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Sandman

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Book Three contains issues #38-56, which includes the arcs “Brief Lives” and “World’s End,” plus the rest of the stand-alone short stories previously collected in “Fables and Reflections.” Book Three also includes Vertigo Preview #1. Morpheus, the King of Dreams, Lord of the Dreaming, Dream of the Endless, has been captured and is imprisoned for close to a century. The repurcussions of his capture and eventual escape are felt across generations of dreamers, and that makes up the crux of this story. But it is also much, MUCH more. As the story begins, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70-year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey, Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman. Book One collects The Sandman #1-20. This collection includes the 10 volumes that make up the original The Sandman comic series, along with the Endless Nights graphic novel, the Overture prequel miniseries, and both the prose and comic versions of The Dream Hunters.

Chris Bachalo is an artist whose body of comic book work covers a wide spectrum of genres; ranging from fantasy and science fiction to super hero and action-adventure. His work for DC Comics includes stints on the critically acclaimed Sandman series, Death: The High Cost of Living, and Shade: The Changing Man for DC’s Vertigo imprint as well as the creator-owned projects The Witching Hour, with co-creator Jeph Loeb, and Steampunk, with co-creator Joe Kelly. His other comic book work includes among others Wolverine & the X-Men, Captain America, and the quirky Generation X, which he co-created with Scott Lobdell for Marvel Comics. In addition to his comics work, Chris has provided artwork for publications such as MAD Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and Playstation Magazine, and for companies such as Activision, EA Games and Def Jam Records. Chris is a Canadian citizen and was born in Portage La Prairie, Canada. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife, Helen, his son, Dylan, and his Siamese fighting fish, Spike Four. Finally, Book Four finishes up the series with issues #57-75, collecting the arcs “The Kindly Ones” and “The Wake.” It also includes Vertigo Jam #1 and Dust Covers: The Collected Sandman Covers. If you have seen the Netflix series, the show covers the first two trades – Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House – along with two stories from Dream Country. So you still have plenty of comics to keep you busy while waiting for the second season to drop.

That’s a lot of comics, which is great if you’re someone who likes to buy an entire series in one go, or if you need to replace your much-loved and well-read copies. This Sandman collection would also make a nice gift for that special goth friend in your life. Image: The Sandman: Overture #6 by J.H. Williams III/DC Comics When Sandman is on point, which it usually is, it is some amazing storytelling, and some truly memorable and magnificent comics. When its not, it really got on my tits far more than I would have liked.

If you’ve never read the original The Sandman comics, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve at least heard about it. If you look up any of those guides for “ The Comics You Need Read“, there’s a pretty high chance that The Sandman will be on there, sitting alongside the likes of Watchmen and Maus. Dream, as he is so often called is essentially a good guy, but terribly flawed. He is unlike any of his other siblings who (while not all entirely pure at heart) may have already dealt with the travails that beset our titular Sandman. Dream is cold, apathetic towards others at times and removed from his own existence. He is a victim of his own doing and chained by the rules he wilfully abides by at his own peril. This makes his turmoil all the more relatable and real. Dream makes so many grave mistakes and causes himself more pain and suffering rectifying his misdeeds. This makes him all the more sympathetic. I absolutely and unabashedly saw a lot of my own reflection in Dream (almost like my own dark mirror of sorts). Which is why perhaps this story resonated with me so deeply in my soul. There are many reasons why this series is an amazing piece of art and I love it. First of all, the characters are amazing. Sandman is weirdly, at the same time, one of the most deep, complex and relatable characters. He's very moody and throughout the series, we see him multiple times dealing with depression and trying to find a way to distract himself and feel better. His problems are of cosmic importance, but somehow they are also very human problems, like dealing with a bad break up or arguing with relatives. Another interesting aspect of Sandman's personality is how much he follows the rules. That's not very important for the biggest part of the series, but it's very important in the 9th arc. In this arc, he has the opportunity to make things better by ignoring the rules, but he refuses to do so, leading to major consequences. Other than writing all these great characters, Neil also does an amazing job with the world building. He's able in this series to create multiple different "worlds" and he does so in a way that everyone of these "worlds" feels very unique but also familiar. I believe that world building is one of the most important aspects of writing a long series, especially when it's sci-fi. And while Sandman is definitely not sci-fi (at least not in a conventional way), it has many similarities with this genre. For me the best at world building is Brian K. Vaughan, but now, thanks to this series, Neil Gaiman is very close.

Centuries ago, one of the Endless gave up his duties and left his realm, never to be seen again. Now on a mission to find their missing sibling, Delirium and Dream encounter immortal humans and various deities as they try to locate the prodigal Destruction. But as their adventure draws Dream into a final, tragic confrontation with his son Orpheus, the eternal being learns the true meaning of fate and consequences. Neil Gaiman's epic continues in The Sandman Book Three, collecting issues #38-56 and a story from Vertigo Preview #1.

Next, Book Two comes with issues #21-37, which includes the arcs “Season on Mysts,” and “A Game of You,” plus some of the one-off tales originally found in “Fables and Reflections.” This collection also includes The Sandman Special #1 and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1-3. Each volume tells its own part of the story, and they are all wonderful in different ways. A throwaway comment or character will come brilliantly full circle volumes later, and all the story strands are intricately connected. I particularly loved Dream Country and The Kindly Ones. And The Doll's House. And Brief Lives. And all the other volumes...Other than Sandman himself, there are many other great characters like Death, Delirium, Matthew, Hob Gadling and more. It's honestly impressive how many, vastly different characters can Neil Gaiman create. Death and Delirium are both sisters of Sandman. Death is a very uplifting and happy person. She's the one closest to Sandman and she's always there for him, when he needs her. Delirium is one of the most unique characters I've ever seen in a story. She isn't crazy, but her mind is very chaotic. She acts like a child, but not in an annoying way. She's a very fun character most of the time, but some times, like everyone, she gets depressed and angry. Matthew was a human, but now he's a raven and he works for Sandman. Him and Hob Gadling (and maybe also Lucien) are the closest Sandman has to a friend. What I love about the relationship between Sandman and Matthew is that they both really care for each other and they can talk with honesty, without hiding anything. Sandman's relationship with Hob is a bit more complicated. Hob is hundreds of years old and for the longest, they've been meeting once every century. During the time of the series they meet again more often and it's obvious that they are very important to one another, because deep down, they truly understand each other. Ten thousand years ago, Morpheus condemned a woman who loved him to Hell. Now the other members of his immortal family, the Endless, have convinced the Dream King that this was an injustice. To make it right, Morpheus must return to Hell to rescue his banished love-and Hell's ruler, the fallen angel Lucifer, has already sworn to destroy him. Neil Gaiman's epic continues in The Sandman Book Two, collecting issues #21-37, The Sandman Special #1, and stories from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #1-3. Originally published in 1989, The Sandman is the series that launched co-creator and writer Neil Gaiman into superstar status, with the main comic and its spin-offs winning 26 Eisner Awards during their runs.

So yes, of course you should read Sandman. Everyone should, whether you read comics or not. I went in with pretty high hopes. It mostly met them, sometimes fell well short. Still bloody great though. Just don't watch the Netflix show. I'm calling it early, its gonna be shite. 4.25/5

These beautifully illustrated graphic novels would make the perfect gift for any fan of Gaiman's work or fans of the DC comic universe. The artists that helped shape this world into the visual masterpiece we see today are Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Kelley Jones, and so many more. Combined with Gaiman's writing, these creative minds have created a literary world beyond our imaginations.

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