Sandman's Baghdad

[image=http://www.top100comics.de/images_comics/50_sandman.gif]

It may be hard for people who don't own the comic to understand what I'm getting at but the 50th issue of the series now has more of a resonance in these grim days.

For those who've read it, you'll recall that this story was Neil Gaiman's pastiache on Thousand and One Nights which told the tale of a Caliph who wanted to keep his city eternaly in its state of perfection, so the Sandman preserved its marvels in a bottle. Later, a child makes his way through what is left of the city in the present day; only the war-torn shambels, dreaming of the wonderous city of legend.

What the author has said about the prophetical elements of his story:

"I find myself remembering someone telling me off on Genie because, according to whoever was telling me off, Baghdad was virtually unscathed in the Gulf War, and I had the kid who heard the story limping home across a bombsite. I think I'd rather that they had been right and I had been, and remained, wrong. Right now it looks like Sandman 50 will have been more accurate than I knew."



Imagine a thousand thousand fireflies of every shape and color; Oh, that was Baghdad at night in those days.

His question unanswered, Hassan stumbles homeward, picking his way in a series of child's short-cuts across the bomb sites and the rubble of Baghdad.

And, though his stomach hurts (for fasting is easy, this Ramadan; and food is hard to come by) his head is held high and his eyes are bright.

And behind his eyes are towers and jewels and djinn, carpets and rings and wild afreets, kings and princes and cities of brass.

And he prays as he walks (cursing his one weak leg the while), prays to Allah (who made all things) that somewhere, in the darkness of dreams, abides the other Baghdad (that can never die), and the other egg of the phoenix.


But Allah alone knows all.

From Sandman 50 (in Fables and Reflections)... Which was released almost exactly ten years ago, in April 1993.

~PAd

 

Intriguing.

 

*Reads above post*

Very nice, I have no statement to add, but very very nice.

 

Before:

[image=http://frpeneaud.free.fr/artists/Russell/ImagesRussell/Sandman02.jpg]

After:

[image=http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2001/01/17/1993rubble.gif]

~PAd

 

*bangs head*

 

I can't believe how I had missed that being a huge...HUGE Neil Gaiman fan!

[image=http://netdial.caribe.net/~lancelot/neil-the-apartment.jpg] I'm Pete!


Anyways, this is an interesting point. I applaud you for it and making me feel like an idiot!

 

Am I the only poor soul who was under the impression that Endless Night's[/i] was coming out in April? It's going to be a long wait!

Although, the snippet I saw in the 99 cent Vertigo preview was really brilliant.

~PAd

 

Come now, Spike and I can't be the only people who've read this series.

~PAd