In the comic book world, there are few comic books revered more than Neil Gaiman’s modern epic, The Sandman. This work is one of the things that secured Gaiman a place as one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. It all began when he was approached to write a brand new Sandman series with no ties to characters who previously bore the name, like Wesley Dodds. Eventually, his mind wove a grand tapestry of a story, all revolving around a being called Dream, otherwise known as Morpheus or the Sandman. This being was and is the embodiment, the essence of dreams, which also extends to a person’s personal dreams or life goals, as well as stories. He is one of the Endless, seven siblings who each are embodiments of similar concepts. His other six siblings are Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium, formerly Delight. Each of these beings also supervise their respective concepts, like Death appearing before people to take them as they die.
Dream was always a rather dreary, self-important, stuffy person. However, he is imprisoned by a human who seeks to harness his power for well over fifty years. He manages to escape, but his realm, the Dreaming, has suffered greatly in this time. There have been problems with sleep all across the mortal world, and his totems have been scattered everywhere. Over the course of the story, Dream recovers these items and, having begun to change during his imprisonment, solves old problems with lovers, friends, and family and deals with some of his own actions from the past. It is a dangerous road that does not end well for him, but he is no longer the person he once was. He is still stuffy and difficult to like, but less so, and as such, he is willing to do things that he never did before, even if it means his own death. Over the course of his wanderings, he meets many interesting people, including some popular DC characters, like Martian Manhunter and John Constantine, as well as a vast number of mythological figures, like Odin, Loki, Oberon, and Puck, historical figures like William Shakespeare (Shakespeare wrote a Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Tempest for Dream), and humans like Hob Gadling and Rose Walker. Of the Endless, he also spends much time with Death, with whom he is closest. Death is the breakout character of the book because of her oddly likable personality, so much so that she has had two spin-off miniseries.
Every time you read Sandman, you can’t help but feel like you’re reading a novel that just happens to have pictures. Neil Gaiman utilizes so many allusions in such an authoritative manner that it feels too complex to be just a comic book. And yet, there are DC superheroes and villains. Since this was a Vertigo series, it is unclear as to what place it occupies in DC canon. Still, the effects that it had on Dr. Destiny and the Hall family, including Hector Hall, Lyta Hall, and Daniel Hall, are still in place. If I had my way, all of this would be canon. Few DC stories, Vertigo or otherwise, are so wonderful. The characters are absolutely lovable. If they are not, as Dream sometimes is, they are so fascinating that you want to read more about them anyway. The plot is confusing at times, but highly compelling, and there are tons of twists and turns that will leave you begging for more. Dave McKean’s unorthodox covers capture the surreality of the series perfectly as well. I’ll admit, I wasn’t fond of them at first, but they grow on you. Aside from McKean, there was never really a truly consistent artist for the series. However, people who worked on it include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Marc Hempel. If you are looking for an extremely cerebral story that you will remember and love forever, this is a comic book that is worth your time. You can still get all of it in trade paperback, since people still want to read it.
Plot: 9.7 Art: 9.4 Dialogue: 9.7 Overall: 9.7
