Monday

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes
by Neil Gaiman
Graphic Novel. 239 pp.
DC Comics. 1991.

back copy:

Enter a dark and enchanting world of dreams and nightmares and meet the Sandman, master of dreams, and his kin—the Endless. This first collection of Neil gaiman's unique and multi-award-winning Sandman Saga introduces key themes and characters, combining myth, magic and black humor.

bn synopsis:
A wizard attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. Fearful for his safety, the wizard kept him imprisoned in a glass bottle for decades. After his escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On the way, Morpheus encounters Lucifer and demons from Hell, the Justice League, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer. This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings" which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl, Death.

I picked this title up at the suggestion of a few friends because I've found myself interested in Gaiman's writing of late. ejwise said:
Gaiman, for the unitiated, is best known for his Sandman comic book series -- or for the more sophisticated, a graphic novel series. (It was serialized before it was bound into separate volumes based upon its many story-arcs.) This is a must-read!
In terms of story, I think I'd agree with him. The story itself is intriguing. Morpheus himself is fascinating. As I've thought about it over the weeks since I finally finished the volume, I mostly didn't care for the illustration style. And because of that, I found that I didn't particularly care for this book and will likely not carry on into the series.

3 comments:

Th. said...

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The series changed artists often, so be careful making a final decision on that criteria. You'll miss out on so much.

Sean said...

Ditto what Th. said. I hated some of artists, but I loved a vast majority of the stories. And if you ever do decide to continue on, I would really encourage you to go with the Absolute 4-volume set instead of the individual editions--the tomes are massive, but it was easier for me to get into the story that way.

Th. said...

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Also the art's much better. I would like to buy them but they are exPENsive.