Over on Comics Bulletin, Ray Sonne and I do a little parsing dance around Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN: BRIEF LIVES.
Sonne does most of the heavy lifting in this piece. I just soft-shoe around the edges.
The need to create is at the core of what makes us human, even more so than our need to understand or our need to feel safe.
The history of humanity is painted on the walls, mixed in our kitchens, conveyed through songs and gestures. We harness the chaos through imposing purpose, and yet, through the creative act, unleash even more uncertainty.
Everything else is petty meanderings in comparison. In Brief Lives, this is Destruction’s message. Change is inevitable, regardless of intent, and in that we transform our lives and the lives of those around us. With each change, we adapt. As we adapt, we create. As we create, change occurs — and in this cycle we become what we are. In the mythos of Gaiman’s Sandman, Destiny has every moment written in his book. Each moment is in reaction to the moment before. It is story. It is art. It is us.
