then reaches it peak, and fades to a dull glitter. At the base of this glow someone yells "Ow!" then more quietly "fuck" then "ow!" once again.
And it is thus that the story begins, or should I say, 4 stories-in-one begins.
The Good: Gaiman is brilliant, and this is no exception. This is a fairy tale for adults. There is sex and violence, but also a beautiful story which winds and weaves into a lovely tapestry. The characters are wonderful and full bodied. Nobody is one-dimensional here. The story is very fast paced, but doesn't feel rushed. And in the magical world of the Faerie, anything is possible, from unicorns, to nursery rhymes, to boats that sail the skies. Vess' art is very fine, occasionally inked, but usually paintings. His style lends itself well to illustrating the odd beings in the Faerie, and seems the perfect type to draw a fairy tale. I loved the Epilogue very very much. It made me happy.
The Bad: I was pretty disappointed that this story was done in the format of a story with pictures rather than the sequential art of a comic book, but I suppose Gaiman was able to achieve certain things in this style of narrative than how he would with pictures in a comic. Vess' art while very nice, doesn't really seem to give people's faces too much by way of distinguishing characteristics. If it weren't for the coloring, I could scarcely find a difference in the way most of the pretty girls look in their close-ups. There was a part in the story which took place in a treacherous wood that seemed to parallel a part from Sandman "A Game of You" too much to my liking. Gaiman, while brilliant, sometimes seem to repeat himself in this way. Also, he seems to write many of his old crones in the same way with their mannerisms of speech. Sometimes, I found certain occurrences predictable.
Overall, it is a fine tale. A modern told story of old. But it is above all else a love story, and in more ways than one. The ending does not disappoint, as it does not end as one would think at first thought.
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