"Wake up, sir. We're here". It's a simple enough opening line--although not many would have guessed back in 1991 that this would lead to one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comics of the second half of the century.
In Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman weaves the story of a man interested in capturing the physical manifestation of Death but who instead captures the King of Dreams. By Gaiman's own admission there's a lot in this first collection that is awkward and ungainly--which is not to say there are not frequent moments of greatness here. The chapter "24 Hours" is worth the price of the book alone; it stands as one of the most chilling examples of horror in comics. And let's not underestimate Gaiman's achievement of personifying Death as a perky, overly cheery, cute goth girl! All in all, there is a roguish breaking of new ground in this book which is preferable to the often dull precision of the concluding volumes of the Sandman series. --Jim Pascoe
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A strong improvement over the first volume The second Sandman collection picks up from the last one, with the Sandman continuing the process of restoring the Dreaming to its proper state, and also introduces a whole slew of new characters and storylines that will continue to resonate within the series until its very end. Rose Walker and her mother travel from the USA to the UK to mee an unknown benefactor who has paid for their trip. The benefactor turns out to be Unity Kincaid, a victim of the sleeping sickness that swept across the world... more info
Promising start to an excellent series If Watchmen is the greatest graphic novel of all time, then a serious case can be made for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman to be the greatest on-going comics series of all time. Running from 1988 to 1996, the series incorporated some 76 issues, collected as ten graphic novels (and more recently, four large-format prestige collections). Although an ongoing series, it was bound together by a long-running story arc that spanned its entire length, and told the story of Morpheus or Dream, one of the seven Endless who... more info
Excellent introductory background My introduction to Sandman began with Endless Nights, which I was given. I was hooked, and decided to read the rest. Having made a start, I was surprised to see negative comments on this book. Certainly, it is not as polished as the later books, but it is invaluable as a background to understanding them. The intro in Dolls House probably does quite well for providing this background, but it cannot possibly do nearly as well as does reading Preludes and Nocturnes. And, whilst it is not as polished, it is... more info
A Dream Start The criticism that this is not the best of the sandman series is very much undeserved. Its not, however the comics it contains rate among the most important of the 20th Centuary, and helped to create what would become Vertigo comics, establishing itself in a trend started by Alan Moore on Swamp Thing and Jamie Delanos Hellblazer. Its dated a bit, but then so has Citizen Kane - And that is a worth comparison, because although both creators would do better in their career, their impact at those times would... more info
