The Sandman # 7 - Master of Dreams Part 7: Sound and Fury

Sound and Fury marks the climax of the first story arc in The Sandman comic, 'Preludes and Nocturnes'. While there is one more issue in this series, 'The Sound of Her Wings', that story is more of a denouement. 
 
Morpheus, the King of Dreams, in a severely weakened state must do battle with Doctor Destiny, who has escaped from Arkham Asylum and wields Morpheus' powerful Dreamstone. Doctor Destiny is determined to kill Morpheus and take his place as the new Lord of Dreams. 
 
With this issue, his second one, new artist Mike Dringenberg seems to abandon any attempt to emulate the more traditional comic book stylings of his predecessor, Sam Kieth, and the less tightly controlled, more chaotic look associated with the book comes to the fore. The transition is fairly smooth since the majority of the issue takes place in the "all rules are off" setting of the Dreaming. 
 
While the battle itself is not something that will ever go down in comic book history, it is the way the powerful godlike being Morpheus deals with the ultimately frail psyche of the poor mortal, his would-be murderer and usurper (corrupted like all humans that come into contact with such vast supernatural power) that gives insight into what really makes gods and mortals different. 
 
This is a climax, but not in the form of a Kirby-esque slugfest, but in the form of a philosophical treatise the way only Neil Gaiman could do it.