qls's review

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5.0

honestly really moving end to the sandman series. gaiman is so gentle and generous and smart about death and dying, a book about mourning but also a book about embracing change and grief. very lovely. some really beautiful and graceful writing and some more interesting art as well.
perfect ending.

unladylike's review

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5.0

So I've finally been able to read the entire Sandman canon.

I rejoiced when the copy arrived on my reservation shelf at the public library only a month after being published. It was a year and a half ago that I realised what a beautiful and creative source of wisdom and inspiration a comic book could be. Wisdom that surpassed the majority of the texts and dialogues I witnessed in every ethics class of my philosophy curriculum. Stories and characters that inspire much more potential Halloween costumes or, gods forbid, a line of McFarlane action figures. That period of revelation came through reading [book: Absolute Sandman Vol. 1].

All that praise for Gaiman's writing to say this: One fifth of the way through this book and I am reminded by Glee and Insight on every page why I now devote so much time reading the great comic books.

When I turned to the table of contents I found that the majority of the 473 pages of stories was to be taken up by one enormous 13 part arc. That tip-off has helped me note a few delightful self-referential details:

The opening panel of Chapter 2 of the arc titled "The Kindly Ones" begins with the words "Well? How long is it going to take?" I imagine these words being spoken by Sandman editor Karen Berger.

Chapter 3 opens with a brilliantly silver literal and metaphorical yarn being pulled across the first three panels. The opening word bubble, sounding more like Neil Gaiman than the as-yet-unrevealed character speaking from off-page? "I think it's going to be bigger than I had planned." Hi-lar-ious.

Skipping a beat and picking the theme right back up at Chapter 5, we see the silhouettes of two veiled women in long gowns (two of the three Gorgons of Greek mythology). A spider dangles deliberately from its "web" across panel 1. Woman on the left says in an eerie monotone (as I imagine it), "It's happening. Very slowly. But it's happening." Woman on the right adds, "It always takes longer than you think, doesn't it?"

Obviously Gaiman has fun poking at the many-layered knot he has tied, daring us to foresee any possible way to untangle it all, this stack of sticky subplot on top of subplot, each doing a fantastic job of maintaining interest and advancing the overall story. Oh, how I've mixed my metaphors. Neil have mercy!

readmetwotimes's review against another edition

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4.0

Quando pensi che Sandman non possa essere migliore di quanto sia, sei smentito.
Altro giro, altro volume, altro regalo stupendo da parte di Gaiman.
Non so come hai fatto, ma sei un genio.

mazer_nickham's review

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4.0

Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 collects The Kindly Ones and The Wake. These last two collections are what did it for me and made me decide that I really like this series. They finally tie up some loose ends, some that had been in the air since Preludes and Nocturnes.

I did not dig the art in the Kindly Ones at first, but it grew on me. Although the artists switched throughout the series, the horror/gothic feel was kept pretty consistent. The sense of impending doom in the Kindly Ones is amazing. I had to read all 13 issues in one sitting to find out what happened.

The Wake also has noticeably different art, and it fit the feel of the trade very well. The reflective nature of these issues is illustrated well. The first half of the trade serves as a great epilogue to the series. The second half are a collection of unrelated stories, which I felt were an unfitting end. Sure, some of them foreshadowed future events and let us see more of Morpheus, but I would have preferred that the series end with the events of the wake. Call my tastes unrefined, but the Tempest did nothing for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the Sandman series quite a bit. It's not as dramatic and page-turning as say, Y the Last Man or Powers, but it was a great story.

I'm the author of a graphic novel blog; for more information on graphic novels including reviews, news and other insights, visit ALD Graphic Novels.

plnear's review

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5.0

Reading this continuously proves me, as I flip the pages, that Neil Gaiman is the greatest genius who ever walked this earth.

kerrifilippazzo's review

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4.0

I'm giving this volume only 4 stars and i've rated the Kindly Ones as 5, although The Kindly Ones is contained within this volume. I felt 'The Tempest', or the last issue, was misplaced. Compared to the content within this (almost) final volume, it fell short.

tumblehawk's review

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5.0

Eight years ago when my friend Bucket was moving away from NYC, he sold me all four humongous leather bound volumes of the remastered “Absolute” editions of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics. I had read all these comics in high school and been profoundly affected by them, to the point of weeping multiple times in the final issues of the 75-issue-long series. I decided to reread the whole series during quarantine and oh. my. god. I doubt I ever appreciated, as a teen, the absolute orchestral majesty of this series, how nearly every thread from every issue builds to the crescendo at the end. I was just so delighted every single time I cracked one of these huge tomes open, curled my knees up closer to my chest, and spread its colorful wonders across my thighs. Just one of the greatest worlds/mythos ever. I can’t wait to reread it all again someday.

canadajanes's review

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3.0

The story got a little harder to follow in this collection.

majestictrilobite's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dakkster's review

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5.0

Perfect ending to the story. Pure genius, both the writing and the art.