Sandman + McCloud

Keith Garcia

Sandman

I decided to focus on the picture above because it will help you get a better understanding of what I am going to talk about in this blog post. I will focus on what McCloud talks about in his reading and accompany it with the images and story from sandman. I will discuss what McCloud says about images and also what he says about frames.

In Sandman you see on page 21 that Sandman is being confined to the crystal ball . Well the point of view the reader is getting is from Sandman, which makes you feel like your in the crystal ball as well. On pages 24 and 31 you also experience his point of view as people are talking to him from the outside. My question is what is the purpose of this? Why would Neil Gaiman want you, the reader, to feel like you are also the one being captured? The reason could be because Gaiman wants the reader and the comic to be one. McCloud gives a good example of looking from this point of view on pages 34 and 35.

So what is the signifcance of having Sandman look at his captors from inside the crystal ball? What does this point of view do for the reader? Well, as you can see on page 21 of sandman he is being confined by those who want to capture death but instead ensnare her little brother. McCloud says that every act committed by the artist is aided and abetteed by a silent accomplic which is the reader. At the top of page 21 you see Sandman lying on the ground and he is not in the crystal ball yet. But the reader commited the crime of confining him to the ball. So according to McCloud everyone who read this book participated in Sandmans capture.

The way Gaiman brings the comic and the reader together helps draw the reader in. Like they too are part of this book which makes his way of storytelling very interesting.