We are reading “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” in the community this week, and this is such a central issue in terms of the workings of the universe the Sandman is set in, but also in terms of foreshadowing and interconnection with literally everything. And since “Dream Hunters” is so massively underrated, I had to tie it in as well, because if you let it speak to you, I honestly think it’s one of the most important stories of them all; in its own way, it has equally strong connection points to “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” (and consequently the whole main run) as “Overture”.
I wish I had more time because some of this could do with deeper exploration/explanation (e.g. you can’t really compare the motivations of Lyta and Nuala to the Onmyōji or the Kitsune on surface level, but they tie into the deeper connection to the Three, and there’s also something to be said for the role of fear), but panel comparisons need to make do this week. And one leaves me more unwell than the next 😩
They Changed the Universe from the Beginning of All Things…
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
John Watkiss—The Orange Cat/The Cat Prophet (page from The Quotable Sandman)
John Watkiss will always be one of my favourite comics artists, and I was genuinely sad when he passed (far too young). Have my Watkiss-love-declaration from last year’s March Mania, Watkiss art-tag included:
💬 3 🔁 15 ❤️ 25 · You still have until 6pm/London to cast your vote for either Watkiss or Talbot before we break for the weekend (watch out
The Annotated Sandman #18–A Dream of a Thousand Cats
A bit of extra info for our reread of A Dream of a Thousand Cats this week…
Cat Communication
NG's script sets out his plan for the cat-communications:
"I don't want normal word balloons. Now the normal comic tradition of doing animals communicating is thought balloons, which I don't want because it makes it seem they're all telepathic or something, so that's out.
However, I think that my initial idea, which was word balloons with no arrows, might be too cumbersome and confusing. (My idea was that we'd lightly colour code them. But then I thought, what are the odds that they'd be coloured correctly? Or that people would realise?)
So l've been pondering another way of doing it. One suggestion is, rather than proper long pointed arrows, we'll have basically round balloons with little nubs pointing toward the speaker. (I'll draw this out, so you can see what I mean:) or, if the nubs don't work, then possibly just rounded balloon arrows, instead of points—just something to set the cats apart."
Cemeteries
The cemetery images are based on Highgate Cemetery, in Hampstead Heath, London.
Siamese Cats
"Blue-point Siamese" is a variety of Siamese cat with a white body and bluish mask, ears, legs, and tail.
The variety was bred in the 20th century but was not recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) as distinct until 1934, when standards were established for show-cats. The CFA denoted four varieties: seal (brown) point, blue point, chocolate point, and lilac point.
The Carrion Kind
Crows, condors, vultures, and other birds who live on the corpses of other animals are referred to in literature as the "carrion kind." As a result (and perhaps drawing on this story), Dreams of the Carrion Kind was the title of an album in the death-metal genre released by the U.S. band Disincarnate in 1993, including the song "Cupid of the Carrion Kind." Another death-metal/goth band Tristania, from Norway, used the lyric "My carrion kind" in its song "Angina" in 2001.
A Cat May Look At a King…
NG writes in the script, "We're looking at a huge jet black cat. And I mean huge-it's larger than a panther.
But it's a cat, not a panther-the proportions are different. And its eyes are eyes of flame red and yellow. [So he wasn’t angy 🤣 It’s just the cat-equivalent of the flame coat. Why not have a flame fur instead of horror-Kitty eyes? Yeah, I think it was a good idea to change the red eyes from the first print to the version you see today]
It seems almost to absorb light. This is where the initial idea for the story came from-seeing a black cat as I was driving, just sitting watching the traffic go by, looking like a patch of shadow, a patch of blackness with eyes.
And, a little patch of white, the Siamese is at its feet, not sitting but standing. It looks very nervous. They're in an underground cavern, stalactites and stalagmites, lit by a circular pale light, floating by the Sandman-cat's head."
The proverb "A cat may look at a king" is described in E. Cobham Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898):
“An insolent remark of insubordination, meaning, I am as good as you”, or “Are you too mighty to be spoken to or looked at? You may wear stars and ribbons, and I may be dressed in hodden grey, but a man's a man for a' that?” The origins of the proverb are unknown, although stories are told of actual kings and actual cats. It is recorded as early as 1540, and in 1652, A Cat May Look Upon a King was the title of a political pamphlet by Sir Archibald Weldon attacking English kings. Although she admits that she can't remember where she read it, Alice quite reasonably repeats the saying to the King of Hearts in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland when he objects to the gaze of the Cheshire-Cat.
The Most Beautiful Cat You’ve Ever Seen?
NG directs Kelley Jones, the artist: "Okay, now, having held the shot until the reader is ready to scream, go in for a close-up. Do this as a real get 'em by the balls drawing of the Siamese's face-just an exquisite piece of linework: the face of a Siamese cat, staring at us, so beautifully drawn that professional cat artists all over America will break their pencils, crush their sticks of charcoal underfoot and go and seek respectable work painting pictures of Elvis Presley on black velvet. Really gorgeous."
The cat week is wrapped, and we’re moving on to our rewatch of episode 11 this week (join us if you like). As usual, here are all my contributions for later reference—you can read what everyone else was up to in the community…
Comics #18–A Dream of a Thousand Cats
It’s already that time again—bring on Tome Thursday! But before we do that, here comes another call f
Letters in the Sand etc…
So the first edition floppy of “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” (#18) contains a lot of the letters to the editor that
💬 0 🔁 8 ❤️ 23 · We are reading “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” in the community this week, and this is such a central issue in terms of the w
💬 0 🔁 2 ❤️ 2 · The Annotated Sandman #18–A Dream of a Thousand Cats · A bit of extra info for our reread of A Dream of a Thousand Cats thi
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I had a million ideas, but today is one of the few times the format absolutely stinks—I always run out of syllables for my best ideas, so unfortunately, none of them really worked.
In any case, it’s the slightly different format again, but the reblog chain will still be updated, too.
Here are days 6-10 in reverse, plus a link to 1-5 as well.
(Inktober prompts modified by @orionsangel86 for #sandtober2023)
10. Fate
One dreamt of true love
One lost her husband and son
One, hurt and ruthless.
Cats gather at night
To hear the prophet’s vision:
A world of their own.
Inktober prompts modified by @orionsangel86 for #sandtober2023
A nightmare creature
Transformed by courage and grace
Free to soar with joy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sound of her
He loved the witch once
But she left him in the rain.
Dreams are not enough.
Golden eyes aflame.
Unity dreams life and love.
Desire's touch burns.
Catch-up link for days 1-5
Slightly different format today because reblogs don’t show up in tags and are not really discoverable, so I’ll do one new post containing th
