Scan barcode
A review by fipah
The Sandman: Overture: The Deluxe Edition by Neil Gaiman
3.0
3 stars = this is SO hard to rate. (Available at the Czech Municipal Library www.mlp.cz)
Oh.
I mean the artwork, the WORK, the detail, the concepts, the everything is very complex and deserving of praise. It is Sandman after all.
Petty-ish note: This is digital drawing and coluring. Personally, every comic that is hand-drawn like the short story on Desire (colour pencil) or Dream (watercolour) in [b:The Sandman: Endless Nights|47720|The Sandman Endless Nights (The Sandman)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327948224l/47720._SX50_.jpg|460092] is a huge win for me. I just cannot connect as much to digital drawing. I know. This instantly erases like 99% of comics. I know. Anyway, not lowering my rating because of this, I am just expressing my sad unrequited love for hand-drawn comics. And my longing for more Sandman hand-drawn beauty.
Okay, well, this is the deal – when the focus in the Sandman series is Dream himself, I often find the stories too pathetic, affected and pompous.
Like the dialogue is so pathetic, overly poetic and heroic while being super vague most of the time. (The reason for me also sure is I-super-do-not-care about Dream, but that's secondary). I feel Sandman excels with shorter stories centered around anyone *but* Dream – like Death in general, or Desire in the ineffable [b:The Sandman: Endless Nights|47720|The Sandman Endless Nights (The Sandman)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327948224l/47720._SX50_.jpg|460092] and, of course, the woman from Façade, the final short story of [b:Dream Country|25100|Dream Country (The Sandman, #3)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402485052l/25100._SY75_.jpg|2371237] (Sandman book #4).
And BTW, here comes a more serious semi-petty-ish note:
WHY do the Endless have parents??? Like I remember critics praising the series for not making the Endless too human, yet I feel this does not make sense. Also Dream very much is too anthropomorphic with his pathetic relationships and longing for love or reigning in his castle.
Anyway, let's go back to the pathetic vagueness. Well, the plot can be spoiler-free summarised as:
Most of the time, I felt I had no idea what was happening, I felt like I was just reading words that made little sense or provided little context. The premise, the main conflict, felt too pathetic and was just... said. Not shown.
But then the epilogue felt rewarding (because, surprise, surprise, it was not centered around Dream), but it was not enough – it would have worked if this was a shorter story
But overall, again, the work that went into this = stunning. It *is* Sandman, sure. I am expecting die-hard fans to rip me into shreds. But all in all, I am happy about the experience, yet I can't erase the feeling this could have done without the pathetic vagueness that no longer is artsy-interesting as it can't stand on its feet and provide a stronger premise and a foundation.
Oh.
I mean the artwork, the WORK, the detail, the concepts, the everything is very complex and deserving of praise. It is Sandman after all.
Petty-ish note: This is digital drawing and coluring. Personally, every comic that is hand-drawn like the short story on Desire (colour pencil) or Dream (watercolour) in [b:The Sandman: Endless Nights|47720|The Sandman Endless Nights (The Sandman)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327948224l/47720._SX50_.jpg|460092] is a huge win for me. I just cannot connect as much to digital drawing. I know. This instantly erases like 99% of comics. I know. Anyway, not lowering my rating because of this, I am just expressing my sad unrequited love for hand-drawn comics. And my longing for more Sandman hand-drawn beauty.
Okay, well, this is the deal – when the focus in the Sandman series is Dream himself, I often find the stories too pathetic, affected and pompous.
Like the dialogue is so pathetic, overly poetic and heroic while being super vague most of the time. (The reason for me also sure is I-super-do-not-care about Dream, but that's secondary). I feel Sandman excels with shorter stories centered around anyone *but* Dream – like Death in general, or Desire in the ineffable [b:The Sandman: Endless Nights|47720|The Sandman Endless Nights (The Sandman)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327948224l/47720._SX50_.jpg|460092] and, of course, the woman from Façade, the final short story of [b:Dream Country|25100|Dream Country (The Sandman, #3)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402485052l/25100._SY75_.jpg|2371237] (Sandman book #4).
And BTW, here comes a more serious semi-petty-ish note:
WHY do the Endless have parents??? Like I remember critics praising the series for not making the Endless too human, yet I feel this does not make sense. Also Dream very much is too anthropomorphic with his pathetic relationships and longing for love or reigning in his castle.
– And WHY if their bodily manifestations are a representation of how races might perceive the Endless, are they GENDERED??? And always with the same human binary gender?
Anyway, let's go back to the pathetic vagueness. Well, the plot can be spoiler-free summarised as:
- Our characters with Dream being the protagonist go or appear somewhere (several times) while maintaining a vague, supposedly deep yet pathetic conversation.
- They reach their destination.
- They do almost nothing, but they have some more vague dialogue.
- Monumental events ensue.
- The end.
Most of the time, I felt I had no idea what was happening, I felt like I was just reading words that made little sense or provided little context. The premise, the main conflict, felt too pathetic and was just... said. Not shown.
But then the epilogue felt rewarding (because, surprise, surprise, it was not centered around Dream), but it was not enough – it would have worked if this was a shorter story
But overall, again, the work that went into this = stunning. It *is* Sandman, sure. I am expecting die-hard fans to rip me into shreds. But all in all, I am happy about the experience, yet I can't erase the feeling this could have done without the pathetic vagueness that no longer is artsy-interesting as it can't stand on its feet and provide a stronger premise and a foundation.