The Sandman: The Dream Hunters [Novella]

This is more of an illustrated story than a graphic novel. Amano's artwork and the Japanese aesthetic rein in Gaiman's excessive tendency to throw in the kitchen sink, in this telling, retelling actually, of the story of the fox and the monk. The story is wonderful and the artwork even more so. Amano really should have gotten top billing since Gaiman is basically just retelling a Japanese fairy tale with some Sandman flourishes.

Thoroughly enjoyable although not really part of the Sandman canon. This was a 10th anniversary project celebrating the Sandman comic. Whoever was really responsible for this collaboration should get the real credit.

Sadly this book actually belongs to my daughter...

If I remember right, this is Neil Gaiman's first return to The Sandman after the series concluded its venerable run. It's not a comic book, but a prose novella with illustrations on almost every page. And it's brilliant-- possibly the second-best Sandman story after Brief Lives. It's a fairy tale in a vaguely Japenese style about a monk and the fox who loves him. Like many Gaiman stories, it doesn't know what its focus is, but that works so well here, as the story gently drifts from tangent to tangent, showing love at its best and its worse. The illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano are gorgeous, and invite the eye to linger over them slowly. It's hard to explain why I liked this so much; it just hits that primal nerve good stories should show more hit-- you feel like you've learned something new that you've always known.

Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Spin-Offs: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

3 years after the Sandman called it quits, and just over 10 years after issue #1 hit the stands, the Dream Hunters was the best return the King of All Night's Dreaming could've asked for.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

I was nervous about this story: It's structure is a departure for the Dreaming, being a novella with accompanying illustrations instead of a 'comic book.' I didn't expect it could capture Dream's trademark twinkle nearly so well--and I was wrong. This is the Sandman, and it's one of Dream's most powerful stories. Gaiman spent years evoking the style of myths of all colors to tell stories about--well--stories, and this is him exercising that experience show more to pay homage to Japanese and Chinese folklore.*

This isn't a continuation of the original series, either, making it a safe read for new-comers. The nods are there--and satisfying--but they're unimportant to the story itself. The Dream Hunters is all Morpheus and his fatal hubris from beginning to end. He guides two potential lovers, a fox-spirit and a monk, to care for one another despite their doomed situation. Theirs is a sly, sad defense of forbidden love only Morpheus could deliver.

The illustrations decorating every other page were provided by Yoshitaka Amano, best known for his iconic Final Fantasy artwork. Amano's simple, yet complex images go hand-in-hand with Gaiman's prose. They're both detached and maybe a bit cold in the same fairy-tale way, gently carrying a story for any time and as old as time to the reader. His pencil lines are sparse, but still provide fine details to strike humanity in his characters. (& his ethereal style captures the '80s goth-punk vibe of Morpheus' (contextually-ridiculous) figure so well!)

I loved it. It was sad, tender, cute 'n' sweet, and oh-so-powerful: The best collaboration you could want from these two artists.

*The Dream Hunters has a Japanese flavor. Gaiman cites a collection (pub. 1908) of Japanese myths by Yei Theodora Ozaki as the source (with minimal alterations to fit in with the Dreaming) in the afterword. He was wrong, for whatever reason; it's source is Pu Songling (c. 1700) of the Qing Dynasty--though how similar it is, I have no idea. show less

Compared to the full Sandman story arc, this sideline story is often forgotten in my mind because it doesn't constribute to the resurrection and subsequent destruction of Morpheus, but it's actually a wonderful little story on its own. Folklore, and especially reworked folklore, is one of my favourite literary motifs, and Gaiman shows his skill clearly in this strange tale about a fox spirit and a monk who fall in love. The original story doens't seem to have anything to do with the Dream King, but the method of the monks downfall is through dreams, so it is rather fitting that Morpheus takes a more central role in the story. Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations are a perfect counterpart as well, since he utilizes styles which hark back to show more Japenese artistic traditions, but which are a little bit more dreamlike and whimsical. The story has also been illustrated in a more traditional graphic novel style, but I much prefer Amano's more traditional illustrations and the more novel-like structure of the story in this format. show less

Summary: The Dream Hunters is a lavishly told and gorgeously illustrated take of the Japanese folk tale "The Fox, The Monk, and The Mikado of All Night's Dreaming", set in the Sandman universe. In it, a fox falls in love with a monk who lives alone in a remote temple, and she is willing to sacrifice her life to save his - even if it means invoking the Dream King's help. The tale is told in prose, not in typical graphic-novel format, but Yoshitaka Amano's ethereal illustrations adorn every facing page.

Review: A beautiful little book that should be enjoyed by Sandman fans and non-Sandman fans alike. While a fair bit of this does take place in the Dreaming, and several familiar faces other than Morpheus make an appearance, it would show more certainly be understandable and enjoyable without having read the ten volumes that make up the "main" Sandman canon. It's a lovely tale, and I loved how Gaiman retained the Japanese folk-tale feeling while still working it into the Sandman universe - particularly when Cain and Abel showed up. The artwork similarly treads the border between the two worlds, giving us a vision of the Dream King who is simultaneously recognizable yet new, and who acts a reminder of the universality of the emotions if not the experiences of the tale. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: An excellent introduction to Japanese folklore, the Sandman universe, or Gaiman's storytelling in general. It's a fast read, and so lovely that it shouldn't be missed. show less

Initially I felt this was a real left turn for the series, but it truly wasn't. I know it was based on a Japanese fable, but it really fit in nicely with the rest of the series.

I also enjoyed that this was more of an illustrated narrative instead of the standard panels with dialogue. The writing was, of course, beautiful (can Gaiman do any less?) and the art, was gorgeous.

I think a work of this type--being an adaptation of an old fable, breaking with the standard graphic novel formula, and still fitting perfectly with the rest of the Sandman mythos--speaks to the brilliance of Gaiman.

The Sandman is often a bit player in his own title. Gaiman is never scared to let other characters command the stage, letting the titular character show show more only when he actually has a part to play. It allows for a massive world and much richer and deeper stories.

Well done. show less

The Sandman, as written by Neil Gaiman and penciled and inked by a phenomonal cast (Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, and so many more) has a justified place in the list of all-time greatest works in comic book history. We can and should revise our assessment of art when the artist has failed us, but the experience of Sandman is a work of many hearts, all of them carrying their own secret pain, and one of them is me.