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Title | Preludes and Nocturnes
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2018
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First Printing | 1989
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Title | The Doll's House
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Steve Parkhouse
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2018
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First Printing | 1990
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Title | Dream Country
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Kelley JOnes, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2018
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First Printing | 1991
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Title | Season of the Mists
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, P. Craig Russell
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2018
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First Printing | 1993
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Title | A Game of You
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, Stan Woch
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2018
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First Printing | 1993
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Title | Fables & Reflections
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Bryan Talbo, Stan Woch, P. Craig Russell, Shawn McManus, John Watkiss, Jill Thompson, Duncan Eagleson, Kent Williams
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 1990
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Title | Brief Lives
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Jill Thompson, Vince Locke
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 1994
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Title | World's End
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Bryan Talbo, Alec Stevens, John Watkiss, Michael Allred, Shea Anton Pensa, Gary Amaro
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 1995
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Title | The Kindly Ones
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston, Kevin Nowlan
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 1995
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Title | The Wake
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Michael Zulli, Jon J Muth, Charles Vess
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 1996
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Title | Endless Nights
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Glen Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, Barron Storey
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | 2003
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Title | The Sandman: Overture
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | J.H. Williams III & Dave Stewart
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2015
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First Printing | 2013 - 2015
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Title | The Sandman: King of Dreams
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Author | Alisa Kwitney
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Illustrator | ---
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Publisher | Chronicle Books - 2003
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First Printing | Chronicle Books - 2003
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Title | Sandman: Midnight Theatre
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | ---
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Publisher | ---
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First Printing | ---
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Title | The Song of Orpheus
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | ---
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Publisher | ---
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First Printing | ---
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Title | Book of Dreams
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | ---
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Publisher | ---
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First Printing | ---
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Title | Gallery of Dreams
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | ---
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Publisher | ---
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First Printing | ---
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Title | The Dream Hunters
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Yoshitaka Amano
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Publisher | Vertigo - 1999
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First Printing | Vertigo - 1999
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Title | The Dream Hunters
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Craig Russell
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2019
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First Printing | Vertigo - 2008
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Title | Death
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Author | Neil Gaiman
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Illustrator | Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham, Michael Dringenberg, P. Craig Russell, Malcolm Jones III, Colleen Doran, Dave McKean
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2014
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First Printing | Vertigo - 2012
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Title | At Death's Door
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Author | Jill Thompson
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Illustrator | Jill Thompson
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Publisher | Vertigo - 2003
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First Printing | Vertigo - 2003
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Category | Graphic Novel
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Warnings | Adult Content (rape, torture, insanity, etc)
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Main Characters | Morpheus (Dream), Death, Desire, Destiny, Despair, Delirium, Destruction
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Main Elements | Gods
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Website | ---
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Preludes and Nocturnes
Neil Gaiman's seminal series, THE SANDMAN, celebrates its 30th anniversary with an all-new edition of THE SANDMAN VOL. 1: PRELUDES & NOCTURNES!
New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series THE SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision.
In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, 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.
This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death.
Collects THE SANDMAN #1-8.
The Doll's House
The second installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal series, THE SANDMAN VOL. 2: THE DOLL'S HOUSE, celebrates its 30th anniversary with all all-new edition!
New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision.
During Morpheus's incarceration, three dreams escaped the Dreaming and are now loose in the waking world. At the same time, a young woman named Rose Walker is searching for her little brother. As their stories converge, a vortex is discovered that could destroy all dreamers, and the world itself.
Collects THE SANDMAN #9-16
Dream Country
From the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author Neil Gaiman
One of the most popular and critically acclaimed graphic novels of all time, Neil Gaiman’s award-winning masterpiece The Sandman set the standard for mature, lyrical fantasy in the modern comics era. Illustrated by an exemplary selection of the medium’s most gifted artists, the series is a rich blend of modern and ancient mythology in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven.
Four unique episodes form the tapestry of Dream Country: “Calliope,” “A Dream of a Thousand Cats,” “Façade,” and the acclaimed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”—the only comic book story ever to win the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction. Also included is Gaiman’s original script for “Calliope,” with annotations from both the writer and the artist. Collects The Sandman #17-20.
Season of Mists
The fourth installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal series, THE SANDMAN VOL. 4: SEASON OF MISTS, celebrates its 30th anniversary with all all-new edition!
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.
Collects THE SANDMAN #21-28.
A Game of You
The fifth installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal, New York Times best-selling series, The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You, celebrates its 30th anniversary with an all-new edition, featuring a new cover from artist Dave McKean!
Volume Five of New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's acclaimed creation The Sandman collects one of the series' most beloved storylines.
Take an apartment house, add in a drag queen, a lesbian couple, some talking animals, a talking severed head, a confused heroine and the deadly Cuckoo. Stir vigorously with a hurricane and Morpheus himself and you get this fifth installment of The Sandman series. This story stars Barbie, who first makes an appearance in The Doll's House and now finds herself a princess in a vivid dreamworld.
Collects The Sandman #32-37.
Fables & Reflections
The sixth installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal, New York Times best-selling series, The Sandman Vol. 6: Fables & Reflections, celebrates its 30th anniversary with an all-new edition, featuring a new cover from artist Dave McKean!
The critically acclaimed The Sandman: Fables and Reflections continues the fantastical epic of Morpheus, the King of Dreams, as he observes and interacts with an odd assortment of historical and fictional characters throughout time. Featuring tales of kings, explorers, spies and werewolves, this book of myth and imagination delves into the dark dreams of Augustus Caesar, Marco Polo, Cain and Abel, Norton I and Orpheus to illustrate the effects that these subconscious musings have had on the course of history and mankind.
Collects The Sandman #29-31, #38-40, #50 and Sandman Special #1.
Brief Lives
The seventh installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal, New York Times best-selling series, The Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives, celebrates its 30th anniversary with an all-new edition, featuring a new cover from artist Dave McKean!
Older and more powerful than the gods themselves, the Endless are a dysfunctional family of cosmic beings who have ruled over the realms of dream, desire, despair, destiny, destruction, death and delirium since the beginning of time. But 300 years ago, one of the mythical beings gave up his duties and left his realm, never to be seen again. Now on a mission to find their missing sibling, Delirium and older brother 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.
Collects The Sandman #41-49.
World's End
The eighth installment of Neil Gaiman's seminal, New York Times best-selling series, The Sandman Vol. 8: Worlds' End, celebrates its 30th anniversary with an all-new edition, featuring a new cover from artist Dave McKean!
Reminiscent of the legendary Canterbury Tales, The Sandman: Worlds' End is a wonderful potpourri of engrossing tales and masterful storytelling. Improbably caught in a June blizzard, two wayward compatriots stumble upon a mysterious inn and learn that they are in the middle of a "reality storm." Now surrounded by a menagerie of people and creatures from different times and realities, the two stranded travelers are entertained by mesmerizing myths of infamous sea creatures, dreaming cities, ancient kings, astonishing funeral rituals and moralistic hangmen.
Collects The Sandman #51-56.
The Kindly Ones
The Kindly Ones have many names: The Erinyes. The Eumenides. The Dirae. The Furies. Agents of vengeance, implacable and unstoppable, they do not rest until the crimes they seek to punish are washed clean with blood. It is to them that Lyta Hall turns when her baby Daniel is taken from her, and it is Dream of the Endless who becomes their target. But behind a mother's grief and unyielding rage, there are darker forces at work, and what they set in motion will eventually demand a sacrifice greater than any of the Dreaming has yet known.
The Wake
In The Wake, ancient gods, old friends, and enemies alike gather to pay tribute to the fallen King of Dreams, bringing to a close the long story of Morpheus of the Endless. In the aftermath, echoes of Morpheus reverberate, touching a man who refuses to die, a Chinese sage lost in a desert of dreams and an aging William Shakespeare, who must fulfill one last obligation to the Sandman in his own twilight years.
The Endless
Endless Nights returns to the realm of the Dreaming with seven remarkable stories - one for each member of the otherwordly Endless family - illustrated by an international roster of artists drawn from the ranks of comics' greatest talents. By turns haunting, bittersweet, erotic and nightmarish, these provocative tales range across space and time to reveal strange secrets and surprising truths about the immortal siblings Death, Desire, Dream, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.
The Sandman: Overture
"Soon enough, the mind that is the universe will cease to think, and all things will cease to be."
"This is none of my affair, Glory. Stars flare and fall. People live and they die. One day even the Endless will come to an end. In the meantime, I have responsibilities."
"It is none of your affair, Dream Lord? Perhaps not. It may not even be your responsibility.
"But it is your fault."
The Sandman: King of Dreams
The first and only comic book to receive the World Fantasy Award, The Sandman continues to break new ground in the comic book medium and beyond. Author Alisa Kwitney explores its beginnings and chronicles the comic's emergence as a unique and undeniable force in the literary world. Richly illustrated, this history shows how Gaiman and The Sandman's gifted artists, such as Dave McKean and Yoshitaka Amano, create a haunting (and haunted) main character who wields immense power. With illustrations never before published, behind-the-scenes stories, handwritten notes, and interviews with Gaiman himself, this volume is a true testament to the dream king and his creator.
The Dream Hunters
Sandman fans should feel lucky that master fantasy writer Neil Gaiman discovered the mythical world of Japanese fables while researching his translation of Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke. At the same time, while preparing for the Sandman 10th anniversary, he met Yoshitaka Amano, his artist for the 11th Sandman book. Amano is the famed designer of the Final Fantasy game series. The product of Gaiman's immersion in Japanese art, culture, and history, Sandman: Dream Hunters is a classic Japanese tale (adapted from "The Fox, the Monk, and the Mikado of All Night's Dreaming") that he has subtly morphed into his Sandman universe.
Like most fables, the story begins with a wager between two jealous animals, a fox and a badger: which of them can drive a young monk from his solitary temple? The winner will make the temple into a new fox or badger home. But as the fox adopts the form of a woman to woo the monk from his hermitage, she falls in love with him. Meanwhile, in far away Kyoto, the wealthy Master of Yin-Yang, the onmyoji, is plagued by his fears and seeks tranquility in his command of sorcery. He learns of the monk and his inner peace; he dispatches demons to plague the monk in his dreams and eventually kill him to bring his peace to the onmyoji. The fox overhears the demons on their way to the monk and begins her struggle to save the man whom at first she so envied.
Dream Hunters is a beautiful package. From the ink-brush painted endpapers to the luminous page layouts--including Amano's gate-fold painting of Morpheus in a sea of reds, oranges, and violets--this book has been crafted for a sensuous reading experience. Gaiman has developed as a prose stylist in the last several years with novels and stories such as Neverwhere and Stardust, and his narrative rings with a sense of timelessness and magic that gently sustains this adult fairy tale. The only disappointment here is that the book is so brief. One could imagine this creative team being even better suited to a longer story of more epic proportions. On the final page of Dream Hunters, in fact, Amano suggest that he will collaborate further with Mr. Gaiman in the future. Readers of Dream Hunters will hope that Amano's dream comes true. --Patrick O'Kelley
The Dream Hunters
THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS is a comics adaptation of Gaiman's original prose novella by the same name illustrated by Yoshitako Amano. This graphic novel was illustrated by the legendary P. Craig Russell. A humble young monk and a magical, shape-changing fox find themselves romantically drawn together. As their love blooms, the fox learns of a devilish plot by a group of demons and a Japanese emperor to steal the monk's life. With the aid of Morpheus, the fox must use all of her cunning and creative thinking to foil this evil scheme and save the man that she loves.
Death
From the pages of Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN comes fan-favorite character Death in a new deluxe hardcover edition collecting her solo adventures!The first story introduces the young, pale, perky, and genuinely likable Death. One day in every century, Death walks the Earth to better understand those to whom she will be the final visitor. Today is that day. As a young mortal girl named Didi, Death befriends a teenager and helps a 250-year old homeless woman find her missing heart. What follows is a sincere musing on love, life and (of course) death.
In the second story, a rising star of the music world wrestles with revealing her true sexual orientation just as her lover is lured into the realm of Death that Death herself should make an appearance. A practical, honest, and intelligent story that illuminates "the miracle of death."
This new hardcover collects the DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING and DEATH: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE miniseries, a must have for any fan.
At Death's Door
It's the party from hell - literally - at Death's door.
Everyone's favourite Goth girl, Death, practically gets pushed out of her own realm when sisters Delirium and Despair throw a wild party for the dead. It all starts when Lucifer Morningstar abdicates his throne - leaving the Key to Hell with Death's brother, Dream. As the reluctant Sandman contemplates what to do, hell's nastiest denizens are free to evacuate the premises. Unfortunately for Death, they end up in her apartment. It's up to Death to save the day and the afterlife - not to mention the carpet.
Written and illustrated by Eisner Award winner and Sandman fan-favorite artist Jill Thompson, this digest also features a special sketchbook section and an introduction to the character and the ten-volume Sandman library.
I'd heard a lot about this comic book series so when I saw my library coming up with these 30th anniversary editions seemed the right time to jump in.
My initial reaction to the first book is that it was more comic book than graphic novel, I hadn't expected that, but apparently The Sandman was a "superhero" character (and he runs into other characters like Constantine or the Justice League). In fact I looked up the original Sandman from the 1930's, turns out he's just a rich guy who runs around with a gas gun to fight crime and wears a gas mask to avoid being affected by his own weapon. But Gaiman turned it all around rather than have a superhero we have an actual divine being which I loved, it's why I'm reading it since Gaiman can do magic with mythology.
My second reaction is that this series is dark, in fact it's horror. There is a lot of rape. And torture. Blood, murder and madness fill these pages, not every story but even in the "safe" stories you can see that Morpheus isn't so much helping the people around him but amusing himself. Batman may be morose but Morpheus is...well...not human. He's not even really a god, he's an abstract concept given form. Let's just say if you have any triggers of any sort, you'll have to avoid this series. After all there is one scene in the first book where a madman gains control over the minds of a group of people in the diner and has them perform for his pleasure - sex, violence, torture, and in the end they all end up dead...it was a disturbing thing to read (and along comes Morpheus and frankly, he didn't care about those mere mortals, he just wanted his stuff back).
But Gaiman is a master at what he does, and of course the mythology that he weaves into it (we visit Lucifer in Hell, we see a muse kept captive, etc) kept me reading. While it started as a superhero book, it grew into something more, as if one took the darkest of human mythologies and wove a tale told with pictures. I've not read other DC/Marvel comic books but I can see why this series stands out as something different, and still remains as one of the best ever. There is humour, there is horror. If you've read American Gods you can see some of that in these graphic novels too.
Some of the collections, such as Preludes and Nocturnes, is one storyline spread across multiple issues. Others, like Dream Country, each story is standalone.
And of course, there are the other Endless. See, they aren't gods. Gods need to be worshipped or they fade away. But Death, Dream, and the others simply *are*. As Death explains, she was there when life first emerged in the universe and will remain till the last living creatures dies, she could be talking to you now, but she could also be a galaxy far far away as some alien being passes. And talking of Death...she's an awesome character, a perky goth punk girl who is Morpheus' older sister (I love the fact she's older than him, which makes sense as the first bacteria would die but probably not dream, but a cute as she comes off, she's also perhaps the deepest character in the series). She's not evil, she doesn't cause death, she's simply there when it happens. Morpheus on the other hand is a bit more of an anti-hero, capable of compassion but also with a tendency to be cold or cruel.
The artwork, being by different artists, varies slightly from book to book. But then if Morpheus can take the form of a cat he can certainly change his hairstyle. And his word bubbles, white on black with dripping outlines make the sound of his voice a visual thing on the page.
For what it's worth, I forwards by various people (most of which I'd heard of, even authors I've read and respected) were nearly as amazing to read as the books themselves. Stephen Erikson's story about his father passing away and then dreaming about meeting him again, only to have his father tell him it's not a dream inside his dream, reminds us how little we really understand about our dreams and what really causes them. Are they just our brains sorting through the junk it collected during the day, or maybe, just maybe, could it be something more? And yes...if you read this just before you go to bed you may indeed dream of it, I did...
Finally, the covers of these editions, come straight from your most disturbing nightmares, eerie, creepy and dark but hard to pull your eyes away as the...things...stare right back at you.
October 2019
While reading the 30th anniversary editions I was perusing my library when I found The Dream Hunters, which wasn't even listed in Goodreads under the Sandman series. But the moment I saw the artist was Yoshitaka Amano, I knew it was a pairing made in...well maybe not Heaven but certainly in Dream. Make sure to read the notes at the end, the similarities between Gaiman's imagined Sandman world and this ancient tale are downright eerie.
December 2019
I'm not sure if there are going to be more 30th anniversary editions after World's End, so I skipped ahead to Overtures. While it is intended to take place before Preludes and Nocturnes, it definitely should be read after the other books (in fact I hit one character I was supposed to know but didn't). It explains how it was so easy for Morpheus to be captured in Preludes and also in some ways, creates the world as we came to know it, while at the same time, not being an origin story. I think this is my favorite of the books. The artwork was mind bending, amazing imagery, different styles, and at times interactive (you have to rotate the book to get the full effect). I read it all in one evening, and was certain that after all that I would be dreaming of what I read. So while I wasn't entirely certain I was going to love the series with Preludes and Nocturnes, the series moved more and more away from a "superhero comic book with rape and torture and insanity" to what is truly a epic graphic fantasy novel of a modern mythology. And with Gaiman telling the tale, you know it must be lyrical, filled with gods and demons, humour and tragedy, beauty and horror. And one really messed up Endless family!
May 2021
COVID prevented my from going to the library to read the rest of the series and as time passed I decided I enjoyed the series enough I wanted to have a copy of my own so got the box set, as well as the Death issue. I started in with Death first, she is by far one of my favorite envisionings of Death, one would expect a being that is dark and scary and kind of cruel but Neil Gaiman's Death is a cute and perky little goth girl, I absolutely adore her. And while the tales can be sad (we are talking about death here) she provides a positive spin to things. Hopefully when I go one day, I'll find someone/thing like this on the other side waiting me to guide me along, may we all be so fortunately. Now a couple of the stories I'd already read in the regular Sandman series but most were new but they still drew on characters we encountered in the main Sandman novels. And if you ever wondered what it would be like to be Death? I mean nobody likes you, they try to avoid you as much as possible, kind of depressing, but then if you don't do your job and nothing dies, it's not so great either. So you just go ahead and decide to be happy, you like everyone (even the creepy people because they aren't creepy when you see them from the inside) and one day out of every one hundred years you can walk among the living and be reminded what life is like. Death was there at the start and will be the last to shut things down at the end, and its not just us humans, she handles birds and animals and some aliens on a planet next to sun going nova.
Now to peel of the plastic wrapping on my box set, I think I'll start over from beginning before getting to the ones I haven't read yet...
September 2021
You know what, though I love Amano's work, I think I like Russell's adaptation of The Dream Hunters better. It's got a lovely Asian influence but you can tell he was also inspired by Disney animation, making the fox so cute and adorable. Of course you can't tell by the cover image I've included since that's by Dave McKean. Also as this is not an illustrated short story but a comic, there are parts of the text that are left out and told only in pictures, in some cases a couple of pages will pass without a single word written. But still, very hard to pick between the two. BTW, we find out in this one that Gaiman invented the fact that he found a Japanese tale that wove in characters of his own world, though I was a bit disappointed by that it did make me laugh that he tricked his readers that way. Glad I never got around to trying to find the original source!
October 2021
I took my time with the Kindly Ones, because in some ways it is the last one. Yes, there are others to follow like Wake and Overture, but this is the one where all the others storylines come together. I didn't make a checklist, but if not all, then the vast majority, of all the other characters we met along the way will make an appearance, as the Fates weave their thread of life literally through the panels of the novel. We see Lucifer in his Luxe nightclub, Matthew wondering about the ravens that came before him and what that means for his future, the Corinthian is reincarnated, and someone kills Abel and it wasn't Cain. And Morpheus has shed family blood, and that is all the excuse the Furies need, even if it was a boon requested by the one that died. The Endless are maybe not as immortal as they seem, or are they? The more I read of this series, the more complex and deep it is, with multiple storylines touching many lives. I wish there were more than just a couple more left to go, don't think I could ever get bored.
November 2021
The Wake is a poignant wrap up of the series, touching on virtually every character that graced the pages of Gaiman's opus. The Endless was something Gaiman put together after finding artists who he wanted to work with to tell a story about each one of Dream's unusual family. I must admit the young Sol made me laugh so hard, and the Despair one was done in such an interesting way, that I didn't...well end up despairing, though dark and disturbing it was.
Unfortunately those remaining tales are hard to track down, unless maybe one starts hunting through used bookstores, but while I'll be denied those for a while, there are other paths to follow in the Sandman Universe, starting with the three collections in The Dreaming.
December 2021
My library had a copy of The Sandman: King of Dreams, a companion book that recaps each of the books in the Sandman series. It was interesting to read the additional info around the writing of the series, but there wasn't really that much extra info, in fact a good portion of the book was dedicated to reprinting pages from the series, so it didn't add much to those who already love the series. And as an introduction to the series, I think it had too many spoilers as well as references that would be otherwise obsure if you hadn't previously read the series. So it was nice as a kind of recap, at the end of the year, to revisit the series I'd read throughout, but glad I borrowed it from the library rather than buying it. I guess as one reviewer on Goodreads wrote - "but if I wanted a picture book of Sandman I'd just go to my bookshelf and well...read the damn thing."
And then I found At Death's Door on OpenLibrary. Jill Thompson takes a moment in time from the original series, when Lucifer closes Hell and lets all the residents loose, and does it from a different point of view. See all the dead are now wandering free and don't know what to do with themselves so they are all attracted to, well, Death. Who then has to get Delirium and Despair to help out as her apartment fills with confused and bored dead people who start trashing the place. Done in a manga type style, I found the whole thing kind of silly, and doesn't really add to the overall series. Though I did crack a smile watching Despair discover that she had a secret admirer...Edgar Allan Poe. Seeing as Poe also shows up in a series of comics based on a young Lovecraft, I found this extra hilarious. Poor guy, the poster child for depression and despair.
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