Sandman

Product Information

Throughout the series many artists come and go. With a few exceptions, the style is almost the same. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of said style, but it's the classic Vertigo style of the era and it's not like I hate it, it's just not my cup of tea. What's great tho in the series, other that the writing, is the lettering. Todd Klein is my all time favorite letterer and I believe that in this series he does his best work. It's amazing how he creates beautiful, very unique speech bubbles for each character, based on the character's personality. Each volume tells its own part of the story, and they are all wonderful in different ways. A throwaway comment or character will come brilliantly full circle volumes later, and all the story strands are intricately connected. I particularly loved Dream Country and The Kindly Ones. And The Doll's House. And Brief Lives. And all the other volumes...

The Sandman series was probably my favorite and most important read of 2020. The main series is 76 issues and it's widely considered as one of the greatest comic series ever made. Morpheus, the King of Dreams, Lord of the Dreaming, Dream of the Endless, has been captured and is imprisoned for close to a century. The repurcussions of his capture and eventual escape are felt across generations of dreamers, and that makes up the crux of this story. But it is also much, MUCH more. Then, proceed to finish the original series (Vol. 1-10). Read Endless Nights after reading the original series. DO NOT start with Overture. Although it is a prequel, it should be read after the original series and Endless Nights. The Dream Hunters is an illustrated prose novella and has also been adapted into a graphic novel by P. Craig Russell. The Death volume collects two spin-off miniseries; The Cost of Living and The Time of Your Life and repeats other stories from the main series. The story (usually) follows Sandman, also known as Morpheus or Dream. Sandman is the aspect of dream. He is one of the Endless, with the other ones being Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destiny and Destruction. The story starts when a magician, in an attempt to capture death and become immortal, captures Sandman and imprisons him for 70 years. Sandman is the main character in most story arcs of the series, but some times he's just a secondary character. This might lead someone to believe that the arcs in which he appears as a secondary character, aren't as important or interesting, but every arc is so interesting and so well written that it doesn't really matter if Sandman is the main character or not. Volume 2 Doll's House: This is where Neil severs the ties between the Sandman and the DC universe and the series begins to take form. This is a fan favorite volume and a fairly good starting point for new readers. You can get immersed in the series and then read volume 1 after this.

Pros: Oversized hardcover (Same trim size as Omnibus edition) - Some scripts and art galleries reprinted from the Absolute editions - New wraparound cover art by Michael Wm. Kaluta and Dave Stewart - Premium hardcover for collectors on a budget So yes, of course you should read Sandman. Everyone should, whether you read comics or not. I went in with pretty high hopes. It mostly met them, sometimes fell well short. Still bloody great though. Just don't watch the Netflix show. I'm calling it early, its gonna be shite. 4.25/5

Deluxe Editions: Books 1-5 collect the original series, Midnight Theatre, Endless Nights, and both versions of Dream Hunters. The older deluxe editions of Death and Overture remain in print. Omnibus: The main series is collected in Vol. 1 and 2. Vol 3 contains other stories set in the Sandman universe which are written by Gaiman (Endless Nights, The Dream Hunters (prose and comic), Overture, Both Death miniseries, Midnight Theatre, and more)Published under DC’s now-defunct Vertigo, Sandman features Gaiman’s signature blend of dark, mythology-inspired fantasy. Other DC heroes showed up every so often, but it mostly stayed within the land of dreams known as The Dreaming, and focused on Gaiman’s original characters. Volume 4 Season of Mists: One of the best volumes of the series, this is Neil Gaiman in top form. This volume is where the vast scope of the universe is fully realized for the first time. You can get a taste of the series' at its peak and then return to the beginning for more answers. There are many reasons why this series is an amazing piece of art and I love it. First of all, the characters are amazing. Sandman is weirdly, at the same time, one of the most deep, complex and relatable characters. He's very moody and throughout the series, we see him multiple times dealing with depression and trying to find a way to distract himself and feel better. His problems are of cosmic importance, but somehow they are also very human problems, like dealing with a bad break up or arguing with relatives. Another interesting aspect of Sandman's personality is how much he follows the rules. That's not very important for the biggest part of the series, but it's very important in the 9th arc. In this arc, he has the opportunity to make things better by ignoring the rules, but he refuses to do so, leading to major consequences. Note on Bonus Content: Detailed list of the bonus content collected in each volume of the Absolute Editions can be found in the "What is in ..." section of the subreddit. At present, none of the editions contain all the bonus content. The new introductions/forewords to the individual volumes as well as the annotated script for #17 Calliope collected in the 30th Anniversary TPBs are not present in any other edition including the Absolutes.