(The Sandman #1)
Hardcover, 240 pages
English language
Published Nov. 30, 1998 by DC Comics.
Preludes and Nocturnes collects the first eight issues of The Sandman comic by Neil Gaiman published by DC Vertigo.
The series centers on Morpheus (Dream of the Endless). Dream is imprisoned for decades by an occultist seeking immortality.
Upon escaping, he must reclaim his objects of power while still in a weakened state, confronting an addict to his dream powder, the legions of Hell, and an all-powerful madman (Doctor Destiny) in the process.
I have read this when I was in highschool. Re-read it again in time for the Netflix series. I loved it more. It takes time, your may not like it at first but give it another try. It will be rewarding.
I've heard a lot about this series over the years, but I never actually read it. I gave it a try, and it didn't really catch me. It's probably too dark for my taste as it clearly has horror elements. I didn't like seeing people suffering because of the cruelty of deities, it's not really my thing. The art is beautiful, though.
After re-reading this some 20 years later, I must admit the magic has somewhat faded. As has my general interest in Gaiman's fiction, to be honest. It's not bad in any particular way - it's just... vague.
As a reader, I'm never really invited to share the specific rules that govern the dreamworld. Morpheus' powers seem to vary from God-like to human, providing small possibilities for me to assess the threats posed by humans, madmen or demons.
Agreed, the grapic novel(s) can be seen as a grand tour of hitherto unknown worlds and universes. As such it really is magnificent. But that might be something to bear in mind when reviewing the complete series. As a standalone volume, I cannot help but to give it the standard three stars.
Sorry 'bout that, Neil.
I love Neil Gaiman, I love graphic novels, so I definitely had to FINALLY check this out. And yes, I feel like as a graphic novel lover one should capitalise the finally when it comes to reading the Sandman volumes.
A group of occultists want to enslave Death and instead capture Dream, the Sandman. He is held in captivity for 70 years and his objects of power, a gemstone, a helmet and his pouch filled with sand end up distributed around the globe and the dreamworld gets thrown into chaos. When he escapes, he tries to restore the order.
I fell in love with this and can't wait to read the other volumes.
This is a black-and-white first volume of the first 20 issues of "The Sandman", an epic series written by Neil Gaiman.
Leslie S. Klinger has annotated this volume, and will annotate the rest as well. The annotations range from historical - e.g. information on William Shakespeare's name and the versions of it - to clerical, the arcane but foremost the explanative, i.e. sorting out everything that surrounds The Sandman canon, i.e. the characters, the places and places.
My first edition actually contained some misshapes, e.g. blackened annotations and huge smudges, but apart from that the binding is sublime. The fact that this book is in black-and-white - the original versions being in colour - just brings the annotations more to the front, in my eye.
Although Klinger's "annotated Sherlock Holmes" is much more interesting to me personally, especially considering its extreme depth, breadth and plethora, this book is definitely worth …
This is a black-and-white first volume of the first 20 issues of "The Sandman", an epic series written by Neil Gaiman.
Leslie S. Klinger has annotated this volume, and will annotate the rest as well. The annotations range from historical - e.g. information on William Shakespeare's name and the versions of it - to clerical, the arcane but foremost the explanative, i.e. sorting out everything that surrounds The Sandman canon, i.e. the characters, the places and places.
My first edition actually contained some misshapes, e.g. blackened annotations and huge smudges, but apart from that the binding is sublime. The fact that this book is in black-and-white - the original versions being in colour - just brings the annotations more to the front, in my eye.
Although Klinger's "annotated Sherlock Holmes" is much more interesting to me personally, especially considering its extreme depth, breadth and plethora, this book is definitely worth its money and I'm eagerly looking forward to the second volume.
