The Absolute Sandman Volume One

I think my first issue of Sandman was Dream Of A Thousand Cats, if not Calliope. A friend of mine brought it back from the States for me and when I read it that was it, I was a Sandman reader and a Neil Gaiman fan for life. The stories of Dream Country were each like a bomb going off in my callow young head, explosions that propelled me simultaneously deep into the world of the comic and out into the more abstract realms of the possibilities of imagination, genre and form. In short order I'd picked up collections of A Doll's House and Preludes And Nocturnes, and was counting the weeks and days each month, waiting for the next issue to arrive.

Sandman opens with the imprisonment of Morpheus, Lord Of Dreams, by an English occult society show more in 1916. They were hoping to trap death but got her younger brother instead. It doesn't work out terrible well for anyone, least of all the occult society, but also the unfortunates who fall victim to a sleeping sickness that steals most of their lives, or for Morpheus himself, not to mention the vague efforts the universe makes to replace him with pale imitation superheroes. In 1988 he escapes, takes revenge, returns to his crumbling kingdom, and, with some difficulty, recovers his stolen tools.

It's all in there, in these early issues, but it's such a mess. Sam Keith's art is great, but not really in keeping with the book. Gaiman seeds all sorts of themes and elements that will be built on and expanded later, but issues go from genre to genre, until the book truly finds its voice in issue eight, the legendary Sound of Her Wings, which introduces Death, in a story about how everyone hates her and loves Dream, even though she's lovely and he's not. The multi-layered little story shattered comics into a million pieces, captured a million hearts and is the emotional and conceptual foundation stone of the whole epic. It's in stories like that, the stand-alones, that Sandman deepened and enriched its world and its mythology, even as the longer arcs drove the plot, often extremely obliquely, forward.

The Dolls House is a fantasy/horror masterpiece, building to the chilling and mischievous Collectors, which is itself about fear, and mythologising and demythologising it, self-mythologising and self-aggrandisement, and murder. Lots and lots of murder,

The Absolute Sandman Volume One is a big, beautiful object. The stories printed on larger pages of high-quality paper, recoloured, retouched. It includes back matter such as Gaiman's original proposal, all the afterwords to original collections, and the script of the astonishing Midsummer Night's Dream issue. So many of these stories were so astonishing. I'd forgotten just how astonishing they were.

Sandman was groundbreaking and earthshaking, and it blew my tiny mind, and this gorgeous edition is blowing it all over again. show less

Easily the best thing I have read by Gaiman. The artwork is beautiful and the layout is very creative. But the stories. Ahh, the stories are wonderfully dark and troubling, yet enlightening and uplifting all at the same time. They all carry a common thread; how the waking world might just be less real than the dream-worlds where The Endless reside. I can't wait for volume 2 to become available at the library.

What a joy it was to re-read the first 3 books of the Sandman series for my Graphic Novels class - watching Gaiman find his voice in this series starting out as an occult horror book to a grand exploration of story, myth, folklore (traditional and superhero) and love is pretty great.

How good was Sandman, really? I asked myself. After all I was in my late teens and it was a long time ago. Should I take a risk on those gigantic anthologies, The Absolute Sandman or a lesser commitment on the comparatively tiddly first paperback collection, Preludes and Nocturnes? How much of it did I actually read back then? There was Death and a Cereal Convention and a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream but there was definitely much more I had not read.

OK - let's play with house money and get The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 for my birthday.

Good choice! Because this book is utterly gorgeous simply as a physical object and the art is scaled up from the 8 issue paperback collections. (Also re-coloured, whatever that means for quality show more - ask a person who knows about comics.) There's also a pile of ancillary material collected at the back, some of which isn't available elsewhere. It's also, for the most part, even better than I remembered!

Both Gaiman and who-ever wrote the introduction feel that these comics really found their proper voice with the first appearance of the character Death in issue 8. I agree. This marks the end of the first story arc, involving many aspects of and characters from the wider DC universe and the start of a more isolated but deeper exploration of Gaiman's vision of The Endless and how they relate to life across the universe and time as well as humanity specifically. The Endless are seven "anthropomorphic personifications" that don't seem to always be anthropomorphic at all, since they exist for all types of life - as evidenced by fairies, aliens and cats. They are: Dream, Death, Delerium, Desire, Destiny, Despair...and the other one that I never remember but presumably has a name beginning with "D" in English. They're an interesting bunch.

These stories already show Gaiman's in-depth knowledge of world mythology and penchant for literary references, only the most obvious of which did I get back in the day. I noticed many more this time round. Makes me wonder if there are more I still missed...

Anyway, to sum up...book gorgeous. Art gorgeous. Stories great. And addictive. Bring me Vol. 2. show less

Neil Gaiman's award-winning and critically acclaimed Sandman was my introduction to comics which quickly grew to border on an obsession with the genre. I devoured the series, borrowing the trade paperback collection from a good acquaintance, knowing that eventually I wanted to have my own set. When I discovered that DC Comics' Vertigo imprint (which is probably my favorite comic imprint) was publishing an "Absolute edition of the core series, I was glad I hadn't quite got around to purchasing any of Sandman yet.

DC's Absolute editions are gorgeous, hardbound, oversized volumes that come with sturdy and handsome slipcases, supposedly of archival quality. The comics are often recolored or otherwise restored and are usually accompanied by a show more substantial amount of additional material. The Absolute Sandman, Volume One consists of the first twenty issues of the series, which corresponds to the first three trade collections: Preludes and Nocturens, The Doll's House and Dream Country. The first volume also collects a new introduction and afterword, Gaiman's original proposal for the series, additional artwork, the afterwords from the trade paperbacks, and the full script and sketches for the (in)famous issue #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction in 1991, the only comic to ever win the award. Rumor has it that the rules were changed after the win, prohibiting comics from qualifying, though this is denied by the World Fantasy Convention. However, while it does look like comics have been restricted from the Best Short Fiction category, they may still win in the category for Special Award: Professional.)

The primary story arc of the first volume focuses on the capture and eventual escape of Dream of the Endless (aka the Sandman). Both he and the world have changed dramatically due to his imprisonment, and the widespread ramifications are great. Dream must struggle to regain control of his powers and his realm. Through this quest we are introduced to most of the other Endless, his siblings: Destiny, Death (with whom I'm not just a little in love), Desire, and Despair. In addition to the main story line there are several other related but separate side issues that grant further insight into the world that Gaiman has created.

For the most part, the artwork itself doesn't do much for me in this first volume. For me, its really the storytelling that does it. Of course, the illustrations are an integral part of that. Seeing as different artists worked on the different issues, I don't necessarily expect the artwork to be consistent from issue to issue, but I do expect it to be within a single issue, which is unfortunately not always the case. However, I do appreciate the different "feels" and visual interpretation that the various artists bring to the series.

One thing that I absolutely love about Sandman is the fantastic mix of established mythology, legend, history, pseudo-history, popular culture, reality and fantasy with ideas and approaches that are completely new. In these earlier issues it is sometimes painfully obvious that the series is still trying to establish itself and find its niche. But, at the same time, this first Absolute volume also contains what is arguably one of the best single issues of the series ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," illustrated by Charles Vess). The stories range from horror, to fantasy, to just plain strange and are definitely meant for mature readers. Newcomers might want to read the series through before making the investment, but for fans it's a no-brainer--though hefty in size (not to mention price), The Absolute Sandman is, absolutely, the best edition out there.

Issues included: "Sleep of the Just"; "Imperfect Hosts"; "...Dream a Little Dream of Me"; "A Hope in Hell"; "Passengers"; "24 Hours"; "Sound and Fury"; "The Sound of Her Wings"; "Tales in the Sand"; "The Doll's House"; "Moving In"; "Playing House"; "Men of Good Fortune"; "Collectors"; "Into the Night"; "Lost Hearts"; "Calliope"; "A Dream of a Thousand Cats"; "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; "Façade"

Experiments in Reading show less

Neil Gaiman is such a generous writer and this story, with its ever expanding narrative corners, is a perfect expression of his writerly attitude of abundance. Though this story starts out like any comic book affair, what Gaiman does with his characters, and central questions, as soon as the first arc completes is what makes it special. I highly recommend this to anyone, particularly anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to take comics seriously in the past.

While I've been aware of the Sandman series for over a decade now it never really grabbed me to read it until this year.

I'm very glad it did finally sink it's claws into me. The writing is superb, I've cringed, had my heart pounding, and laughed while reading this volume.

The art is dark, atmospheric, and sets each page/scene perfectly. I really enjoy the dynamic between Sandman and Death and absolutely love Sandman's dry wit.