I’m going to connect Shade The Changing (Whatever) with Vertigo’s Sandman, nuff said.
Except who are these people; how do they connect; does it really even matter?
Shade The Changing Concept
The original Shade The Changing Man was created by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. This version of Rac Shade is a secret agent of the Meta-Zone reality. His powers and equipment come from the M-Vest, with the suit’s main power being a forcefield that doesn’t just protect but cast illusions of Shade’s appearance.
The character and adventures of the Ditko run are for the most part a commentary on the justice system. Shade was framed for treason and it didn’t help that the M-Vest showed people their worst views about him. Interestingly enough this factors into how society can view itself; corruption and paranoia are rampant in Meta with many politicians being crime bosses on the side. Just think about all the times people outrage about stuff today with elections, police brutality, etc. Things seem so absurd that just telling the truth is just another way of obstructing reality. One Meta base on Earth, the Occult Research Center, is in dedication to this by telling people about unauthorized Meta visitors where their technology is explained in occult details.
The Vertigo Comes In
Decades later, Rac Shade reappears in the Vertigo version of Shade The Changing Man. This time however, the character goes through a complete change. Shade is less of an agent and now a wandering poet who is able to possess bodies. The M-Vest in turn becomes a powerful tool that can warp reality with LSD-like effects. This is because the ‘M’ stands for Madness instead of Miraco like before. But where is this all going when it comes to the Sandman, let’s go over that in depth.
The Endless Sandman
The Vertigo version of the Sandman is one of the Endless, powerful entities that represent concepts. Dream, the titular Sandman, for example represents the imaginary which includes all forms of fiction and dreams. Being concepts that can exist without faith empowering them, they are functionally immortal. Each form of their immortality seems to differ on the person. Dream for examples changes personalities from Morpheus to Daniel Hall. Morpheus as a mythical being is a collective fantasy while Daniel is a literal dream come true. It’s complicated.
Similarly, Despair’s appearance changed after her initial form’s death.
Shade The Changing Delirium
That brings us to Shade and where he potentially fits in with the Endless. Nothing about the Meta Zone seems to make any sense in its Vertigo incarnation. Sure people can explain the hows but never the whys. The Vertigo Rac Shade even admits the classic version was something he made up to amuse himself. That is if you can get past the fact Shade ignores the classic’s encounter with the Suicide Squad. Which brings up a certain Endless who fits right in, Delirium.
Delirium is the youngest of the Endless, representing the duality between sanity and her namesake. She once went by Delight until an uncertain traumatic event that no one can identify. In any case, Delirium represents how relative reality can be thanks to her ability to shapeshift, cross time and space, and magic that breaks all laws. So is Shade really Delirium? We should probably go over some stuff first.
Maybe Derangement?
First of all, people like to agree that while Delirium and Shade deal with madness like mismatching clothes, they’re not the same. Delirium’s eyes are emerald and pale blue that sometimes switch eye sockets, it’s her only permanent trait. Shade’s eyes on the other hand change depending on what body he possesses but they tend to be blue or brown. While Delirium can be anywhere, Shade can be anyone.
This brings us to Rac’s successor, Loma who acquires the Madness Vest and follows in his footsteps. The only thing to really understand about Madness is how constant it is, self-indulgent and self-destructive. There’s really nothing to all of this that really make any sense, Loma used to be a bird alien for crying out loud.
But wait, isn’t this like Daniel becoming Dream? I suppose it is. Which brings me to a plot device in Sandman, the Dreamstones. These crystals are the essence of Dream, allowing people to harness his power or become the new Dream. While the other endless don’t always have their own artifacts other than for decoration, it stands to reason Delirium accidentally left her mark. In fact, it’s possible that Delirium is the reason the M-Vest changed into the Madness Vest.
Be Open To Interpretation
Let’s just put some things out: both Shade the Changing X and Sandman deal with absurdism. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Shade at some point encounters Delirium or other Endless. With how madness is commodified in Shade, it can be the very essence of Delirium. Who knows maybe madness can fix the whole mess of continuity surrounding Shade. The abstract is always open to interpretation and so is stuff like Comic Theory.
But the ink’s not dry yet. Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.