Editing The Sandman: Season of Mists

{{Short description|American comic book miniseries}}
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{{Infobox comics story arc
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
|anth           = y
<!-- |title          = The Sandman: Season of Mists -->
|image          = Season of Mist.jpg
|imagesize      = <!-- default 250 -->
|caption        = {{Descript-cvr|The Sandman: Season of Mists|||1992|type=TPB|art=[[Dave McKean]]}}
|publisher      = [[DC Comics]]
|date           = December 1990 – July 1991
|titles         = ''[[The Sandman (Vertigo)|The Sandman]]'' #21–28
|notable        = y
|ISBN           = 1-56389-035-6
|main_char_team = [[Dream (DC Comics)|Dream]]
|writers        = [[Neil Gaiman]]
|artists        = [[Dave McKean]]<br>[[Kelley Jones]]<br>[[Mike Dringenberg]]<br>[[Matt Wagner]]<br>[[Malcolm Jones III]]<br>[[P. Craig Russell]]<br>[[Dick Giordano]]<br>[[George Pratt (artist)|George Pratt]]<br>[[Steve Oliff]]<br>[[Daniel Vozzo]]
|pencillers     = [[Kelley Jones]]<br>[[Mike Dringenberg]]<br>[[Matt Wagner]]
|inkers         = [[Malcolm Jones III]]<br>[[P. Craig Russell]]<br>[[Dick Giordano]]<br>[[George Pratt (artist)|George Pratt]]
|letterers      = [[Todd Klein]]
|editors        = [[Karen Berger]]<br>[[Alisa Kwitney]]<br>[[Tom Peyer]]
|colorists      = [[Steve Oliff]]<br>[[Daniel Vozzo]]
|altcat         = The Sandman (comic book)
|sortkey        = Season Of Mist
}}
'''''Season of Mists''''' is a 1990–1991 American eight-part comic and the fourth [[trade paperback (comics)|collection]] of issues in the [[DC Comics]]' ''[[The Sandman (DC Comics/Vertigo)|The Sandman]]'' series. It collects issues #21–28. It was written by [[Neil Gaiman]]; illustrated by [[Kelley Jones]], [[Mike Dringenberg]], [[Malcolm Jones III]], [[Matt Wagner]], [[Dick Giordano]], [[George Pratt (artist)|George Pratt]], and [[P. Craig Russell]]; coloured by [[Steve Oliff]] and [[Daniel Vozzo]]; and lettered by [[Todd Klein]].

In 2004 this collection received the award for the [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Scenario|best scenario]] at the [[Angoulême International Comics Festival]].

It is preceded by [[The Sandman: Dream Country|''Dream Country'']] and followed by ''[[The Sandman: A Game of You|A Game of You]]''.

==Overview==
The issues in the collection first appeared in 1990 and 1991. The collection first appeared in paperback and hardback in 1992 with an introduction by [[Harlan Ellison]]. The title is the opening phrase of [[John Keats]]' "[[To Autumn]]".

It was preceded by ''[[The Sandman: Dream Country|Dream Country]]'' and was followed by ''[[The Sandman: A Game of You|A Game of You]]''. The 2003 graphic novel ''[[Death: At Death's Door]]'' and ''[[Dead Boy Detectives]]'' mini-series by [[Jill Thompson]] are also related.

Kelley Jones penciled the bulk of the story, inked in various issues by Malcolm Jones, Dick Giordano and P. Craig Russell. Jones's larger-than-life grotesques and obvious sense of humour make him ideal for [[deity|gods]], [[demons]] and other supernatural figures. His episodes are bookended by a [[prologue]] and an [[epilogue]] drawn by Mike Dringenberg, the former inked by Malcolm Jones III, the latter by George Pratt; and an [[Entr'acte|interlude]] set in an English boarding school is drawn by Matt Wagner and inked by Jones III. It introduces Endless siblings [[Destiny (Sandman)|Destiny]] and [[Delirium (Sandman)|Delirium]], and features [[Thor]], [[Odin]] and [[Loki]] from [[Norse mythology]]; [[Anubis]] and [[Bastet|Bast]] from [[Egyptian mythology]]; [[Susanoo-no-mikoto]] from [[Japanese mythology]]; [[Lucifer]] and the [[angels]] Duma and Remiel from [[Christianity]]; Shivering Jemmy, a [[Lords of Chaos and Order|Lord of Chaos]] with the body of a child and the mind of a monster; Kilderkin, a Lord of Order who takes the form of a cardboard box, and the [[fairy|fairies]] [[Cluracan]] and [[Nuala (DC Comics)|Nuala]], who will play important roles in later stories. ''Season of Mists'' marks the introduction of the Norse gods for the first time in the series.

==Plot==
This collection begins with an Endless family meeting, wherein Desire taunts Morpheus about his intolerant treatment of a former lover, the African queen 'Nada' (whose story formed the [[prologue]] to [[The Sandman: The Doll's House|the second collection]]) and Death angers him further by agreeing with Desire, whereupon Morpheus visits [[Hell]] to retrieve Nada. As he arrives, [[Lucifer]] expels all the [[demon]]s and damned souls from Hell, abdicates as its ruler, and gives Morpheus the key to Hell's gates. (This episode sets up the basis for the spin-off comic series ''[[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]]'' written by [[Mike Carey (British writer)|Mike Carey]].)
 
Word of Lucifer's abdication spreads to other immortals, who visit the Dreaming to bargain for it: [[Odin]] wishes to control Hell to avoid [[Ragnarök]] and travels to the Dreaming with [[List of The Sandman characters#Loki|Loki]] and [[Thor]]; [[Anubis]], [[Bastet (mythology)|Bast]], and [[Bes]] to offer information in exchange for the key to Hell; [[Susanoo|Susano-o-no-Mikoto]], requests to add Hell to a new underworld controlled by his family; and [[Azazel]] arrives with [[Choronzon]] and Merkin, and demands the key in exchange for Nada and [[Choronzon]]. Order is personified as an empty [[cardboard]] box carried by a [[Genie|djinn]]-like being, while Chaos appears as a small girl in clown makeup; whereof Order offers to trade the dreams of the newly dead, while Chaos simply threatens Morpheus and gives him a toy balloon. The faerie Cluracan and his sister Nuala appeal to Morpheus to give control of Hell to no one, and Cluracan offers his sister in exchange. [[Duma (DC Comics)|Duma]] and [[Remiel (DC Comics)|Remiel]] are set to observe the negotiations (Susano-o-no-Mikoto, Duma, and Remiel later become important characters in the spin-off series ''[[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]]'').

After private negotiations with single divinities that represent each group of gods, Dream gives Duma and Remiel the key; then Dream fights with Azazel, enters inside him and frees Nada, while trapping Azazel in Dream's realm. Later, Dream apologizes to Nada for what he has done to her, and she is reincarnated as a newborn human child, with permission to enter the Dreaming at will.

Between these deliberations is the story "In Which the Dead Return; and Charles Rowland Concludes His Education", from issue #25, which takes place at a traditional English [[boarding-school]] (and borrows elements from the [[boarding-school story]] genre) and is used to illustrate the consequences of Hell's closure. Although the two main characters in this tale, the ghosts of two schoolboys, never appear again in the Sandman series, they later appear as the [[Dead Boy Detectives]] in Gaiman's Vertigo crossover story ''[[The Children's Crusade (Vertigo comics)|The Children's Crusade]]'', and in a mini-series of the same name by Jill Thompson.

The collection presents two simultaneous endings: Dream discovers Loki absconding from his punishment, but decides not to reveal it, and also proposes the latter a negotiation to set him free (this has its sequel in the last collection of ''Sandman''). Meanwhile, Lucifer, without his wings, sits on an [[List of beaches in Australia|Australian beach]], and grudgingly admires a [[sunset]]. In the [[epilogue]], Duma and Remiel have become the new rulers of Hell, and initiate a new regimen of punishment meant to "redeem" the condemned (much to the latter's dismay).

== Themes ==
''Season of Mists'' is the first appearance of one of the central themes of the series, that of rules and responsibilities. The gathering of the [[Endless (comics)|Endless]] family which opens the book makes the second reference to the "prodigal" (the first reference appearing in "The Doll's House"), an Endless sibling who abandoned his realm and responsibilities. The family gathering leads to Dream deciding that he must return to Hell to right a wrong he committed, an event which triggers a major plot arc throughout the series.

==Issues collected==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Issue
! Title
! Writer
! Penciller
! Inker
! Colorist
! Letterer
! Ast Editor
! Editor
|-
| 21
| Prologue
| Neil Gaiman
| Mike Dringenberg
| Malcolm Jones III
| Steve Oliff
| Todd Klein
| Tom Peyer
| Karen Berger
|-
| 22
| Chapter 1
| Neil Gaiman
| Kelley Jones
| Malcolm Jones III
| Steve Oliff
| Todd Klein
| Tom Peyer
| Karen Berger
|-
| 23
| Chapter 2
| Neil Gaiman
| Kelley Jones
| Malcolm Jones III
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Tom Peyer
| Karen Berger
|-
| 24
| Chapter 3
| Neil Gaiman
| Kelley Jones
| P. Craig Russell
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Tom Peyer
| Karen Berger
|-
| 25
| Chapter 4
| Neil Gaiman
| Matt Wagner
| Malcolm Jones III
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Tom Peyer
| Karen Berger
|-
| 26
| Chapter 5
| Neil Gaiman
| Kelley Jones
| George Pratt
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Alisa Kwitney
| Karen Berger
|-
| 27
| Chapter 6
| Neil Gaiman
| Kelley Jones
| Dick Giordano
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Alisa Kwitney
| Karen Berger
|-
| 28
| Epilogue
| Neil Gaiman
| Mike Dringenberg
| George Pratt
| Daniel Vozzo
| Todd Klein
| Alisa Kwitney
| Karen Berger
|}

==See also==
* ''[[American Gods]]''

==References==
* {{Cite book
 | first = Hy | last = Bender
 | author-link = Hy Bender
 | title = The Sandman Companion
 | place = New York
 | publisher = Vertigo DC Comics
 | year = 1999
 | isbn = 1-56389-644-3
}}
* {{cite book |last=Gaiman |first=Neil |others=Shawn McManus, Mike Dringenberg, Bryan Talbot, John Watkiss, Kelley Jones, George Pratt, Malcolm Jones III, Colleen Doran (illustrators) |title=The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2 |year=2007 |publisher=[[Vertigo Comics]] |isbn=978-1-4012-1083-0 |url-access= |url=}}

{{The Sandman}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandman Season of Mists}}
[[Category:1990 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1991 comics endings]]
[[Category:Comic book collection books]]
[[Category:1992 books]]
[[Category:Bastet]]
[[Category:Lucifer in popular culture]]
[[Category:Hell in popular culture]]
[[Category:Odin]]
[[Category:Loki]]
[[Category:Thor]]
[[Category:Anubis]]