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60 reviews for:
Absolute Sandman, Volume Four
D'Israeli, Glyn Dillon, Michael Zulli, Marc Hempel, Neil Gaiman, Teddy Kristiansen, Jon J. Muth, Dean Ormston, Charles Vess, Richard Case, Kevin Nowlan
4.67 AVERAGE
60 reviews for:
Absolute Sandman, Volume Four
D'Israeli, Glyn Dillon, Michael Zulli, Marc Hempel, Neil Gaiman, Teddy Kristiansen, Jon J. Muth, Dean Ormston, Charles Vess, Richard Case, Kevin Nowlan
4.67 AVERAGE
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.
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.
Reading this continuously proves me, as I flip the pages, that Neil Gaiman is the greatest genius who ever walked this earth.
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.
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.
The story got a little harder to follow in this collection.
Perfect ending to the story. Pure genius, both the writing and the art.
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the world building but as before, didn't like the characters
It's Sandman, it's Gaiman, it's good to great throughout. Please see my previous reviews of 1-3 for more in depth reasoning. xD
Entertaining listen but so many different story lines, a little hard to get into one and then get dragged into another.
Didn't appreciate the Norse gods sounding Scottish.
Didn't appreciate the Norse gods sounding Scottish.