The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones (edition 1996)

I've rated both this and The Sandman Vol. 7 Brief Lives 5 stars, but I think I liked Brief Lives better, for the sole reason that it contained more scenes with Delerium. Here, Delerium is searching for someone again, this time her talking dog Barnabas, and the scene where they're reunited was charming as all get out.

Practically every other character we've met along the way shows up in the Kindly Ones, and it was just more proof that Gaiman is the master of making everything he writes have a purpose. It was very, very impressive how it all tied together. I know that some people say you can read most of these as stand-alones, but the pay-off for following them in order is not to be missed.

I haven't mentioned Morpheous much in my reviews, despite the series being named after him. I'll take a moment now to say that his evolution as a character is very subtle, but very well done. The scene between him and his big sister Death towards the end were beyond touching.

I'm not sure how I waited so long to read this series (that is a lie, it took me forever to realize that libraries carry comics, and I couldn't afford to buy them all before), but thank goodness I finally did. ( )

The Kindly Ones is the heaviest of all the volumes, and the hardest to get through, because there's a lot packed into it and it's quite emotionally hard-hitting.

As a story, it's pretty amazing. A lot of threads come together in this book and you can finally see where everything was going all along -- so many characters are revisited and their stories tie firmly into the whole. I especially liked the reappearance of the Corinthian, and Nuala's story, which I was anticipating but still got me right in the heart. We don't actually see Orpheus in this volume, but he's still behind everything that's happening, in a way -- and yet all you need to know is that he was Dream's son and Dream killed him. It's really amazing how all the volumes tie together and yet can be read alone.

The art has changed a lot from the first volume, most noticably in this volume. In some ways, I like it a lot -- I particularly like Death and Delirium's character designs in this volume -- and in another way it's kind of jarring. ( )

my rating is a reflection of my inability to connect with most of the graphic novels even from an author I love! ( )

I remember Lyta Hall from the Infinity Inc. comics of the 1980s. While the details of what she actually did or was like are pretty hazy for me (although I do remember her sweetheart Hector Hall being addicted to painkillers), I'm pretty sure she wasn't the passive/overprotective-bordering-on-psycho wife/mother with nothing else going on in her life than her husband and kid that she's portrayed as in Sandman.

The thing about Sandman is that though I like the epic nature of the entire series, not to mention some of the great characters (particularly Death, and Lucifer), I’m not a huge fan of Morphy/Dreamy/Sandy. He kind of reminds me of Doctor Who in the respect that I generally like Doctor Who, but have found him ruined by the writers’ overindulgence in the mythos of the character. Where he was once an alien explorer who liked humans and battled bad guys, he’s more like a god these days and it takes something away from him (Eccleston was probably the best new incarnation – the real madman with a box). Similarly, the Sandman is ruined for me by how awesomely epic he is. All that dark-clothed brooding, that aloofness – it kind of gets on my tits a lot. It’s also why I like Death so much – the sense of humour, the quirkiness and the lack of OTT drama.

I know this all sounds very negative, but mostly it’s a personal taste issue with brooding protagonists brooding just that bit too much (seriously, I love the book Jane Eyre, but now and then I really think Rochester could benefit from a good clip ‘round the ears, and Batman could man up and realise there are orphans without the option of funding a life of vigilantism – clip ‘round the ears). So yeah, Sandman’s brooding gets boring a lot. BUT, I like the series, the overall idea behind it, and Gaiman’s writing. I’m just not the diehard fan I thought I’d become when this series was recommended to me over and over again (so, I’m also a little bitter that I haven’t been blown away).

This particular volume deals with the end of the Sandman and it reminded me of the last David Tennant Doctor Who episode, where by the time he regenerated, I was so bloody ready because he sure took his sweet time to move on. The story is long and confusing – there’s just so much going on. I think this volume is really one for the fans of the series because there are a lot of layers to the story, a lot of action, and drama. A lot of brooding too, obviously. There were parts I liked, but mostly it felt like a slog of a read. Also, the artwork wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed. It left me quite sad actually, because I felt I was really missing something and surely should have been enjoying it more, but it felt messy and delivered no real punch in the end and I was rather disappointed :/

So, one for the fans I think. Oddly enough, one of my favourite ever episodes of Doctor Who is Gaiman’s The Doctor’s Wife, which is just the best thing ever. It has his trademark humour, bleak and heart-warming at the same time, with that dash of darkness. These are all things present in the Sandman series, so I have no idea why they don’t work for me here.

Though, having said all that, I have a terrible feeling I’d love the series as a TV show… ( )