Synopsis
A collection of the Neil Gaiman's wildly popular dream-weaving series THE SANDMAN.
Based on a rich tapestry of myths both real and invented, the 75-issue SANDMAN comic book series is a modern classic. Its wide appeal made Neil Gaiman famous, increased the female audience for comic books, and inspired greater respect for the medium as a whole. This graphic novel collects issues #1-#8 of SANDMAN, reproducing the first major story arc in its entirety. In 1916, a powerful and wealthy English magician seeks to capture the personification of Death, believing that if he does so, neither he nor anyone else will have to die again. However, his spell ensnares Death's younger brother instead--Dream, who rules over all our dreams and nightmares. While Dream remains imprisoned for over 70 years, his absence is keenly felt, causing some people to remain forever asleep, others eternally awake, and some to be trapped between the two states. When he finally escapes, he must regain his tools of office, stolen during his captivity, a quest that takes him to London, to Hell, and then to the very depths of madness. It's an incredible but fairly disturbing journey, and neither the text nor the full-color art pulls any punches.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-08-01 | | Series: | Sandman (Graphic Novels) |
| Size | | Height: | 10.5 in | | Width: | 7.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
"Fancy unleashed on rags of moonlight....a top-flight fantasy collection."
Kirkus Reviews (07/01/1996)
This anthology features stories about The Sandman, DC Comics' best-selling adult graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. Clive Barker wrote the frontispiece (not seen), and singer Tori Amos contributed the afterword. The 18 mainstream writers expand and elaborate the Sandman mythos. Readers don't need a familiarity with the Sandman comic to appreciate these stories. Recommended for short story collections.
Breitman
Though he won the World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction in 1991, Gaiman is best known as the writer who transformed the WWII-era DC Comics character the Sandman from a Batman-style detective/vigilante into the much darker Morpheus, aka Dream, the being who presides over the realm of Dreaming. One of seven siblings who represent various states of consciousness Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Dream and Delirium Morpheus is head of the allegorical family called the Endless. Here, popular fantasy writers expand upon Gaiman's original concepts, with mixed results. Colin Greenland's bittersweet "Masquerade and High Water" and Barbara Hambly's "Each Damp Thing" provide insights into the backstage workings of the Endless. Tad Williams's "The Writer's Child" is a finely crafted story about loyalty and the value of innocence. Weak spots include George Alec Effinger's resurrection of a saccharine Little Nemo for "Seven Nights in Slumberland," Lisa Goldstein's bland "Stronger Than Desire" and B.W. Clough's vignette "The Birth Day." Susanna Clarke's "Stopp't-Clock Yard" and a lyrical meditation on Death by songwriter Tori Amos close the anthology on a strong note; a b&w drawing by Clive Barker opens it on a garish one. Though perhaps most interesting as an example of media-crossover, this collection presents some powerful writing about, and memorable images of, the other reality wherein we while away a third of our lives. (Aug.)
Lopate
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