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4.55 AVERAGE
4.55 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Where do you start when trying to review a collection like this? I really have no idea. I was going to give up before I even began; admit defeat without letting anyone know about it, but I decided, what the hell, lets give it a go.
I first read some of Gaiman’s Sandman series years and years ago. Like a genius I started with A Doll’s House rather than at the beginning, but I soon realised my mistake and retraced my steps. The first few issues never really grabbed me. But they begin the story, so you do need to start there, and then, even if you dislike them, persevere for a little while longer. Because, lets face it, the character of Morpheus isn’t really that likeable. He is an arrogant ass. But his story is interesting. And the stories and places Gaiman gets to explore through the Sandman and his sibling Endless characters are fascinating. If you like comics and myths then you should give this[1:] a go.
And there are also pretty pictures to look at.
I particularly like the Cereal Convention, brilliantly evil. And the loved A dream of a thousand cats.
Hmmm, I think this review is beginning to show why I should have admitted defeat before starting it, because I really don’t want to spoil aspects by telling you about stuff I loved. And I’m not even going to try and offer any sort of analysis because, damn, there is a lot in there. Let’s just say that Gaiman does his usual wonderful job blending horror, fantasy, myth and history into a wonderful story with so much going on that any amount of rereads will most likely be satisfying.
Before I go, the whole “absolute” deluxe treatment, can I just say that it really works here. Although it does mean you won’t be using this for commuter reading :) Now I just have to go buy Volume 2 and get stuck in to that
I first read some of Gaiman’s Sandman series years and years ago. Like a genius I started with A Doll’s House rather than at the beginning, but I soon realised my mistake and retraced my steps. The first few issues never really grabbed me. But they begin the story, so you do need to start there, and then, even if you dislike them, persevere for a little while longer. Because, lets face it, the character of Morpheus isn’t really that likeable. He is an arrogant ass. But his story is interesting. And the stories and places Gaiman gets to explore through the Sandman and his sibling Endless characters are fascinating. If you like comics and myths then you should give this[1:] a go.
And there are also pretty pictures to look at.
I particularly like the Cereal Convention, brilliantly evil. And the loved A dream of a thousand cats.
Hmmm, I think this review is beginning to show why I should have admitted defeat before starting it, because I really don’t want to spoil aspects by telling you about stuff I loved. And I’m not even going to try and offer any sort of analysis because, damn, there is a lot in there. Let’s just say that Gaiman does his usual wonderful job blending horror, fantasy, myth and history into a wonderful story with so much going on that any amount of rereads will most likely be satisfying.
Before I go, the whole “absolute” deluxe treatment, can I just say that it really works here. Although it does mean you won’t be using this for commuter reading :) Now I just have to go buy Volume 2 and get stuck in to that
I think my first issue of Sandman was Dream Of A Thousand Cats, if not Calliope. A friend of mine brought it back from the States for me and when I read it that was it, I was a Sandman reader and a Neil Gaiman fan for life. The stories of Dream Country were each like a bomb going off in my callow young head, explosions that propelled me simultaneously deep into the world of the comic and out into the more abstract realms of the possibilities of imagination, genre and form. In short order I'd picked up collections of A Doll's House and Preludes And Nocturnes, and was counting the weeks and days each month, waiting for the next issue to arrive.
Sandman opens with the imprisonment of Morpheus, Lord Of Dreams, by an English occult society in 1916. They were hoping to trap death but got her younger brother instead. It doesn't work out terrible well for anyone, least of all the occult society, but also the unfortunates who fall victim to a sleeping sickness that steals most of their lives, or for Morpheus himself, not to mention the vague efforts the universe makes to replace him with pale imitation superheroes. In 1988 he escapes, takes revenge, returns to his crumbling kingdom, and, with some difficulty, recovers his stolen tools.
It's all in there, in these early issues, but it's such a mess. Sam Keith's art is great, but not really in keeping with the book. Gaiman seeds all sorts of themes and elements that will be built on and expanded later, but issues go from genre to genre, until the book truly finds its voice in issue eight, the legendary Sound of Her Wings, which introduces Death, in a story about how everyone hates her and loves Dream, even though she's lovely and he's not. The multi-layered little story shattered comics into a million pieces, captured a million hearts and is the emotional and conceptual foundation stone of the whole epic. It's in stories like that, the stand-alones, that Sandman deepened and enriched its world and its mythology, even as the longer arcs drove the plot, often extremely obliquely, forward.
The Dolls House is a fantasy/horror masterpiece, building to the chilling and mischievous Collectors, which is itself about fear, and mythologising and demythologising it, self-mythologising and self-aggrandisement, and murder. Lots and lots of murder,
The Absolute Sandman Volume One is a big, beautiful object. The stories printed on larger pages of high-quality paper, recoloured, retouched. It includes back matter such as Gaiman's original proposal, all the afterwords to original collections, and the script of the astonishing Midsummer Night's Dream issue. So many of these stories were so astonishing. I'd forgotten just how astonishing they were.
Sandman was groundbreaking and earthshaking, and it blew my tiny mind, and this gorgeous edition is blowing it all over again.
Sandman opens with the imprisonment of Morpheus, Lord Of Dreams, by an English occult society in 1916. They were hoping to trap death but got her younger brother instead. It doesn't work out terrible well for anyone, least of all the occult society, but also the unfortunates who fall victim to a sleeping sickness that steals most of their lives, or for Morpheus himself, not to mention the vague efforts the universe makes to replace him with pale imitation superheroes. In 1988 he escapes, takes revenge, returns to his crumbling kingdom, and, with some difficulty, recovers his stolen tools.
It's all in there, in these early issues, but it's such a mess. Sam Keith's art is great, but not really in keeping with the book. Gaiman seeds all sorts of themes and elements that will be built on and expanded later, but issues go from genre to genre, until the book truly finds its voice in issue eight, the legendary Sound of Her Wings, which introduces Death, in a story about how everyone hates her and loves Dream, even though she's lovely and he's not. The multi-layered little story shattered comics into a million pieces, captured a million hearts and is the emotional and conceptual foundation stone of the whole epic. It's in stories like that, the stand-alones, that Sandman deepened and enriched its world and its mythology, even as the longer arcs drove the plot, often extremely obliquely, forward.
The Dolls House is a fantasy/horror masterpiece, building to the chilling and mischievous Collectors, which is itself about fear, and mythologising and demythologising it, self-mythologising and self-aggrandisement, and murder. Lots and lots of murder,
The Absolute Sandman Volume One is a big, beautiful object. The stories printed on larger pages of high-quality paper, recoloured, retouched. It includes back matter such as Gaiman's original proposal, all the afterwords to original collections, and the script of the astonishing Midsummer Night's Dream issue. So many of these stories were so astonishing. I'd forgotten just how astonishing they were.
Sandman was groundbreaking and earthshaking, and it blew my tiny mind, and this gorgeous edition is blowing it all over again.
We held out on buying this because it's pretty expensive... but oh my god, the recoloring is fabulous. No longer will I hesitate to recommend the series to people with the caveat that "Um, the first three look terrible, please ignore the art," although I guess it means I will have to loan them this Giant Book (seriously, I think it may be the largest one I own). Sandman on a larger scale is equally fabulous.
I don't think I've reread the first three volumes in a while, since the series really heats up on volume four, but it's actually been a joy to find the seeds of so many later stories -- Lita Hall, Calliope, Orpheus, Lucifer, the Faeries, Nada -- and the beginnings of the characters as well. It's amazing to see how assured Gaiman was, the way the characterizations snap into place almost immediately. He does take Dream a little too seriously at first, but part of the joy is later when other characters take him lightly, so it all balances out.
I don't think I've reread the first three volumes in a while, since the series really heats up on volume four, but it's actually been a joy to find the seeds of so many later stories -- Lita Hall, Calliope, Orpheus, Lucifer, the Faeries, Nada -- and the beginnings of the characters as well. It's amazing to see how assured Gaiman was, the way the characterizations snap into place almost immediately. He does take Dream a little too seriously at first, but part of the joy is later when other characters take him lightly, so it all balances out.
1/31/17
First read and reread of 2017. The below review still holds completely true.
4/26/15
Neil Gaiman is pure fucking magic when it comes to writing.
I’m relatively new to his work, and I’m also pretty new to comics and graphic novels. So please feel free to take the following fangirl-gasming with a grain of salt. If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly freaking recommend you go to your library and start this, and soon. If this first Volume is any indication on what to expect from the future ones, then I know I’m in for one hell of a ride.
I don’t think I’ve read anything like this before. I love that every element of this story felt new and real and raw to me. It bewitched me. I’ve fallen hard for these worlds and characters, and I’m happy that I’ll be able to live in it for a little longer.
The art instantly drew me in to this comic. I loved the style, and I thought the artists did an incredible freaking job giving life to Gaiman’s characters and worlds.
Following Dream/Morpheus on his journey as he escaped a prison meant for his sister Death, was a really fascinating story, but it was only the beginning. There were so many other fantastical tales showing the evolution of Dream. The worlds were vast.
Some were familiar and some were strange and new to me, and I loved seeing Dream interact with the people/creatures/things in each of them. He’s Endless, and every story showed what he has done during his existence. The stories showed that he can be selfless and objective, and the stories showed that he can also be selfish and cruel. I enjoyed reading about all the different aspects of Dream.
Again, I highly, highly recommend reading this series!
First read and reread of 2017. The below review still holds completely true.
4/26/15
Neil Gaiman is pure fucking magic when it comes to writing.
I’m relatively new to his work, and I’m also pretty new to comics and graphic novels. So please feel free to take the following fangirl-gasming with a grain of salt. If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly freaking recommend you go to your library and start this, and soon. If this first Volume is any indication on what to expect from the future ones, then I know I’m in for one hell of a ride.
I don’t think I’ve read anything like this before. I love that every element of this story felt new and real and raw to me. It bewitched me. I’ve fallen hard for these worlds and characters, and I’m happy that I’ll be able to live in it for a little longer.
The art instantly drew me in to this comic. I loved the style, and I thought the artists did an incredible freaking job giving life to Gaiman’s characters and worlds.
Following Dream/Morpheus on his journey as he escaped a prison meant for his sister Death, was a really fascinating story, but it was only the beginning. There were so many other fantastical tales showing the evolution of Dream. The worlds were vast.
Some were familiar and some were strange and new to me, and I loved seeing Dream interact with the people/creatures/things in each of them. He’s Endless, and every story showed what he has done during his existence. The stories showed that he can be selfless and objective, and the stories showed that he can also be selfish and cruel. I enjoyed reading about all the different aspects of Dream.
Again, I highly, highly recommend reading this series!
Amazing, creative, chock-full of references to books, authors, comics and music, with unforgettable characters and an incredibly original storyline. And oh, the artwork! I've fallen in love with this series.