So, the second Sandman story I'm reviewing was from volume 8, World's End. It's called The Golden Boy, and it's illustrated by Mike Allred.
Gaiman once again utilizes an obscure DC character, this time being Prez, from the short-lived Prez series from the 1970s. He was created by the same man who created the Green Team, Brother Power the Geek, the version of Sandman who appeared later on, and the original freakish Outsiders, Joe Simon. The man who also helped create Captain America.
An Oriental man recounts the story of a different America during the 60s and 70s. Prez Rickard, born in the town of Steadfast, was named "Prez" because his mother believed he was destined for great things. Indeed, the boy showed an amazing amount of depth and a love for his country (not an over-agonizingly "red-blooded, patriotic America man" type of thing), but a respect for it. He also had a bit of a thing for watchmaking and repair, for Steadfast was a town famous for it's clocks. It wasn't until Prez came along that all the clocks were not set at the same time.
In this America, eighteen year-olds were allowed the right to vote, and voted to allow the age limit for presidency lowered to 18. A mysterious man named Boss Smiley, the "Prince" of this world with a head like a giant smiley face, approached Prez. The boy had just turned 18, and offered him the role of American president. In return, Boss Smiley wanted him to work for him, sing his praises, and such. Prez refused, and decided to run for President and win on his own terms. Boss Smiley just smiled.
One night, Prez was approached in his bedroom by Richard Nixon, who informed him that he would indeed be replaced by the young man. Nixon explained, though, that no matter what you do, the American people are going to hate you, and years later they'll wonder why they never appreciated him. Four years of being an empty-figurehead, and all you get is an animatronic display at Disneyworld. Prez was not deterred by Nixon's hopeless words, and still remained determined to fix America.
At 19, Prez was elected president, and turned America into a golden kingdom. He dealt with pollution, nuclear arms, homelessness, corruption in big business. He was all about setting America's problems in order first before worrying about anything else. He even appeared on SNL, and John Belushi, in his later years, described it as one of the most inspiring moments of his life. Near the end of his term, Boss Smiley approached him again. Prez told the smiling stranger that he had all government facilities try and find any info on him, but all they found were rumors. Smiley warned Prez that running for a second term might be dangerous.
During said second term, Prez began dating his former high school sweetheart, Kathy, and planned to marry her. The two were happy, until Kathy was killed in a botched assassination attempt on Prez. The killer was a woman obsessed with Ted Grant, who thought killing the president was a surefire way of getting Grant's attention. Prez had no illwill towards the woman, and even offered her clemency, but still she went to the electric chair.
America didn't dissolve, but Prez became somewhat aloof. He was approached again one night by Boss Smiley, who offered to bring Kathy back to life in return for his servitude. Prez refused. Finishing his second term, Prez dropped out from sight to return to Steadfast.
"It's not that things got bad in America, it's just that they weren't spectacularly good again."
Prez often turned down offers to help the new President, until one day he just disappeared. It would be a few years later when Prez died. No one knew how or when, the stories varied, but everyone knew that somehow, Prez Rickard was dead.
And dead he was. Prez, his spirit pertaining his youthful, 19-year old self, is visited by Death. She explains that you never find out what happens to anyone else when they die. But in the case of his death, Prez is kind of special.
Prez asks Death if she's bringing him to the watchmaker. He explains that he heard, long ago, that if you found a watch in a desert, you have to assume somebody made it. A watchmaker. And if the watch stopped, you repair it.
"I don't think this guy made the watch, Prez. He just runs the local franchise."
She brings him to the guys who'll bring him to his world's heaven, but she hesitates for a moment. Prez arrives, and finds... Boss Smiley, gigantic, in a white suit, with an actual yellow smiley face for a head. He thanks Prez for a job well done and now wants him to sing his praises. But when Prez learns that his love Kathy isn't here anymore, he realizes that there are other worlds, other Americas out there, maybe even a desert of broken watchs, and decides to leave. Smiley threatens him, before Dream intervenes and whisks Prez away from an irate Smiley.
Dream explains that Death asked him to help Prez, and opens a doorway to allow Prez to travel to other worlds. Before he leaves, Prez gives Dream his father's old pocketwatch, which he fixed years ago, as a gift. And he departs.
...
Okay, so, the obvious imagery that Gaiman has with Prez is that of the American Dream. Ideal, positive, strong, and somewhat fleeting, as it will eventually end.
There are parallels with Prez and Jesus Christ, as his time as President makes him something of a messiah figure. He ushered in something of a Golden Age which died down, his pure idealism and the inability to corrupt him, no matter how tempting. Boss Smiley is obviously a devil figure.
Is it possible that Dream's role as the "Prince of Stories" means that the American Dream will always live on in stories and tales? We keep it going because of those stories? Or am I again clutching hairs?
Prez would appear again in a Vertigo Voices one-shot which focused on the remaining, obscure DC characters who appeared in Vertigo stories during the early 90s. Prez, Brother Power, Doctor Occult, Doctor 13, and Tomahawk. Prez's was done by Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower, about a Generation X teen who went on a road trip looking for Prez, who he believed was his father.
The reason I've been thinking of this story is that, well, it's something of an inspiration now. You guys have heard that I've been attempting to get an appointment at DC Comics, to try and get a writing job and try and fix the mess they've made with Arsenal and Lian. I mean, I'm far from perfect, I don't have any conceited ideas of me being a Christ figure or anything. I'm not THAT egotistical. But, if he could run America, I could at least hope to do something. That, and I am about the same age as he was when he ran for president.
I guess I can't help but equate these stories to my own life, in a weird way.
-------------------- I want to be hated by lies - Bring Back Lian Harper
posted
Dev, that's great about American Vampire! Glad you liked it and you're on board. Totally agree about Scott Snyder--guy is going to be big time eventually once people discover his work.
Catching up on a few titles:
Daytripper - As we reach the latter half of this maxiseries, I'm still amazed by how good each issue of the series has been so far. The Fabio Moon / Gabriel Ba creative team has shown me some good stuff in the past on various titles (Umbrella Academy, etc.) but here I think they've officially arrived. The best word I can use to describe every issue is 'poignant'. You walk away from each issue just heavily thinking about what you just read. Great stuff.
Unwritten - Meanwhile, Unwritten continues to a Vertigo title par excellence, and it's current arc is bringing things to a head in a way that has me really looking forward to the "15th Book Release" date event on the horizon. I've praised this title enough in this thread that doing so further will just be me repeating myself--all I can say is the odd / cool premise of this title just keeps drawing me in. I'm especially intrigued with recent developments with Lizzie and hope we get her story now; it appears at the latest issue's close that we're going to be seeing some 19th Century Dickens' London which should be a lot of fun, considering Carey won't be pulling any punches with the reality of the era.
House of Mystery - HoM continues to be a comic I'm loving and the new arc kicks things off in another direction which should move along the larger general story in a nice way. I recently started a thread on House of Mystery #25 which was the 'Exquisite Corpse' issue with mulitple writers putting the subsequent writer into a literary corner (including Paul Levitz); I thought it was a terrific story but unfortunately no one replied to the thread (I get it Legion World, I get it ). It's that kind of variance in the time of structure you get with HoM that I find so appealing. In #26 there is a short story in the middle called "Ziggy" which is a really awesome and incredibly creepy 8 pager that makes me wish we could see more. It's one of those horror premises that is very basic but terrifying when the 'less is more' approach is taken and should me into a movie to scare the hell out of pre-teens.
All three of these series are fantastic and I highly recommend them all (along with the various other Vertigo titles I collect: Unknown Soldier, Scalped, Air, Madame Xanadu, American Vampire, iZombie and of course, Fables).
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
OM, I'm glad to see someone else liked it. It was a good read all around. Wagner's use of sterotypes had me wondering if folks would jump to offended before looking past them to a good story set in a volatile time period.
And Zarcone's art really took the creepy factor of the story and gave it a different look. Like TWD, it's gruesome where it needs to be, but not over the top or jarring with the rest of the book.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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posted
American Vampire continues to be ass-kickingly awesome, doing for vampires what Walking Dead has done for zombies in comics. Namely, removes the bad taste of any ‘lesser works’ with those horror monster icons from your mouth and reminds you how damn scary they can be. Four issues into it, and I’m still loving the fact that half of the issue is the Scott Snyder story featuring Pearl (which is the scarier of the two) and the other half is the Stephen King story featuring Skinner Sweet (which is King creating intense & weird characters—what he does best) with the awesome art of Rafael Albuquerque uniting them both. I think after the initial arc, the series will turn into a strait-up one story per issue format, and I’m cool with that, as it might be appropriate for it to do so at that time.
Anyone who has thought “man, why are vampires so lame?” but really wishes they could read a vampire story that is frightening and awesome at the same time: this is the comic you never realized you were waiting for.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Outdoor Miner: Madame Xanadu #24 is just what the doctor ordered after the most recent good but overly long storyline: A solid one-shot.
Artist Marley Zarcone (about whom I know nothing) has a cartoony but effective style that works fine here.
quote:Originally posted by CJ Taylor: OM, I'm glad to see someone else liked it. It was a good read all around. Wagner's use of sterotypes had me wondering if folks would jump to offended before looking past them to a good story set in a volatile time period.
And Zarcone's art really took the creepy factor of the story and gave it a different look. Like TWD, it's gruesome where it needs to be, but not over the top or jarring with the rest of the book.
I third your opinions--a solid story by Wagner with some great art by Zarcone. It's got me looking forward to the rest of these 'done-in-on but connected to a larger story' stories (the title might be ending but I'll enjoy it until the end).
I agree about the Zarone art, which was gruesome in places, as you say, but at other times, very classic and beautiful.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
A contender for the best comic I’ve read all year, and possibly the most poignant, was Unknown Soldier #21 by the ever-powerful Joshua Drysart, who is joined for one issue by Rick Veitch, who is doing interior artwork for the first time in what feels like forever. The story follows the ‘life’ of one Avtomat Kalashnikova, the most infamous of all semi-automatic rifles in the history of the world, as it is the most widely used by terrorists, organized crime and resistance movements throughout the world. It begins in Russia and makes its way through Africa, and is a very historically accurate, yet full of soul and tragedy. This is one of those Vertigo stories that really feels like ‘old school Vertigo’, in the tradition of Sandman and later Preacher and so many other great series; a moving, done in one issue that really leaves you thinking. Great stuff.
House of Mystery also remains a great read in my opinion. The overall story is growing more and more interesting and with a ton of characters having their own storylines as well. Lately it feels like all the most interesting characters are having ample screen time, which I’m glad to see. The story within a story this issue, by Sturges and Brendan McCarthy, was really groovy, about a Viet Nam soldier (drafted against his will), experiencing an acid trip while out with his unit, is suddenly in the midst of combat and finds an ancient man who wants to teach him the means to be a sorcerer (including time travel usage). It’s a great little story where you’re unsure of it’s a trip or reality, complete with the sudden jolt of the reality of war at the close, but then the ending is a terrific “House of Mystery” ending.
I really recommend Unknown Soldier #21 if you’re looking for a solid story; I’d recommend the whole series but be aware it ends with #25. And House of Mystery continues to be a unique, cool series that I’m glad I’m buying.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Joshua Drysart made some wry comments at San Diego about how Unknown Soldier was too serious and realistic to be a success - like he should have included zombies and giant apes to get the thing to sell. That got me interested in the book (I'd heard good things about it, it just never made the buy list.)
So I was planning to get the trades, although they got bumped by other stuff (like Turf and Time Bomb - thanks to Cobie & Chief) in the last order.
posted
Yeah, Unknown Soldier is the epitomy of serious & realistic. More so than any other comic on the market.
That means it's sometimes a little depressing but not neccessarily entirely so. The words 'poignant' and 'powerful' are the ones I most frequently use to describe it.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Madame Xanadu #26 was really good. A sad but endearing story of a lost boy who stinks. I'm really digging how Wagner is able to tailor these individual stories to his guest artist so well.
I originally wasn't too sad to hear this was getting canceled as I thought it was close to running its course, but issues like this make me realise how much potential is still there.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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). It's that kind of variance in the time of structure you get with HoM that I find so appealing. In #26 there is a short story in the middle called "Ziggy" which is a really awesome and incredibly creepy 8 pager that makes me wish we could see more. It's one of those horror premises that is very basic but terrifying when the 'less is more' approach is taken and should me into a movie to scare the hell out of pre-teens.![[Yes]](graemlins/nod.gif)
