Book-It 'o11! Book #47
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
Details: Copyright 2011, Vertigo
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "The diminutive versions of the Endless from Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN mythos are back by popular demand in DELIRIUM'S PARTY: A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK.
In an effort to rid Despair of her unhappiness once and for all, Little Delirium throws a party for her dour sister and invites siblings Dream, Destruction, Death, Destiny and Desire.
But this is no ordinary affair.
We're talking about a party planner who is the personification of delirium, so you can only imagine that this event will be as outrageous and unpredictable as Little Delirium's haircolor."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I had heard that the Endless had continued on after Neil Gaiman and was leery of this prospect. I've not yet read The Little Endless Storybook which is the first book of this series, although the stories are apparently non-episodic. I wasn't overly fond of Jill Thompson's illustrations in Brief Lives, but they certainly weren't as bad as some of the illustrators Gaiman used, like Kelley Jones (Dream County) for example. Worth noting is that Thompson did actually co-illustrate the very first appearance of the "Little Endless" in the Sandman volume Fables and Reflections.
How I Liked It: The book is not actually intended for children, although it does look somewhat amusingly that way.
While the premise is promising (a Muppet Babies version of what is not children's material), Thompson just doesn't have Gaiman's narrative flair to properly voice the Endless, Little or not.
In Fables and Reflections (Gaiman-written), the Endless (at least Death and Dream) are cartoon-ready versions of their regular selves. The premise comes from one of the Dream World's more famous inhabitants, Abel (of Cain and Abel) offering his own story to the toddler Daniel (who is in training to be Dream's "replacement"). As such, it's perfectly told. As almost chibis of the famous Endless characters, a spin-off was almost inevitable (for merchandise purposes alone). However, never in Abel's story do we vary from the Endless as we know them.
Thompson's version (at least in this book) is unfortunately (and predictably) not as true to the personalities of the characters. It isn't so much the Endless as described to a child, it's the Endless as children, and children having little to do with their original characters. The various sigils of the Endless were a touchpoint of Gaiman's imaginative flair. In this story, they come off far closer to the Care Bears' tummy symbols. I don't mean in terms of of just the childlike (which would make sense and can actually work: in the original story, one of the Guardians at Dream's gate is a dead ringer for a My Little Pony), I mean more in the sense of empty marketability. The book is absent of the dark wink present in the Gaiman version which makes the book not much different from any storybook series cranked out for children (generally to tie in the vast merchandising, like, say, the Care Bears), except this isn't intended for children, it's an extension of the original series.
Thompson's attempts at Gaiman's signature aureate voice likewise comes across as callow the darker she tries to go ("And she called Despair, in the misty place, where the mirrors reflected nothingness and the landscape tasted like sharp metal and tears."), calling to mind more teenage poetry than the odd cross between Vonnegut, Poe, and Lewis Carroll that Gaiman generally struck with the series. Dream's dialog, always the most lush of his siblings (even Destiny's voice, for his dryness and formality, was generally written simplistically), sounds like such a desperate attempt at "spooky" he's a Halloween Hallmark card ("Embrace this while you rest, my sister, and your slumber shall be filled with the most pleasant of imaginings and never shall you be troubled by a nightmare.").
The art itself actually manages to be quite beautiful (save for some character designs that we'll get into later). Thompson's most acclaimed as an artist and it certainly shows. Her rich layering is downright phenomenal in some places.
Were this perhaps a stand-alone children's book, it might be enjoyable, if a little over the top cutesy at times (perhaps this was Thompson's attempt at the winking humor). Unfortunately, it isn't and it's a poor "tribute" its parent series.
Notable: The characters themselves are rendered more or less faithfully to what a mini version of them would be like, except for Death. In the original story, "Lil Death" is more or less depicted as her regular incarnation: casual punk. A plain little white tee and black flair skirt, accessorized with little booties that look like miniaturized versions of the slick ankle boots in which the "big" Death treads. In Thompson's version, Death is a little goth, her black tutu floating against her matching stockings above her little buckled black gladiator sandals (picture a Hot Topic kids section). Her make-up has gotten heavier, too. In the original story, Death's eyes were framed in her signature Kohl suggestion of an Eye of Horus, albeit missing the downward curve (possibly since her eyes are rendered so big on a head so small). In Thompson's version, Death has not only the curve restored, but the other eye is almost completely covered, like half an eye-mask. Unlike the black lipstick Death regularly sports, Thompson's Little Death's is ruby red (in the original, she wears none).
While this all seems so little and nitpicky, it's the details that fans of The Sandman notice since, even in its most embryonic stages, the original series was so richly filled out.
Lastly worth noting is actually a positive. Within the landscape of Delirium's realm, Van Gogh's "De sterrennacht" circles behind Despair as she enters the party.
Title: Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
Details: Copyright 2011, Vertigo
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "The diminutive versions of the Endless from Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN mythos are back by popular demand in DELIRIUM'S PARTY: A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK.
In an effort to rid Despair of her unhappiness once and for all, Little Delirium throws a party for her dour sister and invites siblings Dream, Destruction, Death, Destiny and Desire.
But this is no ordinary affair.
We're talking about a party planner who is the personification of delirium, so you can only imagine that this event will be as outrageous and unpredictable as Little Delirium's haircolor."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I had heard that the Endless had continued on after Neil Gaiman and was leery of this prospect. I've not yet read The Little Endless Storybook which is the first book of this series, although the stories are apparently non-episodic. I wasn't overly fond of Jill Thompson's illustrations in Brief Lives, but they certainly weren't as bad as some of the illustrators Gaiman used, like Kelley Jones (Dream County) for example. Worth noting is that Thompson did actually co-illustrate the very first appearance of the "Little Endless" in the Sandman volume Fables and Reflections.
How I Liked It: The book is not actually intended for children, although it does look somewhat amusingly that way.
While the premise is promising (a Muppet Babies version of what is not children's material), Thompson just doesn't have Gaiman's narrative flair to properly voice the Endless, Little or not.
In Fables and Reflections (Gaiman-written), the Endless (at least Death and Dream) are cartoon-ready versions of their regular selves. The premise comes from one of the Dream World's more famous inhabitants, Abel (of Cain and Abel) offering his own story to the toddler Daniel (who is in training to be Dream's "replacement"). As such, it's perfectly told. As almost chibis of the famous Endless characters, a spin-off was almost inevitable (for merchandise purposes alone). However, never in Abel's story do we vary from the Endless as we know them.
Thompson's version (at least in this book) is unfortunately (and predictably) not as true to the personalities of the characters. It isn't so much the Endless as described to a child, it's the Endless as children, and children having little to do with their original characters. The various sigils of the Endless were a touchpoint of Gaiman's imaginative flair. In this story, they come off far closer to the Care Bears' tummy symbols. I don't mean in terms of of just the childlike (which would make sense and can actually work: in the original story, one of the Guardians at Dream's gate is a dead ringer for a My Little Pony), I mean more in the sense of empty marketability. The book is absent of the dark wink present in the Gaiman version which makes the book not much different from any storybook series cranked out for children (generally to tie in the vast merchandising, like, say, the Care Bears), except this isn't intended for children, it's an extension of the original series.
Thompson's attempts at Gaiman's signature aureate voice likewise comes across as callow the darker she tries to go ("And she called Despair, in the misty place, where the mirrors reflected nothingness and the landscape tasted like sharp metal and tears."), calling to mind more teenage poetry than the odd cross between Vonnegut, Poe, and Lewis Carroll that Gaiman generally struck with the series. Dream's dialog, always the most lush of his siblings (even Destiny's voice, for his dryness and formality, was generally written simplistically), sounds like such a desperate attempt at "spooky" he's a Halloween Hallmark card ("Embrace this while you rest, my sister, and your slumber shall be filled with the most pleasant of imaginings and never shall you be troubled by a nightmare.").
The art itself actually manages to be quite beautiful (save for some character designs that we'll get into later). Thompson's most acclaimed as an artist and it certainly shows. Her rich layering is downright phenomenal in some places.
Were this perhaps a stand-alone children's book, it might be enjoyable, if a little over the top cutesy at times (perhaps this was Thompson's attempt at the winking humor). Unfortunately, it isn't and it's a poor "tribute" its parent series.
Notable: The characters themselves are rendered more or less faithfully to what a mini version of them would be like, except for Death. In the original story, "Lil Death" is more or less depicted as her regular incarnation: casual punk. A plain little white tee and black flair skirt, accessorized with little booties that look like miniaturized versions of the slick ankle boots in which the "big" Death treads. In Thompson's version, Death is a little goth, her black tutu floating against her matching stockings above her little buckled black gladiator sandals (picture a Hot Topic kids section). Her make-up has gotten heavier, too. In the original story, Death's eyes were framed in her signature Kohl suggestion of an Eye of Horus, albeit missing the downward curve (possibly since her eyes are rendered so big on a head so small). In Thompson's version, Death has not only the curve restored, but the other eye is almost completely covered, like half an eye-mask. Unlike the black lipstick Death regularly sports, Thompson's Little Death's is ruby red (in the original, she wears none).
While this all seems so little and nitpicky, it's the details that fans of The Sandman notice since, even in its most embryonic stages, the original series was so richly filled out.
Lastly worth noting is actually a positive. Within the landscape of Delirium's realm, Van Gogh's "De sterrennacht" circles behind Despair as she enters the party.