We start the challenge off with a well, pretty difficult ask. It is really hard to pick a favourite at the drop of a hat, since so much of what I have read I have loved and has touched me in so many different ways that it is next to impossible to start comparing my feelings about one comic to another. Still, after some deliberation, I found my answer, cliched as it is, to what I would think is favourite comic was pretty clear - Sandman
(minor spoilers ahead)
I don't think I need to describe much about Sandman, it is perhaps the definitive pinnacle of the modern age comic, and an argument can be made as to being the pinnacle of the whole medium as well. But this post is not for me to justify why it is so very good, better people than me have put that it into words, should you care to search for them. No, this post is for me to tell why it is my favourite. More than the excellence in writing, the consistently wonderfully evocative artwork, Sandman is at heart a journey I could instantaneously identify, a story of how change is inevitable, and one way or the other, one is compelled to deal with it. I don't think I am alone in feeling like this, it is a very human trait to resist change after all. Despite the protagonists being godlike entities in a high fantasy setting, the oddly personal and human nature of the comic for me meant that the comic resonated with. Of course, Gaiman's remarkable skill with the written and wonderfully imaginative storytelling, a pre-requisite for any fantasy, backed by an array of perfectly chosen artists did not hurt. Sandman was also one of my first non-superhero loves in comics, at a time when I had properly started exploring the medium, and sometimes your first favourites stay with you while the later ones run their course.
And of course, Sandman's Death is hands down one of the most awesome characters ever. She's alone worth the price of admission. Here's her first appearance.
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| Not the grimmest of reapers |
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