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Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days

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Genius only rarely appears at the height of its powers. The Napoleon of the siege of Toulon merely hinted at the glory to come. Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is B-movie theater, especially compared to the majesty of "Hamlet" or "The Tempest".

Unfortunately, the same is true of the man who reinvented the comics medium, Neil Gaiman, late of Sandman fame.

The stories in this collection show the early evolution of this great fantasy writer, and those expecting Gaiman at the top of his game will be disappointed.

"Jack in the Green" is a Swamp Thing story which comes across as well-meaning fan-fiction.

"Brothers" is a hippy nostalgia trip that reads like an overlong Allman Brothers jam notable only for Gaiman's unease with DC's stable of superheroes and his penchant for strip-mining the most obscure characters.

"Shaggy God Stories" continues in this vein with another Swamp Thing tale, this one featuring the Floronic Man and a much more autonomous Gaiman at the helm less beholden to Alan Moore and Rick Veitch.

"Hold Me" is a weak Hellblazer story beautifully illustrated. The somber, elegaic mood of the piece will be instantly familiar to Sandman fans.

"Sandman Midnight Theatre," is a masterpiece. Gaiman proves his ability to seamlessly incorporate other DC characters within his milieu while retaining there inherent characteristics. Truly inspired stuff, if you don't mind wading through the rest.

Essential for Gaiman completists only.

I remember my early philosophy classes covering the beginnings, the origins -- the ancient Greeks. As you got to higher course numbers, you got to read contemporary authors, people who had built upon the foundations of Plato and Aristotle, continuing a "call and response" dialogue with them and adding new concepts of their own.

At least that's how it's supposed to work. I did it backwards, taking some 300 and 400 level classes before I decided to major in the subject. I'm rather glad it worked out that way -- and that's how it'll work for most readers of Midnight Days.

This compilation is like Gaiman 101 because you get to see the foundations. I'd imagine that most buyers have already read Sandman. I found it fascinating to see little gems of what was to come twinkling through the growth. The "Brother Power" story I especially liked, as the Prez issue of Sandman was one of my favorites. "Hold Me" has been and always will be one of my favorite pieces -- McKean's art and the poignance of the writing make it Primary Gaiman, as far as I am concerned. It's the best piece in the collection, though I also enjoyed the last story very much.

I really enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to watch the process and feel the author finding his way in some of the stories.

I highly recommend it, especially for those who are waiting for his next offering to come out, and need a "Neil feeling" fix. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read Sandman, and then come back and talk with me. :)

If I'd known what was in this book, I probably wouldn't have been so quick to spend so much money on it. But there it was on the shelf, and Downtown Comics was giving me a special discount because they like me, and it had the most gorgeous cover art. So I bought it.

It's not a great book. Still, I can't say I'm sorry I bought it. It'll probably go out of print very quickly, and then I'll be glad to have it. I'm a Gaiman fanatic, you see. This is probably not a book for non-Gaiman fanatics. Certainly not a book for anyone who's just starting on Neil Gaiman.

The stories. There were a couple of Swamp Thing stories. I'm not, other than Neil Gaiman's stuff, a comics-literate person: I'm a total stranger to Swamp Thing, although I may remedy this situation someday; but as it is, I was unable to appreciate these stories. They were OK, but I was mostly lost. Then there was a story called Brothers. I'm also unfamiliar with whatever comic this originally came from, and quite a lot of it passed over my head. But I still liked this story. It was more like the Gaiman I know; moving, with lingering images. Reminded me of some of the most mediocre Sandman (which is still a good thing). Then there was a story called Hold Me. Hmm. I think that I should read it again; I'm sure there was something I missed. It's a little hazy in my mind. Still, it was a wonderful story, with really gorgeous artwork. Lastly there was Sandman Midnight Theater. Dream's only in here for about 3 pages, but it was a very good story otherwise, if a little long; the best part was the artwork, quite breathtaking. Neil Gaiman has written an introduction to each of these stories as well, which is a definite bonus.

All in all, a moderately good collection, though for Gaiman fans only. If you're not a fan, check out Sandman (Preludes and Nocturnes is the first) or one of his novels before this. The cover art helps make it worth the price--I'm in love with that picture. And the title. _Midnight Days_. Isn't that beautiful? Little things. The stories were generally pretty good. But I'd still like to see the one about the things living in John Constantine's fridge... :)

There's a reason why choice cuts are sometimes relegated to the b-sides & rarities disc and simply put it's because they're not quite up to snuff with the rest of the top-shelf material that most fans are accustomed to. In Neil Gaiman's, 'Midnight Days,' fans are given a chance to take a look at some of Gaiman's somewhat esoteric and forgotten material. Half of the volume is dedicated to short bits that he did for the 'Swamp Thing,' series and for those who are not familiar with Alan Moore's 1980's brilliant steerage of the series these stories will be somewhat difficult to follow and of not much interest. Things do pickup midway through with the reprint of, 'Hold Me,' a one-shot story about John-Constantine, brilliantly illustrated by the always artful Dave McKean. The volume comes to a close with an issue of, 'Sandman Midnight Theater,' with standout paintwork by Teddy Kristiansen that makes up for the weak plotting of the tale.

Ultimately, this book can only be recommended to fans of Gaiman who are interested in seeing some of his earlier and more experimental work. Newcomers would be better off starting off with the 'Sandman' series and branching off thereafter.

No, it's not another damn book about the Endless, and for that, I'm glad. (They're enjoyable, but enough is enough is enough already.)

Instead, this time around, we get mostly juvenalia from Gaiman, at least as far as his DC/Vertigo career is concerned. As with much of his work, they're all played in minor key, but they fit in well with the established ongoing series from which they draw.

The "Swamp Thing" pieces don't equal the heights to which the series has soared, but they're more user-friendly for new readers and enjoyable in their own right.

The "Brother Power, The Geek" story is of middling interest, although it's amusing to see how Gaiman intertwines it with the "Swamp Thing" mythos.

The "Hellblazer" story proves that John Constantine's best stories are about sorrow, loss and fear, not demonic hosts and abominations both mortal and otherwise (although they certainly are fun).

And, for those who can't live without a pasty-faced member of the Endless slouching through, "Sandman Midnight Theater" (a collaboration with the incomparable Matt Wagner) forms a nice bridge between "Sandman" and "Sandman Mystery Theater."

This is a glimpse into a world of magic that can be just as mundane as the "ordinary" world.

Worth buying for those very familiar or very new to the DC/Vertigo line of books, especially the main branch that split off from DC Comics as their own shared "universe."

Forget the depths of Sandman and the great writing of Gaiman's novels and stories. These are grunt works, done with all the grace and passion a fanboy can have, and the respect any newbie writer in the publishing business is supposed to show. No more, no less. Get it only if you're a Gaiman fetishist, otherwise stick to more mature works (or more mainstream ones by other authors, if you're still in the "who'd win between the Thing and Superman" phase).

I remember my early philosophy classes covering the beginnings, the origins -- the ancient Greeks. This is like pholisy i like the art and story and overall feel of the book i liked it so much i read this one from the liabrary.

The thing that needs to be understood here is that these stories were all created during Neil Gaiman's early career as a comics writer. This collection begins with a preface or introduction of sorts in which Neil Gaiman himself explains that many of these stories were created when he was twenty-four years old and was still in the process of figuring out how to actually write comics. This admission is in itself very interesting because it gives you -- as the reader and a reader of Gaiman -- a conception of just how much the fantasy, horror and comics writer has grown over time.

Each story presented here begins with a little introduction from Neil Gaiman explaining the piece's origins, what he originally intended to do, what inspired him, who read it and helped him edit it or work with him on it, and what his own retrospective view of the piece is like now. It is a trip down memory lane into the Green and Dream and into the mind of a budding and now incredibly developed writer. I am going to try to talk about each story individually, but there are some characteristics that overlap.

"Jack of the Green" is the story of another incarnation of the Swamp Thing from the seventeenth century. It has a very tight and concise narrative woven around the theme of the four elements in nature. Stephen Bissette and many of the original Swamp Thing comics artist crew were responsible for illustrating this story. The story itself is short and reads more like a very interesting introduction to a far larger and greater story that is never actually written. This is due to the references and obvious background resonance in the narrative. There are so many things not said but only hinted about in illustration and in passing. It is a real pity that it does end here and does not go further.

"Brothers" is another story that takes place in the Swamp Thing world. It is here that Neil Gaiman's storytelling ability is very clear: specifically his ability to take old and obscure characters, and disparate stories to create a greater narrative. Usually, these elements interweave into something greater, but for some reason -- while the stories and details are very interesting and illustrate Neil Gaiman's wide-ranging fields of knowledge -- they fail to unify into that larger story. The story ends on an anti-climactic note, and really it is the personal stories of the characters that I wanted to see fleshed out a lot more. Again, there was a lot of potential here to make this into a character-driven story but it didn't happen.

"Shaggy Gods Stories" is another Swamp Thing narrative and it, like "Jack in the Green" could have easily been expanded on. Unlike "Jack," however, "Shaggy Gods" deals with an erstwhile super-villain attempting to make some very considerable metaphysical claims with regards to the Green. This is a very, very short philosophical narrative from the unreliable limited narrative perspective of the Floronic Man or Woodrue as he attempts to deal with the Green much in the way that Alan Moore did in his work or as Gaiman does with the Dreaming. I really do wish there were more of these stories and that the potential plot-points Neil Gaiman writes in here were expanded on: if someone else hasn't done so already.

"Hold Me" moves away from the Swamp Thing mythos to the world of John Constantine. Dave McKean's illustration here is dark, long, gritty and cold with very few colours. It was an excellent short story, yet it seemed somewhat rushed. I appreciate the idea behind it: that there is an intrinsic loneliness in human existence and that its ache can gain its own intent and attempt to complete itself by attaining something almost always taken for granted -- basic human warmth. At first, I didn't know what was going on but despite the rushed nature of this piece there was a nice lead up to the end: which is an ending similar to the one in "Brothers" in how the challenge is met by the protagonist. It should also be noted that apparently that this story's single comics issue was quite a rare one to find on its own in stores.

Finally, there is "The Sandman Midnight Theatre." It is a story that Neil Gaiman created in collaboration with Matt Wagner. It takes place in 1939 England and slightly before World War II begins. This is the most well-developed out of all the comics narratives featured in this collection. It is that the myriad of stories, character details and backgrounds unite into a greater narrative. The Golden Age Sandman -- Wesley Dodds -- somehow crosses paths with Dream of the Endless during the latter's long imprisonment. Some reviewers have already mentioned that sometimes the plot and transition here seem very long, but at the same time I think that this is where a sense of pacing begins to manifest itself. It seems like there is a purpose to organizing each of the stories in this particular order: from the early stories with their fast and sometimes awkward panel transitions to this larger narrative. The illustration here is crisp, and accentuates basic elemental shapes. It is dark and gloomy, but somehow very vital and colourful in a way that "Hold Me" was not meant to be in its starkness. There is a very clear plot, but the crossover point between two well-known protagonists becomes almost a hint of clarity -- just a hint -- but it only scratches the surface.

Some reviewers have, again, already mentioned that this is a book for Gaiman completionists and I am inclined to agree with this. But, like Neil Gaiman states, these are a fine assortment of oddities and keepsakes in your collection: much like the ones on the shelves or in the treasure chests in the rooms of Morpheus of the Endless.

Midnight Days is one of those inevitable collections that comes out when an author becomes big news.

It pulls together a half-dozen early Gaiman stints on other DC titles that otherwise would have been swept into the bargain bin of history.

Fortunately, Gaiman's early work is often his best (discuss?), and a couple of the stories in here were legitimately worthy of republication. Swamp Thing, always a disturbingly good series, provides a few of the entries - including the lackluster "Brothers" and the intriguing "Shaggy God Stories" (yet another predecessor to the themes raised in American Gods).

The best is the short Hellblazer story, in which Gaiman manages to utilise his nostalgic tone in something a bit darker, while still maintaining his patented bittersweet voice (also, it is extremely well-illustrated, which always helps).

The worst is the never-ending Sandman tale, "Midnight Days", which fills long, long pages without ever even hinting at anything of interest to the reader.

Overall, a half-decent collection - Gaiman has his fanatic, completist fans - and, fortunately for everyone else, he's good enough to deserve them.

This collection presents a number of Gaiman's pieces that have not been anthologized before. As you might expect, this means "Midnight Days" contains a variety of different kinds of writing.

The first piece, "Jack in the Green," extends the Swamp Thing story back to the days of the Black Plague - as a non-fan of ST, this has only small appeal for me. The next piece, from "Swamp Thing Annnual," features a second strange being, seemingly animated by forces similar to the ones behind ST, but more of a hippie-stereotype mannikin as well as a vegetal elemental - again, something that would probably appeal more to ST regulars than to me. "Shaggy God Stories," a baffling and incomplete exchange between godlings of the plant world.

I found more to cling to towards the end of this book, including a John Constantine sotry titled "Hold Me," a collage of loneliness's different faces. Improbable coincidences help at least some of the solitary ones provide solace for each other - my favorite among stories in this book. Finally, "Sandman's Midnight Theatre," nearly half the book, adds a new chapter to the Sandman saga, albeit a tangential one. Painterly artwork and a generally subdued palette set a mood that matches the story well.

These aren't the strongest stories Gaiman has ever done. Still, there's a good bit to enjoy here, especially for Swamp Thing completists and hardcore fans of the Sandman.

-- wiredweird