Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
I couldn't read all of the portraits of Despair...too despairing, I guess.
But I fell even more in love with Destruction (which can't be healthy, right?
But I fell even more in love with Destruction (which can't be healthy, right?
This is the first Sandman volume that I've rated 4 stars. It's about the Endless more than the people they influence, which I always like. The volume is a mixed bag of stories, each by a different artist. The art styles are more experimental, exploring different ways to portray each of the Endless. Some of the stories were beautiful and fantastic, but a couple of them fell a bit flat for me. For a Sandman fan, though, this is still an important volume to read because it explains some things about the Endless before the main events of the series.
This was a neat conclusion to the main series, and I’m glad I finally finished it. I don’t think it beats The Wake though.
Gonna be honest, Delirium’s part was my least favorite, mainly because it was too confusing for me, which of course was the point, but still.
Destiny, Dream, and Death were probably my favorite parts. Frank Quitely’s work on Destiny was stunning, I want to learn how to paint like him eventually. Miguelanxo Prado’s art for Dream was also beautiful.
Now I think I can say I’ve finished “The Sandman”, but I think the series will stay with me for a while. I’m still planning to read the spin-off comics, the newer ones, and I also want to read other related works. Overall, reading “The Sandman” has been delightful and I’m very happy that I got the entire series at once for Christmas a couple of years ago. I’d say that was one of the best Christmas presents I’ve ever gotten.
Gonna be honest, Delirium’s part was my least favorite, mainly because it was too confusing for me, which of course was the point, but still.
Destiny, Dream, and Death were probably my favorite parts. Frank Quitely’s work on Destiny was stunning, I want to learn how to paint like him eventually. Miguelanxo Prado’s art for Dream was also beautiful.
Now I think I can say I’ve finished “The Sandman”, but I think the series will stay with me for a while. I’m still planning to read the spin-off comics, the newer ones, and I also want to read other related works. Overall, reading “The Sandman” has been delightful and I’m very happy that I got the entire series at once for Christmas a couple of years ago. I’d say that was one of the best Christmas presents I’ve ever gotten.
This was the first of Gaiman's graphic novels that I've read.
The eclectic style of the stories and the artwork really made the otherworldly feel perfect.
The eclectic style of the stories and the artwork really made the otherworldly feel perfect.
So I don't want to go story by story on this or anything but suffice to say of the post-main arc books they put out for Sandman so far, this was my favorite one. The work it does, presenting short stories that show aspects of the Endless without going all the way in on being like "THIS IS EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM!!!! THIS IS EVERYTHING THAT MAKES THEM TICK!!!!!!!" is great, because it shows how they intersect with humanity - or at least the non-immortals - in different ways.
Despair and Delirium are definitely the most difficult of them, though that's in part because Delirium herself is one of the more difficult to pin down. How are you supposed to write a straightforward story about basically a broken mental state? The way they put it together worked pretty well and both of these having that kinda grungy/whimsical collage look that works for them. The art design on these parts was some of the wildest, though it did at times get a little difficult to read, especially Despair. These were also some of the broadest ones, showing the multiple different ways they can manifest in people.
The two that seemed maybe most disposable were Desire and Destruction. They were just kinda flat stories - I guess it makes sense that Destruction's not really about that aspect of himself, since he's given up his post, but what was really weird about it is that after he peaced off and was like "later guys!" to his family, apparently they can get in contact with him and ask him to like hang out at random now? Maybe it's because of Dream's death making him more available. Desire's was more or less "tity woman seduces men for her own means" and I dunno, of all the aspects of what it can mean to be like literally possessed by desire, making it all just be boning is kinda the most straightforward aspect of it that they could do.
Also, there's a bunch of naked men but you don't see a single dong.
Well really I guess Destiny was the most pointless but it was like 4 pages so whatever.
But yeah anthologies can be pretty difficult to do - and god knows some of the Sandman short story collections have been BAD - but this one manages to pull it off pretty well. Even though I was kinda talking mess about Desire up there, like let's be real, there's a lot of joy you can get from just watching all these dudes get so overcome with desire that they start trying to kill each other. This one manages to pull it off well, managing to be able to tell contained stories, tell stores that feed into each other, and tell stories that set up other books, all in the space of 7 stories.
And no Shakespeare in sight!
It's no mean feat, and I'm a little shocked they managed to do it so well. It's the second to last I'm reviewing, but it's the first after the main 10 volumes that I read, and it really started me off on a pretty high note.
Despair and Delirium are definitely the most difficult of them, though that's in part because Delirium herself is one of the more difficult to pin down. How are you supposed to write a straightforward story about basically a broken mental state? The way they put it together worked pretty well and both of these having that kinda grungy/whimsical collage look that works for them. The art design on these parts was some of the wildest, though it did at times get a little difficult to read, especially Despair. These were also some of the broadest ones, showing the multiple different ways they can manifest in people.
The two that seemed maybe most disposable were Desire and Destruction. They were just kinda flat stories - I guess it makes sense that Destruction's not really about that aspect of himself, since he's given up his post, but what was really weird about it is that after he peaced off and was like "later guys!" to his family, apparently they can get in contact with him and ask him to like hang out at random now? Maybe it's because of Dream's death making him more available. Desire's was more or less "tity woman seduces men for her own means" and I dunno, of all the aspects of what it can mean to be like literally possessed by desire, making it all just be boning is kinda the most straightforward aspect of it that they could do.
Also, there's a bunch of naked men but you don't see a single dong.
Well really I guess Destiny was the most pointless but it was like 4 pages so whatever.
But yeah anthologies can be pretty difficult to do - and god knows some of the Sandman short story collections have been BAD - but this one manages to pull it off pretty well. Even though I was kinda talking mess about Desire up there, like let's be real, there's a lot of joy you can get from just watching all these dudes get so overcome with desire that they start trying to kill each other. This one manages to pull it off well, managing to be able to tell contained stories, tell stores that feed into each other, and tell stories that set up other books, all in the space of 7 stories.
And no Shakespeare in sight!
It's no mean feat, and I'm a little shocked they managed to do it so well. It's the second to last I'm reviewing, but it's the first after the main 10 volumes that I read, and it really started me off on a pretty high note.
I loved all the short graphic novels inside this book.
I have to say my favorites were Manaras and Prados.
I have to say my favorites were Manaras and Prados.
There were some stories I really liked. Others I didn't get. It's all pretty though. And it's Gaiman doing storytelling. I judge harshly so I can differentiate his stuff, not because it's not amazing.