Season of Mists (The Sandman, Vol. 4) (edition 1994)

This collection of Sandman comics follows a single storyline. Morpheus, urged on by his sister Death at a family reunion, embarks on a journey to Hell in order to release Nada, a woman he had once loved and then banished there. When he reaches Hell, he meets Lucifer who declares that he is abandoning Hell, releasing all its inhabitants, and passing the keys into the care of Morpheus. Morpheus must then contend with the various gods who all stake a claim to the property.

There were many things I loved about this collection: the cohesion of the volume, the bringing together of gods and myths from around the world, the revelation that Morpheus has a conscience, the wonderful portrayal of Lucifer, and finally, the recurring theme that the inhabitants of hell choose to be there. My favourite story was "Charles Rowland Concludes his Education", which seemed to me at first to be a standalone story but actually fits in well with the rest of the collection. ( )

An Endless family meeting descends quickly into accusation and argument, yet serves its purpose to make Dream rethink his actions and free his former lover from hell. Hell where Lucifer is waiting and has sworn revenge.

The slow unfurling universe of the Sandman universe takes centre stage, spinning to take in to unusual and unexpected directions, scattering pure gems of self contained shorts. This is why think this volume showcase the delights of Sandman so well, even if it’s not my favourite it's a wonderful story with its grab bag of myths and wonderful short story "Charles Rowland Concludes His Education". Sadly whilst the arts better the colouring is still pretty awful ( )

Season of Mists has some very good stories with an interesting introduction by Harlan Ellison. I liked the meeting of the Endless where Dream decides that he must rescue Nada from Hell and thus sets in motion what follows. Well, what would happen if Lucifer Morningstar resigned and closed Hell?

Season of Mists is one single plotline throughout the volume without any real digressions. Enchanting as those tales can be, this is a really interesting volume. It picks up the tale of Nada, partially, which is again a thread from a previous volume woven into the main story. The part where Dream visits Hippolyta and tells her the baby is called Daniel is interesting, too, I can't wait to see where that's going.

The most interesting thing about this volume, for me, was meeting six of the seven Endless. I'm curious about the missing one. Delirium is a really interesting character. My fondest feelings are still for Death, though. Dream is sometimes quite difficult to sympathise with, given what he does to Nada -- it's good to see him making some reparations for that.

The other interesting thing was the stuff about the two angels becoming the rulers of Hell. It says really interesting things about people needing to be punished, and how things can be twisted. ( )

After collection of short stories in part 3, finally a complete one. So, our sandman is not above fault either. You meet his family and realise he has been unjust to am mortal woman. Sandman set to right an old wrong and visits Hell, where prince Lucifer awaits whom he had insulted in Part 2. Nice novella.

P.S: Oh, have I ever mentioned that Morpheus has a crow called Mathew that serves and calls Boss. Part 1-2. Now 4-5. ( )