Of Storytellers and Stories in Gaiman and Vess's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Critical Essay‪)‬

In 1990, when "A Midsummer Night's Dream" appeared in the 19th issue of The Sandman, Neil Gaiman was seeing how far the comics' medium would stretch to fit difficult subjects. About halfway through the script, Gaiman paused to make the following half-joking, half serious comment to artist Charles Vess: (1) As it tuned out, the story was extremely successful, convincing many people--even, briefly, the judges for the World Fantasy Award--that comics have potential for real accomplishment. It's worth examining, therefore, both to show some of the ways Gaiman and Vess together made the story work and also to consider what Gaiman was trying to say that utilized the comics medium so thoroughly and so well.