The Sandman is a very different story than what I'm used to from both a comic and novel perspective. Although they are there, it goes beyond the world of superheroes and everyday people and focuses on something else. Writer Neil Gaiman creates a different world beyond ours, where there is a lord of dreams who watches over us when we sleep. Dream is unique, even more so when compared to the frequently referenced Justice League members. But his journey is relatable, interesting, and sympathetic. And because of this, Dream is one of the more human characters I’ve read in a graphic novel. Most comics focus on perfect people who are larger than life, who strive for peace and justice and freedom, ect. But Dream is just someone who returns to find his home destroyed, and will do anything to return things to the way they are. Dream is captured by an ancient order that studies black magic, and is trapped for 70 years. In his absence, people succumb to an endless sleep, and his kingdom of Dreamscape crumbles. So he begins his quest, and for a setting so different the story is actually very familiar, and simple. He is missing three objects, whose power will help him rebuild his home. He has to find them. It reminds one of old Greek myths, traveling from one location to another finding artifacts of power, and meeting peculiar creatures and people along the way. Hercules came to mind many times while reading. It’s storytelling 101, but works so well because of the characters, who despite their godly status are relatable and interesting. Dream is no different than any other person, he wants revenge when he escapes, yearns to be home, and is reluctant of change. It is hard for him to adjust to the happenings of the past 70 years; the changes in both our world and his alienate him almost as much as the audience. He is just as human as Dr. Destiny, Constantine, or any of the other human characters. People think Superman is boring because he is all powerful and nearly immortal. Dream is an omniscient and immortal god of a whole realm of existence, and yet I sympathize with him and care about his journey because Gaiman was gave him weaknesses and flaws. Aside from this book (Preludes and Nocturnes) being the first of 12, it feels like a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. There is never a wasted panel either, each page and drawing has a purpose, whether it’s to meet an exorcist with a smoking problem, or set the tone of a happy diner that will turn to a bloodbath. The theme is mostly consistent, and any page that feels too happy for the dark world of nightmares and spirits is there to shock the reader with unexpected horror. But while the story’s rising action and climax are well paced and executed, the beginning doesn’t have a smooth start. Time jumps almost every panel and characters are introduced and killed in moments. While the rest of the storytelling is pretty conventional and straightforward, the beginning moments jump into it and move at full speed, giving the reader hardly time to breathe. Thankfully, once Dream leaves, he is able to take a breath with the reader, and the story moves at a great pace from there. The world is one of the book's greatest strengths, each character and location grabs your attention. We travel to Dreamscape, Dream’s home of floating islands and purple plains. Then to Hell, built out of decayed bodies and each demon unique from the other. Death is a girl with a taste for punk rock, Lucifer looks inviting and friendly if not for his bat wings, Dr. Destiny’s body rots physically as his sanity fades. A lot of this is due to the art, with it’s use of colors being unafraid to focus on secondaries like vibrant purples or soft blues. Great artists know when to use detail and when to let things blur and fade away, and both are done when needed. Even the way it presents the panels goes beyond the norm, some pages use the conventional way, but others change and scatter across the page, revolving around a scene or character. The dreamlike feel is prevalent not just in the immortal world, but carries into our own. While not all stories work as graphic novels, Sandman is one that definitely benefits from it. I find it hard to put into words the places and things seen in the story, I usually end up handing the book to a person to help them see. If the story was all written, it would be so focused on descriptive language that the story itself would get lost. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is a different comic, a different novel too. He creates a world so strange to both mediums and yet is able to make us care about an omniscient, immortal god. I wanted to see Dream complete his journey, and seeing him find new purpose excited to see where he would go. I want to see more of Death and Hell, I want to see the other deities and demons. I cared about Dream and his journey, and I want to get lost in his world. These to me are the sure signs of a great work of fiction, comic or not.
Dream is captured by an ancient order that studies black magic, and is trapped for 70 years. In his absence, people succumb to an endless sleep, and his kingdom of Dreamscape crumbles. So he begins his quest, and for a setting so different the story is actually very familiar, and simple. He is missing three objects, whose power will help him rebuild his home. He has to find them. It reminds one of old Greek myths, traveling from one location to another finding artifacts of power, and meeting peculiar creatures and people along the way. Hercules came to mind many times while reading. It’s storytelling 101, but works so well because of the characters, who despite their godly status are relatable and interesting. Dream is no different than any other person, he wants revenge when he escapes, yearns to be home, and is reluctant of change. It is hard for him to adjust to the happenings of the past 70 years; the changes in both our world and his alienate him almost as much as the audience. He is just as human as Dr. Destiny, Constantine, or any of the other human characters. People think Superman is boring because he is all powerful and nearly immortal. Dream is an omniscient and immortal god of a whole realm of existence, and yet I sympathize with him and care about his journey because Gaiman was gave him weaknesses and flaws.
Aside from this book (Preludes and Nocturnes) being the first of 12, it feels like a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. There is never a wasted panel either, each page and drawing has a purpose, whether it’s to meet an exorcist with a smoking problem, or set the tone of a happy diner that will turn to a bloodbath. The theme is mostly consistent, and any page that feels too happy for the dark world of nightmares and spirits is there to shock the reader with unexpected horror. But while the story’s rising action and climax are well paced and executed, the beginning doesn’t have a smooth start. Time jumps almost every panel and characters are introduced and killed in moments. While the rest of the storytelling is pretty conventional and straightforward, the beginning moments jump into it and move at full speed, giving the reader hardly time to breathe. Thankfully, once Dream leaves, he is able to take a breath with the reader, and the story moves at a great pace from there.
The world is one of the book's greatest strengths, each character and location grabs your attention. We travel to Dreamscape, Dream’s home of floating islands and purple plains. Then to Hell, built out of decayed bodies and each demon unique from the other. Death is a girl with a taste for punk rock, Lucifer looks inviting and friendly if not for his bat wings, Dr. Destiny’s body rots physically as his sanity fades. A lot of this is due to the art, with it’s use of colors being unafraid to focus on secondaries like vibrant purples or soft blues. Great artists know when to use detail and when to let things blur and fade away, and both are done when needed. Even the way it presents the panels goes beyond the norm, some pages use the conventional way, but others change and scatter across the page, revolving around a scene or character. The dreamlike feel is prevalent not just in the immortal world, but carries into our own. While not all stories work as graphic novels, Sandman is one that definitely benefits from it. I find it hard to put into words the places and things seen in the story, I usually end up handing the book to a person to help them see. If the story was all written, it would be so focused on descriptive language that the story itself would get lost.
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman is a different comic, a different novel too. He creates a world so strange to both mediums and yet is able to make us care about an omniscient, immortal god. I wanted to see Dream complete his journey, and seeing him find new purpose excited to see where he would go. I want to see more of Death and Hell, I want to see the other deities and demons. I cared about Dream and his journey, and I want to get lost in his world. These to me are the sure signs of a great work of fiction, comic or not.