Incredible! I loved reading the Sandman books in their earlier incarnations, but this truly is a unique experience. I highly recommend the absolute sandman for anyone who has the love of the graphic novel (and the money), it makes the experience that much better! ( )

The second volume of The Absolute Sandman brings together issues twenty-one through thirty-nine of Neil Gaiman's famous Sandman comic series (the issues were first reprinted in the trade collections Seasons of Mists, A Game of You and Fables and Reflections) in addition to a wonderful array of extra materials. A new introduction, afterword, and section of contribute biographies are included along with those from the original trade collections. Other extras feature the merchandising and marketing efforts from the September 1991 "Sandman Month," the creation of the first Sandman collectible statue, and the script and pencils from issue twenty-three--the closing of Hell. The reprinting of the artwork collection The Sandman: Gallery of Dreams (more than thirty full-page works with Dream as the inspiration) is absolutely gorgeous and is probably my favorite addition to the volume.

Season of Mists is among my favorite story arcs in the entirety of the original Sandman comics. One of Gaiman's greatest skills lies in adapting and retelling traditional myths, legends, and histories to suit the needs of his story--all while adding his own concepts and creations to the mix. Seasons of Mists, which features many figures from world mythology, allows him all sorts of room to play around in this way. Gaiman's version of Lucifer Morningstar was even compelling enough to earn him his own comic series (Lucifer, written by Mike Carey).

The other major story arc in this volume, A Game of You, has never really been a fan favorite. But, at least according to Gaiman's afterword, it was his "favorite of the Sandman storylines, perhaps because it didn't seem to be anyone else's favorite." I don't find it to be as horrible as many people seem to make it out and am quite fond of some the the characters, particularly Wanda. The volume is filled out by several shorter, one-shot stories that tend to focus on historical figures and events. Although it wasn't technically a part of the Sandman comics, "The Flowers of Romance," featuring Dream's sibling Desire and originally published in the first issue of Vertigo: Winter's Edge, can be found among the extra materials and makes a magnificent addition for the art alone if nothing else.

One of the advantages of DC Comic's Absolute editions is that the pages are physically larger, allowing the artwork and lettering to be seen in more detail. In some instances the coloring is either restored or otherwise reworked to better represent the artist' original intent and vision. Not every issue gets this treatment. Unfortunately, this means that some of the shadowing techniques that work adequately well for the original issues don't carry over as nicely to the larger format. This can actually be rather distracting and I'm somewhat surprised that the affected panels remained untouched. Overall though, the artwork is good and I enjoy the various moods and interpretations that the different artists bring to the series.

The Absolute Sandman is definitely the best edition of Sandman currently available. The second volume more than lives up to the precedent set by the first one. By this point in the comic, the series is really coming into its own. Not as much effort is put into tying the comic to the rest of the DC Universe, which allows it to be more itself (that's not to say the DC connections aren't there--they just aren't as blatant). Fans looking into purchasing the entire series should really consider the magnificent, albeit pricey, Absolute editions--so far, the presentation, production, and extra materials have been worth it.

Issues included: "Seasons of Mists: A Prologue"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter One"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Two"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Three"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Four"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Five"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Six"; "Seasons of Mists: Epilogue"; "Distant Mirrors: Thermidor"; "Distant Mirrors: August"; "Distant Mirrors: Three Septembers and a January"; "A Game of You, Chapter One: Slaughter on Fifth Avenue"; "A Game of You, Chapter Two: Lullabies of Broadway"; "A Game of You, Chapter Three: Bad Moon Rising"; "A Game of You, Chapter Four: Beginning to See the Light"; "A Game of You, Chapter Five: Over the Sea to Sky"; "A Game of You, Chapter Six: I Woke Up and One of Us Was Crying"; "Convergence: The Hunt"; "Convergence: Soft Places"

Experiments in Reading ( )

From my booklog:

Wow. I loved the first volume, and I loved the second even more. This is pretty much the same setup as the first volume, though apparently the colors weren't fixed as much, if at all. Still, I like it. Great art, great stories (including a long, complicated, political tale about what happens when Lucifer closes up Hell, kicks out all the demons and damned souls, and gives Dream the key), and an interesting look behind the scenes at Neil's script (with lots of comments about what things look like -- interesting reading) with the associated sketches from the artist. ( )

Summary: Volume 2 of the Absolute Sandman collection includes issues #21-39 of the original Sandman comics, enlarged and re-inked, as well as reprints of some miscellaneous Sandman-related things, including afterwords and contributer notes from the original trade paperback compilations, the story “The Flowers of Romance” featuring Dream’s sister Desire, some merchandising from the first Sandman month, a collection of Sandman-inspired artwork from a variety of artists, and the original script and sketches from issue #23.

The bulk of the book is taken up by two main story arcs - “Season of Mists”, in which Lucifer decides to close down Hell, and give the key to Morpheus, who is then immediately set upon by delegates from a variety of factions, all wanting to claim Hell for themselves; and “A Game of You”, in which Barbie (first introduced in “A Doll’s House”) is being pursued by a creature called The Cuckoo, and must go into her childhood Dreaming to save her friends there… while in the real world, her friends and neighbors are doing what they can to protect her. In addition to these two main arcs, there are also five single-issue stories (labelled as “Distant Mirrors” and “Convergence”), which take place in the French Revolution, ancient Rome, 1800s San Francisco, a desert in China, and eastern Europe, and encompass Robspierre, Orpheus, Augustus Caesar, the only Emperor of America, Marco Polo, gypsies, Baba Yaga and werewolves.

Review: Oh. I get it now.

What, you want more? Well, okay. Whereas the first volume of the Sandman collection interested me but didn’t bowl me over, this one drew me in, rolled me around in a stew of mythology and pathos and poignancy, and spat me out a Fan. (Maybe not enough of a Fan to drop the several hundred dollars to get a full set of them for my own, but a Fan nevertheless.)

The Season of Mists was a great, layered story, drawing on more mythologies than I can count. Read into this what you will, but I think the story of Lucifer is one of the more fascinating parts of Judeo-Christian mythology, and Gaiman delivers a doozy of a story here. The idea of the devil being tired of hell is not particularly a new idea, but the direction Gaiman takes it in this arc is incredible. A Game of You is different, existing in a new and unique metaphysical space - one which I’m still not sure I’ve got my head entirely around - but filling it with a moving story and a horde of outlandish but immediately recognizable and sympathetic characters.

While I really enjoyed both of the main story arcs, I really loved the stand-alone stories. They’re Sandman stories only tangentially - Morpheus moves through most of them only at the periphery. But still Gaiman pulls elements from across the world and throughout history, and makes each of them into a hauntingly moving story, which can be enjoyed on a superficial level, but simultaneously gets deeper the more you examine it. “Haunting” is good word for the collection as a whole - it has certainly set its hooks into my psyche. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: With the stories in this collection, Gaiman achieves the depth for which the earlier Sandman stories were grasping. I wouldn’t recommend reading them out of order, but for anyone ambivalent after Volume 1: It gets better. Much better. Keep going. ( )

I often find my self thinking of Breschau of Livonia at the oddest of times. ( )