The Sandman - Issue 20 - Facade

Recap: Issue 20, titled Facade, is the final entry in the quartet of stories that make up Dream Country. There are many standout tales in The Sandman series, but this one always touches me personally. As someone who spends too much time alone, I understand Urania Blackwell's situation all too well. While I dealt with my isolation differently, it breaks my heart whenever I read this story that I didn't have Urania's number, so we could just talk.

From the very first page of Facade, we are given a bleak, shadowy glimpse into Urania Blackwell's world. Formerly known as Element Girl or Chemical Doll if you know your heroines, Urania or Rainie is no longer in circulation, having vanished from the fictional and publication universe of DC comics. Facade can be seen as a metaphor for thousands of characters that appear in comic books, who surface long enough to be useful for whatever tale they're needed for and then promptly forgotten. After reading this, I wish they had their own corner in The Dreaming instead of languishing in a dusty canon bible somewhere.

But the reality is closer to what Rainie suffers every day.

Rainie spends her life in the darkness of her apartment, desperate for connection, even if it is with the somewhat friendly Mulligan we never see. You get the sense that Mulligan fields dozens of similar calls where he is the lifeline to folks who share Rainie's circumstance. His responses feel rehearsed with just enough empathy to appear caring. It may not be a script he's reading from, but it's close.

Rainie wants more from this friendship, but the possibility of having her only human connection severed by angering the company, being the CIA, quashes any ideas she might have to explore it.

So she sits and waits, sinking deeper into the abyss as artfully depicted by the gradual passage of time through her window, frightened, alone and unloved.

By the time the telephone rings, presumably that night, Rainie is so anxious that this seemingly everyday convenience has become a horrible monster she must confront. This is the same Element Girl who stood next to Rex Mason, Metamorpho and fought battles against enemies like the Thunderer by hopping a rocket ship into space. Courage was not something she lacked. I didn't know what depression was when I first read this issue, but Rainie clearly suffers from it. It angers me that the CIA's pension for its veterans didn't include access to mental health professionals.

The phone call is from Della Kariakis, a former colleague (I won't call her friend) who invites Rainie to lunch after five years of silence. Rainie takes a chance and agrees to the meeting, but again, her fear of how it will go is palpable. Her dreams are no more comforting as Rainie is taken back to the Pyramid of Ahk-Ton with Triangle, again experiencing her transformation only with Ra, the sun god taking an active part. In the dream, he is a terrifying figure, and what he does to her is a violation. Rainie's thoughts as she fights Ra mirrors the despair of rape victims. When it is over, she's on autopilot, doing what they ask, justifying their demands to herself.

The next day, Rainie takes us through the arduous process of preparing herself to be seen in public and takes on her pre-metamorphae appearance. She meets Della at a classy restaurant where they exchange the usual pleasantries between people who haven't seen each other in a long time. When Della notices Rainie still wearing her gloves, the latter claims to suffer from a skin condition which Della accepts readily enough because she isn't that interested.

It soon becomes clear that Della's only reason for contacting Rainie is so she can selfishly share the news of her impending motherhood. This lunch is all about her, and she says as much before the reveal. Why else would she contact Rainie after five years without bothering to find out what's been happening in Rainie's life? They are, after all, in the CIA.

And why is she drinking wine! She's pregnant! I'm not going to lie; I don't like this character.

Worse than this, Della reveals her bigotry by her reaction to a group of disabled diners, referring to them as freaks. As Rainie tries to defend them, the silicate mask over her face falls into her plate, revealing her true visage. Mortified, poor Rainie flees, and Della makes no effort to follow her. Hmmmph!

Distraught, Rainie returns home, reaching out to Mulligan, who has been transferred to another department. This last straw finally tips Rainie over the edge. She contemplates suicide but has no idea how she can do it. Her frustration at being trapped in this cycle of life explodes into a cry she assumes no one hears.

Except maybe Death.

Much has been said about Death's presence in this issue, and justifiably so. She continues to be a luminous presence in any book she appears. This is no different. What I loved about Death is that she asks the question Rainie most needs to hear. Do you want to talk about it? Of course, Rainie is understandably surprised by this intruder in her private sanctum, but once again, her need for connection is strong, and Death gives her a welcoming shoulder to cry on, which she desperately needs.

Rainie expresses her desire to die, revealing her life's torture, where she's afraid of everyone and everything. She wants her existence to end because she can bear it no more. When she runs through all the ways she's considered the question, Death reveals that even the metamorphae die; they just take a little longer. At this point, Rainie realizes who she's talking to and celebrates, believing Death is here for her.

But Death tells her otherwise, explaining she was just passing by and further elaborates how she functions as the last person any being will see in their mortal life. She is everywhere, from a village in West Africa to galaxies far away with crystalline life, ready to take them on to what comes next. When the last living thing dies, her job will finish. She'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind her when she leaves.

Rainie hears none of this, too mired in her own despair. Fortunately for her, Death is too compassionate to let Rainie languish in her cruel existence. While she refuses to kill Rainie as asked, Death explains the nature of mythologies and, by extension, the Dream Country they inhabit. The overall theme of Dream Country has been an exploration of legends. Beginning with Calliope and her place in Greek mythology, followed by A Dream of Thousand Cats about a myth that may or may not have existed and, most recently, Will Shakespeare's forging of faerie myth in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Rainie too, has a part in it, having received her powers from Ra, the supreme deity of ancient Egyptian legend. As Death explains, Ra is still creating new metamorphae to use as warriors in his never-ending battle with Apep, the Serpent that Never Dies, except that the serpent did - three thousand years ago. Death knows, she took Apep on. The Never-Ending Battle is over.

Nevertheless, if its end is what Rainie really wants, then she needs to speak to Ra.

Rainie misinterprets this as an instruction to go to Egypt, an idea which frankly terrifies her until Death clarifies, with some frustration, that Ra is a sun god and he's where he has always been. In the sun. When Rainie reaches out to her creator, she discovers he's been there all along, and she can hear him when he speaks. She makes her appeal make it it all to stop, to be normal. Ra instructs her to look at the sun, and when she does stare at it (children, don't do this at home, you'll go blind), she realizes the sun too is a facade, with a face behind it.

It is a last moment of beautiful discovery before the end.

Rainie crystallizes and turns to dust, withering before Death's eyes even as Mulligan returns her call.

"Raine's gone away," Death tells him and won't be back, but Death will be seeing him.

Finally, Death does what Death always does as the last of Rainie crumbles to the floor, locking the door behind her as she leaves.

So ends a beautifully tragic story and a fitting final chapter to the Dream Country. I'd like to add further that this Facebook group tries to embody the best of Neil Gaiman's works, and in this story, I feel he's telling us that if someone needs to talk, we, should try to listen. I've seen posts about people getting up in arms about non-Sandman content, and though this is not my group, I encourage you to reach out if you need help.

There are those of us who will listen.

And that's it for Facade - next week, Season of Mists!

NEXT - Issue 21 - Season of Mists - A Prologue

PREVIOUS - Issue 19 - A Midsummer's Night Dream