Faster than a DC Bullet: Sandman Mystery Theatre, Part VI: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher

Comic trade paperback, 197 pages
Published 2007 (contents: 1994-95)
Borrowed from the library
Read January 2011

Sandman Mystery Theatre: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher

Writers: Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle
Artists: Guy Davis, Vince Locke
Colorist: David Hornung
Letterers: John Costanza, Gaspar Saladino

Like The Face and The Brute, Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher includes two complete tales of the Sandman, a.k.a. Wesley Dodds, as he fights crime in the dark underbelly of New York City. And as if the writers read my objection to the fact that every victim in this series deserves it, the book even opens up the murder of an innocent man! (Um, yay?) But as was the case in the last couple stories, the murder mystery (which as usual is coincidentally linked to Dian Belmont's social circle) is a sideshow to the developments in the relationship between Wesley and Dian. Dian has figured out that Wesley is the Sandman, but doesn't quite know what to do about it. And Wesley doesn't quite know how to integrate her needs into his already-structured life.

Wesley actually has very little to do with solving "The Night of the Butcher" especially, but that's okay, as it allows Lieutenant Burke to really shine, along with Hubert Klein. But as Wes's personal life disintegrates, so does his crimefighting one-- Burke discovers the radio hidden under his desk that transmits all his conversations to the Sandman! What's a masked mystery man to do? And what's Dian to do? There are no easy answers here, and the series swings back and forth between tender and painful, as they try to negotiate their strange new status quo. Especially effective here are the recurring dreams of the Sandman, a staple of the series from the beginning, that in this one hit a new high in disturbingness, probably thanks to some nice comic book tricks (Scott McCloud would be proud).

The only downside to this volume is that Guy Davis only does layouts for "Dr. Death," with the somewhat inferior Vince Locke on art. On the other hand, the brutal fight at the end of "The Night of the Butcher" is probably the series' best action sequence so far, nicely showcasing the Sandman's determination, Lieutenant Burke's antagonism, and Dian Belmont's passion. Sandman Mystery Theatre continues its string of successes.

Faster than a DC Bullet: Sandman Mystery Theatre, Part V: The Scorpion

Comic hardcover, 100 pages
Published 2006 (contents: 1994)
Borrowed from the library
Read January 2011

Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Scorpion

Writers: Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle
Artist: Guy Davis
Colorist: David Hornung
Letterer: John Costanza

The Scorpion continues the high standard set by its predecessor, with Dian and Wesley's relationship continuing to progress-- as a vicious serial killer is on the loose, of course. The strong character work is again the highlight; this volume probably gives us more of Wesley's thoughts than the previous three combined, and it's fascinating: a quiet, shy man driven by forces he cannot comprehend to do what he does, who wants to do right by Dian, but held back by fear. If there's any downside to this installment, it's that the murderer is completely obvious. Also, every installment of this series features completely despicable people being murdered, so it's hard to be too engaged in the hunt for their killers. Some innocent victims would be nice. (That's not something you say a lot.) But on the whole, there's a lot to enjoy here; this is probably the most proactive the Sandman's been in an investigation, and it's also the start of a new, more pivotal role for Dr. Hubert Klein, the NYPD's medical examiner, the first character to actively assist the mysterious vigilante.

Faster than a DC Bullet: Sandman Mystery Theatre, Part IV: The Vamp

Comic hardcover, 98 pages
Published 2005 (contents: 1994)
Borrowed from the library
Read January 2011

Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Vamp

Writers: Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle
Artist: Guy Davis
Colorist: David Hornung
Letterer: John Costanza

With this, its third volume, Sandman Mystery Theatre has jumped above the lackluster performance of The Face and The Brute and even exceeded its strong debut in The Tarantula. There are two important creator changes in this volume. The first is that Guy Davis, who illustrated The Tarantula, returns to the series, and it is all the better for it. The fellows who did The Face and The Brute just didn't have his skill; Davis draws some of the most real people in comics. I shudder to think how the cute Dian Belmot would look in the hands of your typical superhero artist. Perhaps more importantly, Steven T. Seagle joins Matt Wagner as co-writer.

I dunno if he's responsible for the subtle changes that made this story really work, but it really really does. One of the recurring themes of SMT has been prejudice, a natural enough topic for a story set in upper-crust 1930s New York City, but unfortunately it had a tendency to get a little bit obvious, with its protagonists (Wesley and Dian) being properly undiscriminating in a world where everyone else tosses off ethnic slurs against the Chinese. The Vamp handles this with a bit more nuance, such as scenes where Dian is repulsed by the idea of lesbianism, showing that she's not quite the hero we "enlightened" 21st-century readers might like her to be. And Lieutenant Burke, who in the first volume revealed that he considered his sister dead to him because she married a black man, is himself the target of racism, when he's stared at upon entering a social club. One of the members tells him they don't have any Italians, and Burke growls back, "I'm Sicilian." The club member simply replies, "Well, whatever you are, we don't have any of those either. At least I don't think we do." The take on 1930s racism feels much more complex as a result. Also, I laughed at that scene, and indeed, I found The Vamp much more prone to humor than its predecessors, though that never came at the cost of atmosphere-- all of the light moments were well-placed.

The characters are also on fine form here. Wesley and Dian's relationship continues to grow, and the theme of Dian "waking up" from her long sleep also continues, as she even does some amateur sleuthing of her own. Wesley and Dian's relationship is one of the better-portrayed relationships I've read in comics. The two characters love each other madly, but that doesn't make things magically easy for them, yet the conflict and misunderstandings in their relationship all come across completely naturally. Lieutenant Burke also gets fleshed out, going from yet another random cop to a competent detective who also happens to be a complete asshole. He's the sort of character you love to hate-- or in my case, you just love.

Story-wise, this is probably one of the better mysteries the series has given us. Though the perpetrator of the murders is pretty obvious to the reader from around the halfway point, the detection by the Sandman, Burke, and Dian all feels logical, and the end of the story works particularly well, with none of the leaps that made some of the previous stories unsatisfying. All told, The Vamp was a brilliant piece of work that left me immediately looking forward to the next installment of Sandman Mystery Theatre.