The Sandman, vols. 1-10

1. Preludes and Nocturnes, 240 pages
2. The Doll's House, 232 pages
3. Dream Country, 160 pages
4. Season of Mist, 192 pages
5. A Game of You, 192 pages
6. Fables and Reflections, 264 pages
7. Brief Lives, 168 pages
8. Worlds' End, 168 pages
9. The Kindly Ones, 320 pages
10. The Wake, 187 pages, all by Neil Gaiman, with art by various artists

I meant to originally write three separate posts on The Sandman, but when I finished the series, I hadn't blogged anything, so it seemed silly to write multiple posts just to have them one right after the other. So apologies in advance, as this is probably going to be long and ramble a bit.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm an unrepentant Neil Gaiman fangirl, and The Sandman has a lot to do with that. Interestingly enough, when I first started reading Gaiman, I read most of his novels before reading this series. I took my time getting to Sandman, but once I did, I was hooked. And, like American Gods, a lot of that has to do with the general premise - there are several traits intrinsic to any and all universes, and their personifications are known as the Endless. They (in birth order, Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium) were here before the first living thing came into being, and they will be here until the last living thing ends. Sandman focuses on Dream, also known as Morpheus (and a gajillion other names), starting with his imprisonment by Roderick Burgess. The first story arc, collected in Preludes and Nocturnes, is about Dream's eventual escape and his quest to get back his objects of power. It's a good introduction, and it includes the incredibly creepy and scary story "24 Hours", where we watch Dr. Destiny turn the inhabitants of a diner slowly crazy using Dream's ruby. But it's the second story arc, The Doll's House, that The Sandman starts to become great. Not only are we introduced to several aspects of the Dreaming that have managed to work their way into the real, waking world (like the Corinthian, a walking nightmare with sharp teeth for eyes and a penchant for eating eyeballs), but we get a greater look at the functions Dream performs, and how his seventy year imprisonment had a much bigger effect on us than the first story suggests. There are also plenty of one-shot comics, including a story about the first time Shakespeare and his troupe perform A Midsummer's Night Dream, commissioned by Dream and played for the very faeries that inspired the characters and story; there's "Ramadan", the fiftieth issue of the series, which tells how Dream makes a deal with Harun al-Rashid to preserve Baghdad at the height of its beauty and power forever by adding it to the Dreaming; there's "The Song of Orpheus", which tells of how Dream refuses to help his son, Orpheus of the Greek legend, bring back Eurydice, and how that dooms Orpheus (and Dream, to a certain extent) forever.

If I had to pick a specific story as my absolute favorite (and that's tough because each story arc gets better and better), it would have to be The Kindly Ones, which is the series' denouement. Tying many of the major characters together from many of the past stories, Dream is faced with the ramifications of agreeing to finally help Orpheus at the end of Brief Lives. When Daniel disappears, his mother, Lyta Hall (first seen pregnant with him in The Doll's House, and again in Season of Mists), remembers that Dream told her that one day he would come for Daniel. In her grief, she finds herself on a journey to get Daniel back (and maybe get some revenge), which eventually leads her to the Furies of myth. While they can't help her, they will go after Dream because he has shed the blood of a family member. Faced with the destruction of the Dreaming, Dream makes the ultimate sacrifice. This is also my favorite story because of Marc Hempel's fantastic art. With thick outlines and sharp angles, his art is perfectly suited for conveying Lyta's despair over the loss of her son, and her subsequent breakdown, and for portraying the fiendish Loki and Robin Goodfellow. But he's one in a long list of fantastic artists who have worked on Sandman over the course of its run. It was during my initial read of Sandman that I began to have serious opinions on comic artists, and now, after revisiting the series, I found myself lingering even longer over the art.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention some of Dream's siblings, most notably, Death. Her arrival at the end of Preludes and Nocturnes created thousands of fans and cosplayers, and it's not hard to see why. She's possibly the most normal of all the Endless, with her house full of various trinkets and pet goldfish. As big sister to Dream, she always manages to say the right thing, just like any good sibling would do. The help she gives Element Girl in "Façade" is a reminder that death is ultimately a kindness, the last obstacle to total peace. And I also have to mention Delirium, the youngest of the Endless. Despite the fact that she is the embodiment of madness, it's easy to see that she cares deeply for her big brother, especially after their journey together in Brief Lives. Her attempt to save Dream in The Kindly Ones might not have been that good of an excuse to run away, but it was heartfelt and offered in genuine worry for Dream, even if she might not have realized that she was that concerned for him.

But the best part about Sandman is that when I read some of Gaiman's novels again after completing this series is that I quickly realized that Gaiman, whether unconsciously or consciously, makes his stories work in the larger world of the Endless. You begin to notice some familiar faces, like the girl with the wild, multicolored hair and her dog in San Francisco when Shadow and Mr. Wednesday go to visit Eostre in American Gods. Or the Lady on the Grey in The Graveyard Book who first allows Bod to live in the graveyard, and then later dances with him while having a very Death-like conversation with Bod. In fact, you can see beginnings of the idea behind American Gods in Brief Lives, when Dream and Delirium visit Pharamond, a god of travel, to arrange transportation. Here you have a god living among mortals, continuing their divine work, very much like Mr. Wednesday and all the rest in American Gods. Granted, again, I'm an unrepentant Gaiman fangirl, but it's kind of amazing when you think about it. If you're a comics fan, but haven't read Sandman, then shame on you and fix that. If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman, but have largely avoided his comics for whatever reason, then do yourself a favor, put aside any prejudices you might have against comics, and make sure you read this. If you're wondering what the big deal is about Neil Gaiman or comics, and generally like fantasy, magical realism, and/or dark stuff, then you really can't go wrong with trying this series. You'll be glad you did.