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 Customer Reviews
A little on the short side, but still an excellent collection, 22 Aug 2008
The third Sandman collection represents a change of pace from the first two. Whilst the first two were unified by a central story arc that ran through each one, Dream Country is essentially a short story collection, featuring four tales that although self-contained, do illuminate parts of the backstory and the ongoing overall storylines of the entire series.
The first story is Calliope. A young writer, Richard Madoc, has a bad case of writer's block following the success of his first novel. In desperation he turns to the occult to find a way out of his problem and enlists the help of Erasmus Fry, an elderly author and successful playwright. It turns out that Fry owes his success to his imprisonment of Calliope, one of the nine muses of antiquity (and the former muse of Homer), and he passes control of Calliope over to Madoc. By holding her hostage and abusing her, Madoc gains the inspiration he needs and becomes a bestselling writer, churning out novels, a poetry collection, screenplays and even becoming a gifted director. Unfortunately for Madoc, he is unaware that Calliope is also the former lover of one of the Endless...
This is an interesting story. The notion of 'the muse' is explored here, although the literal personification of Calliope can be substituted for whatever a writer uses for inspiration. The abuse and over-use of the muse resulting in a horrendous case of writer's block, perhaps permanantly, is an interesting idea to use for a story, but it works well. We also get some intriguing backstory for The Sandman overall, including the tantalising revelation that somewhere out there Morpheus has a son (although those who know their Greek mythology will be way ahead of the game here). For those interested in writing graphic novels and comics, the complete script for Calliope is included in the book as well.
The second story is much more straightforward and fun. The Dream of a Thousand Cats sees a cat travelling the world, preaching a message to all the other cats, and we see the impact of that message on a young kitten. This story has been called 'cute' but it really isn't. The dream the cat is trying to bring into reality really isn't very nice (especially for humans) and the final line and image are brilliantly contrasted with what is going on in the cat's mind. This is as self-contained as Sandman stories come, and shows Gaiman's wit and imagination in full flower.
The third story is the legendary A Midsummer Night's Dream. Back in Men of Good Fortune (included in The Doll's House), Dream and William Shakespeare made a deal whereby Dream would give Shakespeare access to a font of imagination in return for Shakespeare writing two plays for him. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first, written for Dream to show as a piece of entertainment to the real faerie king and queen, Auberon and Titania, who return to the mortal plane with their retainers for the occasion.
This is a splendid, clever story which rightfully won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. As the play unfolds events offstage are illuminated by it: Titania's enchantment of Shakespeare's son (who died several years later), Robin Goodfellow (Puck)'s irritation at being portrayed by a mortal and the running commentary provided by several of the faerie court viewing the play, with some disagreement about whether they should congratulate the mortals for their art or eat them. There's also some more scene-setting for later stories (an invitation is extended to Dream who hasn't followed up on it by four centuries later). The highlight of the collection, this is an amusing story, although probably of most interest to established Shakespeare fans.
The final story is Facade, about an extremely obscure DC hero who finds herself lost and lonely, living in her apartment with a weekly conversation with the guy who signs her pension cheques as the highlight of her week. This is a somewhat bleak story about a hero with the power to save the world but who loses herself in the process, but it is given an uplifting ending by the arrival of Death, who is fleshed out a lot more here than in her previous brief appearances.
Dream Country (****) is an excellent addition to The Sandman mythos, although it can be criticised for being on the short side (collecting only four issues, compared to the previous two collections' eight apiece) and only padded out to a reasonable length by the Calliope script. But the quality of the actual stories more than makes up for it. A Great Collection Of Short Stories......., 02 Jun 2005
As I said in my review of Sandman: "Fables & Reflections", Neil and the team would write short, self-contained stories between the big ones (in order to attract new readers). The stories here are more horror-based than those of "Fables." My favourite is "Caliope" - the tale of a writer's need for inspiration, and the depths to which he'll sink to find it. The other three stories star Lady Death, William Shakespeare and a Cat with a dream. If you enjoyed the "Fables" collection then this is a must. Or check-out "Fables & Reflections" next if you like this volume. On a side note, I should mention the size of this book. Compared to other titles in the series, this is by far the smallest. It wouldn't be so bad, except a big portion of the book is dedicated to reprinting one of Neil's story scripts. As a writer myself, I found this interesting. But most people buy Sandman for the stories, and I can imagine many being a tad narked since this precious space could have been used to squeeze-in another great tale. That aside... DEFINITELY a superb read. Sandman is the business, folks!
the worst of an amazing series, 17 Jun 2003
I was pretty disappointed with this edition in the series as it is far too short! Four decent but emphatically short stories and a large section devoted to the script of the first of these stories is as somebody else noted, a huge cop out. You simply do not get value for money here. The stories themselves whilst perfectly enjoyable are far from the (extraordinarily high) standards which I have come to expect with the other Sandman novels. It is certainly worth reading but borrow a friends copy. Only for those who wish to complete the series.
Gorgeous., 07 Apr 2001
This is the one that hooked me on Sandman. I now have almost everything Gaiman has ever written. So this was a good starting point for me. There is a large portion of the book devoted to the script for Calliope, which is probably annoying if you are a first-time reader of Sandman, but brilliant if you're an obbsessive, like me! There are four short stories, each of which is a fine example of why Gaiman has become so famous now. My personal favourite is 'Calliope' which reveals a few things about Morpheus, the Sandman of the title. If you're a first time reader of Gaiman's graphic work, then I'd start off with 'Preludes and Nocturnes', the first in the series, but if you've already read his work, you won't be disappointed. I only direct you to the first in the series because its annoying to read things backwards, and once you've read a bit of 'The Sandman' you'll read all of it. I guarantee.
Disappointing, 19 Mar 2001
I loved the first 2 in the Sandman series but I found this very uninteresting. Maybe I was expecting too much with the first two books having set the scene so well but I just found all of the stories somewhat pedestrian and aimless. The last fifth of the book (the original script for the 1st story) is one of the biggest cop outs that i've ever come across. These books are more expensive than most and don't last that long so to see such a large portion of the book devoted to satisfying the curiosity of a small proportion of the readership is scandalous.
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Customer Reviews
A little on the short side, but still an excellent collection, 22 Aug 2008
The third Sandman collection represents a change of pace from the first two. Whilst the first two were unified by a central story arc that ran through each one, Dream Country is essentially a short story collection, featuring four tales that although self-contained, do illuminate parts of the backstory and the ongoing overall storylines of the entire series.
The first story is Calliope. A young writer, Richard Madoc, has a bad case of writer's block following the success of his first novel. In desperation he turns to the occult to find a way out of his problem and enlists the help of Erasmus Fry, an elderly author and successful playwright. It turns out that Fry owes his success to his imprisonment of Calliope, one of the nine muses of antiquity (and the former muse of Homer), and he passes control of Calliope over to Madoc. By holding her hostage and abusing her, Madoc gains the inspiration he needs and becomes a bestselling writer, churning out novels, a poetry collection, screenplays and even becoming a gifted director. Unfortunately for Madoc, he is unaware that Calliope is also the former lover of one of the Endless...
This is an interesting story. The notion of 'the muse' is explored here, although the literal personification of Calliope can be substituted for whatever a writer uses for inspiration. The abuse and over-use of the muse resulting in a horrendous case of writer's block, perhaps permanantly, is an interesting idea to use for a story, but it works well. We also get some intriguing backstory for The Sandman overall, including the tantalising revelation that somewhere out there Morpheus has a son (although those who know their Greek mythology will be way ahead of the game here). For those interested in writing graphic novels and comics, the complete script for Calliope is included in the book as well.
The second story is much more straightforward and fun. The Dream of a Thousand Cats sees a cat travelling the world, preaching a message to all the other cats, and we see the impact of that message on a young kitten. This story has been called 'cute' but it really isn't. The dream the cat is trying to bring into reality really isn't very nice (especially for humans) and the final line and image are brilliantly contrasted with what is going on in the cat's mind. This is as self-contained as Sandman stories come, and shows Gaiman's wit and imagination in full flower.
The third story is the legendary A Midsummer Night's Dream. Back in Men of Good Fortune (included in The Doll's House), Dream and William Shakespeare made a deal whereby Dream would give Shakespeare access to a font of imagination in return for Shakespeare writing two plays for him. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first, written for Dream to show as a piece of entertainment to the real faerie king and queen, Auberon and Titania, who return to the mortal plane with their retainers for the occasion.
This is a splendid, clever story which rightfully won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. As the play unfolds events offstage are illuminated by it: Titania's enchantment of Shakespeare's son (who died several years later), Robin Goodfellow (Puck)'s irritation at being portrayed by a mortal and the running commentary provided by several of the faerie court viewing the play, with some disagreement about whether they should congratulate the mortals for their art or eat them. There's also some more scene-setting for later stories (an invitation is extended to Dream who hasn't followed up on it by four centuries later). The highlight of the collection, this is an amusing story, although probably of most interest to established Shakespeare fans.
The final story is Facade, about an extremely obscure DC hero who finds herself lost and lonely, living in her apartment with a weekly conversation with the guy who signs her pension cheques as the highlight of her week. This is a somewhat bleak story about a hero with the power to save the world but who loses herself in the process, but it is given an uplifting ending by the arrival of Death, who is fleshed out a lot more here than in her previous brief appearances.
Dream Country (****) is an excellent addition to The Sandman mythos, although it can be criticised for being on the short side (collecting only four issues, compared to the previous two collections' eight apiece) and only padded out to a reasonable length by the Calliope script. But the quality of the actual stories more than makes up for it. A Great Collection Of Short Stories......., 02 Jun 2005
As I said in my review of Sandman: "Fables & Reflections", Neil and the team would write short, self-contained stories between the big ones (in order to attract new readers). The stories here are more horror-based than those of "Fables." My favourite is "Caliope" - the tale of a writer's need for inspiration, and the depths to which he'll sink to find it. The other three stories star Lady Death, William Shakespeare and a Cat with a dream. If you enjoyed the "Fables" collection then this is a must. Or check-out "Fables & Reflections" next if you like this volume. On a side note, I should mention the size of this book. Compared to other titles in the series, this is by far the smallest. It wouldn't be so bad, except a big portion of the book is dedicated to reprinting one of Neil's story scripts. As a writer myself, I found this interesting. But most people buy Sandman for the stories, and I can imagine many being a tad narked since this precious space could have been used to squeeze-in another great tale. That aside... DEFINITELY a superb read. Sandman is the business, folks!
the worst of an amazing series, 17 Jun 2003
I was pretty disappointed with this edition in the series as it is far too short! Four decent but emphatically short stories and a large section devoted to the script of the first of these stories is as somebody else noted, a huge cop out. You simply do not get value for money here. The stories themselves whilst perfectly enjoyable are far from the (extraordinarily high) standards which I have come to expect with the other Sandman novels. It is certainly worth reading but borrow a friends copy. Only for those who wish to complete the series.
Gorgeous., 07 Apr 2001
This is the one that hooked me on Sandman. I now have almost everything Gaiman has ever written. So this was a good starting point for me. There is a large portion of the book devoted to the script for Calliope, which is probably annoying if you are a first-time reader of Sandman, but brilliant if you're an obbsessive, like me! There are four short stories, each of which is a fine example of why Gaiman has become so famous now. My personal favourite is 'Calliope' which reveals a few things about Morpheus, the Sandman of the title. If you're a first time reader of Gaiman's graphic work, then I'd start off with 'Preludes and Nocturnes', the first in the series, but if you've already read his work, you won't be disappointed. I only direct you to the first in the series because its annoying to read things backwards, and once you've read a bit of 'The Sandman' you'll read all of it. I guarantee.
Disappointing, 19 Mar 2001
I loved the first 2 in the Sandman series but I found this very uninteresting. Maybe I was expecting too much with the first two books having set the scene so well but I just found all of the stories somewhat pedestrian and aimless. The last fifth of the book (the original script for the 1st story) is one of the biggest cop outs that i've ever come across. These books are more expensive than most and don't last that long so to see such a large portion of the book devoted to satisfying the curiosity of a small proportion of the readership is scandalous.
Packed With DVD Extras, 04 Oct 2007
Neil Gaiman's Sandman collects the first 20 issues of the comic series , and highlights one of the UK's brightest talents in the industry . The story focuses on an immortal being , Dream , who is one of the seven Endless . These demigods are eternally tied to all living things in the universe ( not just on Earth as is demonstrated in the first few issues ).
The book is presented in an enlarged "prestige" format , with high quality paper and binding , as well as recoloured artwork throughout the book . There is also the added extras of Neil Gaiman's initial pitch and plot synopsis for the first few issues , and a complete script for the award winning 'Midsummer's Night Dream' issue .
The book is beautiful , and as you read on ( almost three years worth of issues ) you can see the increasing maturity of Gaiman and his artists . It may be quite pricey , but is certainly no dearer than if you had bought each issue individually ( or even now in terms of the rarity value ) , and represents excellent value .
Thoroughly recommended .
Come on amazon!, 29 Sep 2007
This volume isn't out of print, and it's the start of a series the second of which is out this autumn... So why are you claiming you can't get hold of it?
Sandman rules!, 03 Jun 2007
I completely agree with the reader from leicester below in that this needs to b listed as ideal for older teens. i too started to read sandman and the death comics at this time and it totally opened up my world, not only to mythology but to the world of comics in general which i had before percieved to be only about superheros.
I think there is still great misunderstanding about what the comic medium has to offer and pointing people as young as possible in this direction may go some way to help sort that out!
P.S. Buy this book, if u like sandman and u like gaiman, u cant really go wrong (so long as its not gunna put u in the red ofcourse ;) )
Never have the words , 06 Feb 2007
First off, this is not an item you have to pay full price for so don't be daunted. Shop around and don't assume you have to fork over £70. I had to wait a bit, but in the end got it for about £[...] new from america.
Onto the book itself. I've only really begun to read comics recently (Personally I don't much like the term graphic novel, I think it was Neil Gaiman who said "Graphic novel is to comic, what 'lady of the night' is to prostitute) and what I've read has mainly been restricted to the darker comics: Sandman, Hellblazer, Lucifer, Sin City, etc. Sandman is by far the stand-out. Simply for the scope of the narrative (I'm a sucker for old mythology and high tragedy anyway), the quality of the writing, and the beautiful artwork.
That little intro established, I would like to say that while I object very much to the stereotyped view of the teenager with a comic book obsession, harping on about a spiderman villain in issue #91, I confess that reading Absolute Sandman brings out something of the anorak in me.
Effectively, what we have on our hands here is the equivalent of your favourite film, remastered, extended, on solid gold DVDs, with a leather slip case and about as many comentaries and interviews as you could wish. Not only is the first quarter of Gaiman's superb comic series reproduced here with early editions recoloured (the colouring on some of the early issues not being great), in large format, on beautiful quality paper, superbly bound, with a big presentation slip case, large amounts of concept art, Gaiman's original proposal, and so on and so on...
This books is quite simply a joy to read, even if you almost feel bad about touching it. It's that nice.
I won't really repeat anything about the comics themselves, as it has all been said in other places far more eloquently than I ever could. Anyway, if you're reading this chances are you're a fan, as few people would fork over this much for 1/4 of a comic series they didn't already know.
But to all you Gaiman fans out there: Start reserving your expendable income, the other volumes are coming.
Absolutely the best way to read Sandman, 04 Jan 2007
The quality of this volume is hard to beat, both in terms of content and packaging. The first 20 issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman have been collected in the Absolute oversize format with new colouring that compliments the artwork.
I had no prior experience of Sandman and was blown away. Highly recommended.
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Customer Reviews
A little on the short side, but still an excellent collection, 22 Aug 2008
The third Sandman collection represents a change of pace from the first two. Whilst the first two were unified by a central story arc that ran through each one, Dream Country is essentially a short story collection, featuring four tales that although self-contained, do illuminate parts of the backstory and the ongoing overall storylines of the entire series.
The first story is Calliope. A young writer, Richard Madoc, has a bad case of writer's block following the success of his first novel. In desperation he turns to the occult to find a way out of his problem and enlists the help of Erasmus Fry, an elderly author and successful playwright. It turns out that Fry owes his success to his imprisonment of Calliope, one of the nine muses of antiquity (and the former muse of Homer), and he passes control of Calliope over to Madoc. By holding her hostage and abusing her, Madoc gains the inspiration he needs and becomes a bestselling writer, churning out novels, a poetry collection, screenplays and even becoming a gifted director. Unfortunately for Madoc, he is unaware that Calliope is also the former lover of one of the Endless...
This is an interesting story. The notion of 'the muse' is explored here, although the literal personification of Calliope can be substituted for whatever a writer uses for inspiration. The abuse and over-use of the muse resulting in a horrendous case of writer's block, perhaps permanantly, is an interesting idea to use for a story, but it works well. We also get some intriguing backstory for The Sandman overall, including the tantalising revelation that somewhere out there Morpheus has a son (although those who know their Greek mythology will be way ahead of the game here). For those interested in writing graphic novels and comics, the complete script for Calliope is included in the book as well.
The second story is much more straightforward and fun. The Dream of a Thousand Cats sees a cat travelling the world, preaching a message to all the other cats, and we see the impact of that message on a young kitten. This story has been called 'cute' but it really isn't. The dream the cat is trying to bring into reality really isn't very nice (especially for humans) and the final line and image are brilliantly contrasted with what is going on in the cat's mind. This is as self-contained as Sandman stories come, and shows Gaiman's wit and imagination in full flower.
The third story is the legendary A Midsummer Night's Dream. Back in Men of Good Fortune (included in The Doll's House), Dream and William Shakespeare made a deal whereby Dream would give Shakespeare access to a font of imagination in return for Shakespeare writing two plays for him. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first, written for Dream to show as a piece of entertainment to the real faerie king and queen, Auberon and Titania, who return to the mortal plane with their retainers for the occasion.
This is a splendid, clever story which rightfully won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. As the play unfolds events offstage are illuminated by it: Titania's enchantment of Shakespeare's son (who died several years later), Robin Goodfellow (Puck)'s irritation at being portrayed by a mortal and the running commentary provided by several of the faerie court viewing the play, with some disagreement about whether they should congratulate the mortals for their art or eat them. There's also some more scene-setting for later stories (an invitation is extended to Dream who hasn't followed up on it by four centuries later). The highlight of the collection, this is an amusing story, although probably of most interest to established Shakespeare fans.
The final story is Facade, about an extremely obscure DC hero who finds herself lost and lonely, living in her apartment with a weekly conversation with the guy who signs her pension cheques as the highlight of her week. This is a somewhat bleak story about a hero with the power to save the world but who loses herself in the process, but it is given an uplifting ending by the arrival of Death, who is fleshed out a lot more here than in her previous brief appearances.
Dream Country (****) is an excellent addition to The Sandman mythos, although it can be criticised for being on the short side (collecting only four issues, compared to the previous two collections' eight apiece) and only padded out to a reasonable length by the Calliope script. But the quality of the actual stories more than makes up for it. A Great Collection Of Short Stories......., 02 Jun 2005
As I said in my review of Sandman: "Fables & Reflections", Neil and the team would write short, self-contained stories between the big ones (in order to attract new readers). The stories here are more horror-based than those of "Fables." My favourite is "Caliope" - the tale of a writer's need for inspiration, and the depths to which he'll sink to find it. The other three stories star Lady Death, William Shakespeare and a Cat with a dream. If you enjoyed the "Fables" collection then this is a must. Or check-out "Fables & Reflections" next if you like this volume. On a side note, I should mention the size of this book. Compared to other titles in the series, this is by far the smallest. It wouldn't be so bad, except a big portion of the book is dedicated to reprinting one of Neil's story scripts. As a writer myself, I found this interesting. But most people buy Sandman for the stories, and I can imagine many being a tad narked since this precious space could have been used to squeeze-in another great tale. That aside... DEFINITELY a superb read. Sandman is the business, folks!
the worst of an amazing series, 17 Jun 2003
I was pretty disappointed with this edition in the series as it is far too short! Four decent but emphatically short stories and a large section devoted to the script of the first of these stories is as somebody else noted, a huge cop out. You simply do not get value for money here. The stories themselves whilst perfectly enjoyable are far from the (extraordinarily high) standards which I have come to expect with the other Sandman novels. It is certainly worth reading but borrow a friends copy. Only for those who wish to complete the series.
Gorgeous., 07 Apr 2001
This is the one that hooked me on Sandman. I now have almost everything Gaiman has ever written. So this was a good starting point for me. There is a large portion of the book devoted to the script for Calliope, which is probably annoying if you are a first-time reader of Sandman, but brilliant if you're an obbsessive, like me! There are four short stories, each of which is a fine example of why Gaiman has become so famous now. My personal favourite is 'Calliope' which reveals a few things about Morpheus, the Sandman of the title. If you're a first time reader of Gaiman's graphic work, then I'd start off with 'Preludes and Nocturnes', the first in the series, but if you've already read his work, you won't be disappointed. I only direct you to the first in the series because its annoying to read things backwards, and once you've read a bit of 'The Sandman' you'll read all of it. I guarantee.
Disappointing, 19 Mar 2001
I loved the first 2 in the Sandman series but I found this very uninteresting. Maybe I was expecting too much with the first two books having set the scene so well but I just found all of the stories somewhat pedestrian and aimless. The last fifth of the book (the original script for the 1st story) is one of the biggest cop outs that i've ever come across. These books are more expensive than most and don't last that long so to see such a large portion of the book devoted to satisfying the curiosity of a small proportion of the readership is scandalous.
Packed With DVD Extras, 04 Oct 2007
Neil Gaiman's Sandman collects the first 20 issues of the comic series , and highlights one of the UK's brightest talents in the industry . The story focuses on an immortal being , Dream , who is one of the seven Endless . These demigods are eternally tied to all living things in the universe ( not just on Earth as is demonstrated in the first few issues ).
The book is presented in an enlarged "prestige" format , with high quality paper and binding , as well as recoloured artwork throughout the book . There is also the added extras of Neil Gaiman's initial pitch and plot synopsis for the first few issues , and a complete script for the award winning 'Midsummer's Night Dream' issue .
The book is beautiful , and as you read on ( almost three years worth of issues ) you can see the increasing maturity of Gaiman and his artists . It may be quite pricey , but is certainly no dearer than if you had bought each issue individually ( or even now in terms of the rarity value ) , and represents excellent value .
Thoroughly recommended .
Come on amazon!, 29 Sep 2007
This volume isn't out of print, and it's the start of a series the second of which is out this autumn... So why are you claiming you can't get hold of it?
Sandman rules!, 03 Jun 2007
I completely agree with the reader from leicester below in that this needs to b listed as ideal for older teens. i too started to read sandman and the death comics at this time and it totally opened up my world, not only to mythology but to the world of comics in general which i had before percieved to be only about superheros.
I think there is still great misunderstanding about what the comic medium has to offer and pointing people as young as possible in this direction may go some way to help sort that out!
P.S. Buy this book, if u like sandman and u like gaiman, u cant really go wrong (so long as its not gunna put u in the red ofcourse ;) )
Never have the words , 06 Feb 2007
First off, this is not an item you have to pay full price for so don't be daunted. Shop around and don't assume you have to fork over £70. I had to wait a bit, but in the end got it for about £[...] new from america.
Onto the book itself. I've only really begun to read comics recently (Personally I don't much like the term graphic novel, I think it was Neil Gaiman who said "Graphic novel is to comic, what 'lady of the night' is to prostitute) and what I've read has mainly been restricted to the darker comics: Sandman, Hellblazer, Lucifer, Sin City, etc. Sandman is by far the stand-out. Simply for the scope of the narrative (I'm a sucker for old mythology and high tragedy anyway), the quality of the writing, and the beautiful artwork.
That little intro established, I would like to say that while I object very much to the stereotyped view of the teenager with a comic book obsession, harping on about a spiderman villain in issue #91, I confess that reading Absolute Sandman brings out something of the anorak in me.
Effectively, what we have on our hands here is the equivalent of your favourite film, remastered, extended, on solid gold DVDs, with a leather slip case and about as many comentaries and interviews as you could wish. Not only is the first quarter of Gaiman's superb comic series reproduced here with early editions recoloured (the colouring on some of the early issues not being great), in large format, on beautiful quality paper, superbly bound, with a big presentation slip case, large amounts of concept art, Gaiman's original proposal, and so on and so on...
This books is quite simply a joy to read, even if you almost feel bad about touching it. It's that nice.
I won't really repeat anything about the comics themselves, as it has all been said in other places far more eloquently than I ever could. Anyway, if you're reading this chances are you're a fan, as few people would fork over this much for 1/4 of a comic series they didn't already know.
But to all you Gaiman fans out there: Start reserving your expendable income, the other volumes are coming.
Absolutely the best way to read Sandman, 04 Jan 2007
The quality of this volume is hard to beat, both in terms of content and packaging. The first 20 issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman have been collected in the Absolute oversize format with new colouring that compliments the artwork.
I had no prior experience of Sandman and was blown away. Highly recommended.
Amazing!, 19 Aug 2007
I absolutely adored this book! I was a bit apprehensive about buying it at first because I'd heard all the usual whinings about "oh, but this hardly has Death in it at all!", but I read it and it was another stroke of brilliance from Neil Gaiman. Admittedly it doesn't feature Death as much as 'The High Cost Of Living' does, but it does feature Hazel and Foxglove, who are my favourite humans in the whole series. In this book we see a side to Death that hasn't come up much in the main series- instead of being her usual optimistic self, she seems to actually be sad at the thought of having to take the life of someone who was once a friend. 'The Time Of Your Life' is darker than 'The High Cost Of Living', but this only adds to its absolute amazingness. And any book that shows a buddhist underwear model, a lesbian rock star and her bodyguard sailing to the border of Death's realm in a huge floating umberella has to be worth a read!
A So-So read; not Gaiman at his best...., 17 May 2005
I first became hooked on Carey's "LUCIFER" series, which lead me to check out the Sandman: SEASON OF MISTS story. I have been a Gaiman Fan ever since and now own the complete Sandman Library. However, having just read Death: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, I must say, I feel a little cheated. Lady Death is not really involved in this three-part tale. All she does in the first two parts is sit and listen to another character whining about her troubles, then finally, at the VERY end of the third and final part, she perks up and says a few well-written lines, before wrapping-up the story. This is NOT a story about the sexy, dark character of intrigue we all love from The Sandman. My advice is to check out Death: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, which focuses more heavily upon HER as opposed to ordinary, everyday people. I'm glad to own it (from a collector's point) but not one of Neil's better works is this. I'm presently waiting for Death: AT DEATH'S DOOR to be delivered... full report soon!
The best graphic novel I've read, 23 Feb 2004
I've read a fair few graphic novels and read Neil Gaiman's work in particular. I have to say that this is THE BEST I've ever read. Witchy gothic lesbian rock chic, oh yeah! I got the book out of the library to read and now I'm ordering it on Amazon because I don't want to let it go. Oooh it's good.
The Cutest Face Of Death, 19 Aug 2003
Wow, I mean wow. I never knew of Death, the Sandman or any of the Endless before I read this book, thanks to this piece of work I can now proudly say "IM A FAN OF THE SANDMAN AND THE SPIN-OFF BOOKS BY GUM". Thank you Neil Gaiman for opening my eyes to this and all your other works. BTW: Death is such a babe
An elegant fable about fame its human consequences, 01 Jun 2001
I don't think I'm the only person to have fallen in love with Death, who is certainly Neil Gaiman's most popular and possibly his most original character, and while he himself may not consider this his best work, any story that gives us more of her can only be a good thing. 'The Time of Your Life' may not quite be the transcendental, life-affirming experience that the first Death outing ('The High Cost of Living') was, it's message and philosophy, as well as character development, are more focused. Death herself plays a fairly minor role, with the relationship between the two real leads, Hazel and Foxglove, being plausibly and sympathetically explored. This means that we get less of Death's profound and amusing soundbites, and have to make do for the most part with the sight of her (very pretty) face, but given the quality of the rest of the writing, this isn't as bad as it might sound. Before you read this, you should probably have got through most of the Sandman series (or at least the 'A Game of You' storyline), and the previous Death book.
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Customer Reviews
A little on the short side, but still an excellent collection, 22 Aug 2008
The third Sandman collection represents a change of pace from the first two. Whilst the first two were unified by a central story arc that ran through each one, Dream Country is essentially a short story collection, featuring four tales that although self-contained, do illuminate parts of the backstory and the ongoing overall storylines of the entire series.
The first story is Calliope. A young writer, Richard Madoc, has a bad case of writer's block following the success of his first novel. In desperation he turns to the occult to find a way out of his problem and enlists the help of Erasmus Fry, an elderly author and successful playwright. It turns out that Fry owes his success to his imprisonment of Calliope, one of the nine muses of antiquity (and the former muse of Homer), and he passes control of Calliope over to Madoc. By holding her hostage and abusing her, Madoc gains the inspiration he needs and becomes a bestselling writer, churning out novels, a poetry collection, screenplays and even becoming a gifted director. Unfortunately for Madoc, he is unaware that Calliope is also the former lover of one of the Endless...
This is an interesting story. The notion of 'the muse' is explored here, although the literal personification of Calliope can be substituted for whatever a writer uses for inspiration. The abuse and over-use of the muse resulting in a horrendous case of writer's block, perhaps permanantly, is an interesting idea to use for a story, but it works well. We also get some intriguing backstory for The Sandman overall, including the tantalising revelation that somewhere out there Morpheus has a son (although those who know their Greek mythology will be way ahead of the game here). For those interested in writing graphic novels and comics, the complete script for Calliope is included in the book as well.
The second story is much more straightforward and fun. The Dream of a Thousand Cats sees a cat travelling the world, preaching a message to all the other cats, and we see the impact of that message on a young kitten. This story has been called 'cute' but it really isn't. The dream the cat is trying to bring into reality really isn't very nice (especially for humans) and the final line and image are brilliantly contrasted with what is going on in the cat's mind. This is as self-contained as Sandman stories come, and shows Gaiman's wit and imagination in full flower.
The third story is the legendary A Midsummer Night's Dream. Back in Men of Good Fortune (included in The Doll's House), Dream and William Shakespeare made a deal whereby Dream would give Shakespeare access to a font of imagination in return for Shakespeare writing two plays for him. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first, written for Dream to show as a piece of entertainment to the real faerie king and queen, Auberon and Titania, who return to the mortal plane with their retainers for the occasion.
This is a splendid, clever story which rightfully won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. As the play unfolds events offstage are illuminated by it: Titania's enchantment of Shakespeare's son (who died several years later), Robin Goodfellow (Puck)'s irritation at being portrayed by a mortal and the running commentary provided by several of the faerie court viewing the play, with some disagreement about whether they should congratulate the mortals for their art or eat them. There's also some more scene-setting for later stories (an invitation is extended to Dream who hasn't followed up on it by four centuries later). The highlight of the collection, this is an amusing story, although probably of most interest to established Shakespeare fans.
The final story is Facade, about an extremely obscure DC hero who finds herself lost and lonely, living in her apartment with a weekly conversation with the guy who signs her pension cheques as the highlight of her week. This is a somewhat bleak story about a hero with the power to save the world but who loses herself in the process, but it is given an uplifting ending by the arrival of Death, who is fleshed out a lot more here than in her previous brief appearances.
Dream Country (****) is an excellent addition to The Sandman mythos, although it can be criticised for being on the short side (collecting only four issues, compared to the previous two collections' eight apiece) and only padded out to a reasonable length by the Calliope script. But the quality of the actual stories more than makes up for it. A Great Collection Of Short Stories......., 02 Jun 2005
As I said in my review of Sandman: "Fables & Reflections", Neil and the team would write short, self-contained stories between the big ones (in order to attract new readers). The stories here are more horror-based than those of "Fables." My favourite is "Caliope" - the tale of a writer's need for inspiration, and the depths to which he'll sink to find it. The other three stories star Lady Death, William Shakespeare and a Cat with a dream. If you enjoyed the "Fables" collection then this is a must. Or check-out "Fables & Reflections" next if you like this volume. On a side note, I should mention the size of this book. Compared to other titles in the series, this is by far the smallest. It wouldn't be so bad, except a big portion of the book is dedicated to reprinting one of Neil's story scripts. As a writer myself, I found this interesting. But most people buy Sandman for the stories, and I can imagine many being a tad narked since this precious space could have been used to squeeze-in another great tale. That aside... DEFINITELY a superb read. Sandman is the business, folks!
the worst of an amazing series, 17 Jun 2003
I was pretty disappointed with this edition in the series as it is far too short! Four decent but emphatically short stories and a large section devoted to the script of the first of these stories is as somebody else noted, a huge cop out. You simply do not get value for money here. The stories themselves whilst perfectly enjoyable are far from the (extraordinarily high) standards which I have come to expect with the other Sandman novels. It is certainly worth reading but borrow a friends copy. Only for those who wish to complete the series.
Gorgeous., 07 Apr 2001
This is the one that hooked me on Sandman. I now have almost everything Gaiman has ever written. So this was a good starting point for me. There is a large portion of the book devoted to the script for Calliope, which is probably annoying if you are a first-time reader of Sandman, but brilliant if you're an obbsessive, like me! There are four short stories, each of which is a fine example of why Gaiman has become so famous now. My personal favourite is 'Calliope' which reveals a few things about Morpheus, the Sandman of the title. If you're a first time reader of Gaiman's graphic work, then I'd start off with 'Preludes and Nocturnes', the first in the series, but if you've already read his work, you won't be disappointed. I only direct you to the first in the series because its annoying to read things backwards, and once you've read a bit of 'The Sandman' you'll read all of it. I guarantee.
Disappointing, 19 Mar 2001
I loved the first 2 in the Sandman series but I found this very uninteresting. Maybe I was expecting too much with the first two books having set the scene so well but I just found all of the stories somewhat pedestrian and aimless. The last fifth of the book (the original script for the 1st story) is one of the biggest cop outs that i've ever come across. These books are more expensive than most and don't last that long so to see such a large portion of the book devoted to satisfying the curiosity of a small proportion of the readership is scandalous.
Packed With DVD Extras, 04 Oct 2007
Neil Gaiman's Sandman collects the first 20 issues of the comic series , and highlights one of the UK's brightest talents in the industry . The story focuses on an immortal being , Dream , who is one of the seven Endless . These demigods are eternally tied to all living things in the universe ( not just on Earth as is demonstrated in the first few issues ).
The book is presented in an enlarged "prestige" format , with high quality paper and binding , as well as recoloured artwork throughout the book . There is also the added extras of Neil Gaiman's initial pitch and plot synopsis for the first few issues , and a complete script for the award winning 'Midsummer's Night Dream' issue .
The book is beautiful , and as you read on ( almost three years worth of issues ) you can see the increasing maturity of Gaiman and his artists . It may be quite pricey , but is certainly no dearer than if you had bought each issue individually ( or even now in terms of the rarity value ) , and represents excellent value .
Thoroughly recommended .
Come on amazon!, 29 Sep 2007
This volume isn't out of print, and it's the start of a series the second of which is out this autumn... So why are you claiming you can't get hold of it?
Sandman rules!, 03 Jun 2007
I completely agree with the reader from leicester below in that this needs to b listed as ideal for older teens. i too started to read sandman and the death comics at this time and it totally opened up my world, not only to mythology but to the world of comics in general which i had before percieved to be only about superheros.
I think there is still great misunderstanding about what the comic medium has to offer and pointing people as young as possible in this direction may go some way to help sort that out!
P.S. Buy this book, if u like sandman and u like gaiman, u cant really go wrong (so long as its not gunna put u in the red ofcourse ;) )
Never have the words , 06 Feb 2007
First off, this is not an item you have to pay full price for so don't be daunted. Shop around and don't assume you have to fork over £70. I had to wait a bit, but in the end got it for about £[...] new from america.
Onto the book itself. I've only really begun to read comics recently (Personally I don't much like the term graphic novel, I think it was Neil Gaiman who said "Graphic novel is to comic, what 'lady of the night' is to prostitute) and what I've read has mainly been restricted to the darker comics: Sandman, Hellblazer, Lucifer, Sin City, etc. Sandman is by far the stand-out. Simply for the scope of the narrative (I'm a sucker for old mythology and high tragedy anyway), the quality of the writing, and the beautiful artwork.
That little intro established, I would like to say that while I object very much to the stereotyped view of the teenager with a comic book obsession, harping on about a spiderman villain in issue #91, I confess that reading Absolute Sandman brings out something of the anorak in me.
Effectively, what we have on our hands here is the equivalent of your favourite film, remastered, extended, on solid gold DVDs, with a leather slip case and about as many comentaries and interviews as you could wish. Not only is the first quarter of Gaiman's superb comic series reproduced here with early editions recoloured (the colouring on some of the early issues not being great), in large format, on beautiful quality paper, superbly bound, with a big presentation slip case, large amounts of concept art, Gaiman's original proposal, and so on and so on...
This books is quite simply a joy to read, even if you almost feel bad about touching it. It's that nice.
I won't really repeat anything about the comics themselves, as it has all been said in other places far more eloquently than I ever could. Anyway, if you're reading this chances are you're a fan, as few people would fork over this much for 1/4 of a comic series they didn't already know.
But to all you Gaiman fans out there: Start reserving your expendable income, the other volumes are coming.
Absolutely the best way to read Sandman, 04 Jan 2007
The quality of this volume is hard to beat, both in terms of content and packaging. The first 20 issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman have been collected in the Absolute oversize format with new colouring that compliments the artwork.
I had no prior experience of Sandman and was blown away. Highly recommended.
Amazing!, 19 Aug 2007
I absolutely adored this book! I was a bit apprehensive about buying it at first because I'd heard all the usual whinings about "oh, but this hardly has Death in it at all!", but I read it and it was another stroke of brilliance from Neil Gaiman. Admittedly it doesn't feature Death as much as 'The High Cost Of Living' does, but it does feature Hazel and Foxglove, who are my favourite humans in the whole series. In this book we see a side to Death that hasn't come up much in the main series- instead of being her usual optimistic self, she seems to actually be sad at the thought of having to take the life of someone who was once a friend. 'The Time Of Your Life' is darker than 'The High Cost Of Living', but this only adds to its absolute amazingness. And any book that shows a buddhist underwear model, a lesbian rock star and her bodyguard sailing to the border of Death's realm in a huge floating umberella has to be worth a read!
A So-So read; not Gaiman at his best...., 17 May 2005
I first became hooked on Carey's "LUCIFER" series, which lead me to check out the Sandman: SEASON OF MISTS story. I have been a Gaiman Fan ever since and now own the complete Sandman Library. However, having just read Death: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, I must say, I feel a little cheated. Lady Death is not really involved in this three-part tale. All she does in the first two parts is sit and listen to another character whining about her troubles, then finally, at the VERY end of the third and final part, she perks up and says a few well-written lines, before wrapping-up the story. This is NOT a story about the sexy, dark character of intrigue we all love from The Sandman. My advice is to check out Death: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, which focuses more heavily upon HER as opposed to ordinary, everyday people. I'm glad to own it (from a collector's point) but not one of Neil's better works is this. I'm presently waiting for Death: AT DEATH'S DOOR to be delivered... full report soon!
The best graphic novel I've read, 23 Feb 2004
I've read a fair few graphic novels and read Neil Gaiman's work in particular. I have to say that this is THE BEST I've ever read. Witchy gothic lesbian rock chic, oh yeah! I got the book out of the library to read and now I'm ordering it on Amazon because I don't want to let it go. Oooh it's good.
The Cutest Face Of Death, 19 Aug 2003
Wow, I mean wow. I never knew of Death, the Sandman or any of the Endless before I read this book, thanks to this piece of work I can now proudly say "IM A FAN OF THE SANDMAN AND THE SPIN-OFF BOOKS BY GUM". Thank you Neil Gaiman for opening my eyes to this and all your other works. BTW: Death is such a babe
An elegant fable about fame its human consequences, 01 Jun 2001
I don't think I'm the only person to have fallen in love with Death, who is certainly Neil Gaiman's most popular and possibly his most original character, and while he himself may not consider this his best work, any story that gives us more of her can only be a good thing. 'The Time of Your Life' may not quite be the transcendental, life-affirming experience that the first Death outing ('The High Cost of Living') was, it's message and philosophy, as well as character development, are more focused. Death herself plays a fairly minor role, with the relationship between the two real leads, Hazel and Foxglove, being plausibly and sympathetically explored. This means that we get less of Death's profound and amusing soundbites, and have to make do for the most part with the sight of her (very pretty) face, but given the quality of the rest of the writing, this isn't as bad as it might sound. Before you read this, you should probably have got through most of the Sandman series (or at least the 'A Game of You' storyline), and the previous Death book.
Strange things are stirring in renaissance England..., 09 Oct 2006
The skies are in upheaval; there are whispers of a growing storm ferocious enough to end the world. Strange creatures (the witchbreed) are stalking the woods and hillsides, and a young girl and her burly native protector are undertaking the long and dangerous voyage from the american colonies back to england, bringing strange, awesome powers and warnings of a terrible fate back to the dying Queen Elizabeth. Against this background, the brilliant, twisted Count Otto Von Doom and the puritanical, mysterious Inquisition pursue their own terrible agendas...
Sound exciting? It is. I really love this book. It's a huge, wonderful "What if..?" story, but one like i'd never read before. The transposition of Marvel Comics' colourful cast of superheroes to Elizabethan england is a crazy, inpired notion that could only have come from Gaiman. The art is beautiful, though Andy Kubert (despite his daddy) is very much of the Jim Lee school of superhero drawing, so it is as limited and gorgeous as that heritage implies.
Why only three stars? It's undeniably flawed. There's far too much in it, so there's a panicky rush to resolution in the last half of the book that leaves several significant characters quite short changed in story terms. It reads magnificently for three-quarters of the page count, and just when you begin to think "there's no way he can resolve this in the space he has left..." certain important plot threads fall away, major characters abruptly take their leave or worse, just disappear into the background not to retake the spotlight again. In a time when comics find themselves stretching stories out beyond their natural or advised lengths, this is one story, at least, that could have stood to be half as long again as it turned out to be.
Anyway, i forgive it those cons on the basis of its wonderful list of pros. The conversation between Dr Strange and The Watcher is wonderful and bizzarre and beautiful; Peter Parker's place is surprising but fulfilling; The Invisible Woman's measured, rational debate with Donal over the merits of his summoning of a pagan god, is funny, heartbreaking and masterfully written. That's just a handful of the many things that make me love this book... It's flawed, but wonderfully readable.
400 years ago, but still works!, 16 Sep 2006
Neil Gaiman is an excellent writer. Anyone who's read Neverwhere, American Gods or Anansi Boys should pretty much agree. He doesn't make things easy, his premises for writing are pretty off the wall, but he's worth the effort.
My girlfriend, god love her, bought me this as I was reading his books, and I love comics. I was unsure whether he could tranlate the suspense of his novels into comic-book format, but I have to say he's done it.
The artwork is of a high quality, not always as varied as I would like, but it is visually enticing, and compliments the story very well.
It is a good story too. The characters are almost seamlessly inter-woven with history, and readers of his novels will totally appreciate where his ideas are set. The marvelverse characters depicted are stereotyped into a legitimate role in the story, cleverly using the facets of characters like Dr Strange, Nick Fury, and the X-Men to full effect. There's plenty more people to read of here, and they are manipulated to fit in with an enticing plot and clever storyline.
My one very slight criticism, which doesn't apply to me but may to others, is that you aren't familiar with history, Gaiman, or marvel, is that it may seem confusing, even trite. It is only when you appreciate the writer, the setting and the characters that this graphic novel is shown for the excellent piece of work that it is. Well worth a read if not, but background knowledge is what transforms this book from another story into a fascinating concept.
World 311, 24 Apr 2006
Although I'm not a great follower of Marvel comics, or any comics for that matter this was the first 'Graphic Novel' I've picked up and read. However this book caught my eye because my exposure to the television Marvel. Gaiman has taken some well known and adored marvel characters and placed them in 17th century england. The plot is thick and needs the reader to treat certain events separate from others for full understanding. The reader must also remember not to judge the charecters by there modern World counterparts (from earth 616).
This being the first Graphic Novel I've read i may be slightly biased to say i adore it, But i think with all the characters appearing the Graphic novel it allows fans and readers of all kinds to choose favorites and get involved in the plot. Although some would think that this would clutter the book, i think it allows a unique and yet varied selection of events to take place, where as if you were to limit the charecters to say just a small group far less events would of been possible and the Graphic novel may have become repetitive and dull in its length. Although some charecters only make slight appearances and mostly just fill background space makes it seem as if there over looked but i think it allows the reader to ponder and judge how this character came to be the way they are in the 17th century.
The cover art work is incredible and very eye catching, this would attract readers in its own right, however some say the actual pictures within the Graphic novel are terrible. I however disagree with this, The cover work and the separations within the book are breakingly entrancing, however the art work is good in its own right to. For the amount of charecters having to be drawn Andy Kubert has done well to make each and every character individually identifiable even if they're far in the background, this is an achievement within itself. The charecters are very well drawn to an extent however this depends on the critics view, after not everyone likes the same art style. The colouring is detailed yet simple, the use of diagonal lines is for the appearance of hand craft; i personally think this is a pleasant touch, however some seem to disagree which again is down to personal opinion.
Over all i suggest that readers of all ages, comics and styles should pick up this Graphic novel and give it a chance; i think it might just impress, even if your only impressed by one or two of the contents of the Graphic novel.
I gave this Graphic Novel four out of five, because as does everything it is judged on personal opinion, and to judge it as a five would merely be impressing my opinion upon the reader.
Cluttered Storyline, Mostly Awful Art, 16 Mar 2006
The only Gaiman work I've ever read was his novel American Gods, which I didn't particularly care for, and my only exposure to the Marvelverse is via the various film adaptations of the last few years. This book caught my eye because of the amazing cover and the premise, which appealed to me as I had recently finished reading a non-fiction book about Elizabethan England. Gaiman has taken Marvel's "Silver Age" (pre-1969) characters and placed them in Europe at the dawn of the 17th-century. Some of them are now operatives of the dying Queen Elizabeth, some are independent entities, Magneto is a Spanish Inquisitor, and mutants are known as "witchbreed." It's a time of great uncertainty, as James lurks up in Scotland waiting to ascend the English throne, strange weather phenomena portend the end of the world, and an alien "watcher" dithers over whether to intervene in human affairs. All of this is interwoven with a strange artifact from Jerusalem, the Virginia colony in the New World, and all kinds of other hocus-pocus. Frankly, the entire enterprise felt rather cluttered, with far too many characters running around -- you need a scorecard to keep 'em all straight. Of course you don't need to know the characters in order to follow the story, but I suspect that a great deal of the enjoyment many readers will lie Gaiman's transformation of beloved characters into period players (eg. Daredevil is presented as a blind Irish bard with some serious tumbling skills). People like me, who aren't steeped in the Marvelverse will probably get a lot less out of it. Quite a lot of the characters make only a token appearance, such as The Thing, The Beast, and then stick around only to clutter backgrounds. The story and art would have been better served by some judicious paring down of characters and tangents, allowing the core a little more breathing room. The cover art that caught my eye is the work of poster designer Scott McKowen, who employs a modern scratchboard engraving technique somewhat akin to what most people think of as woodcuts. Each of issue covers, which serve as section breaks in the book, are absolutely breathtaking and beautifully colored. The same can not be said about the rest of the art. I realize I'm in the minority here, but Andy Kubert's penciling is terrible (especially faces) and the digital coloring by Richard Isanove is even worse. Every now and then there's a nice panel with an unusual perspective or close-up, or a decent sequence (my favorite is near the end of Part 3, when Nick Fury challenges a prisoner to a fight), but in general, the panels are jam-packed with characters and text. The "digital painting" colorizing is universally awful, and looks like lame airbrushing. Moreover, a filter of diagonal lines has been applied to most of the coloring, in a very weak attempt to make appear "hand crafted". Overall, a very neat premise with rather lackluster execution.
Neil Gaiman puts Marvel's superheroes 500 years in the past, 16 Nov 2005
Admittedly expectations were going to be high when Neil Gaiman was signed to do a Marvel Comic. Gaiman's decision to create a unique vision of the Marvel universe set four hundred years in the past during the last days of the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, which certainly whetted my appetite to read this trade paperback collection of the mini-series. When you see Scott McKowen's scratchboard covers that ups the ante even more, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with Andy Kubert's art it is hard to look at those covers and not imagine the entire series done that way, even if it would take McKowen the rest of this decade to get it done. So "Marvel 1602" begins in the throne room of Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England, where Sir Nicholas Fury, the head of her intelligence organization and Stephen Strange, the court physician, are meeting with her Majesty on a stormy night. Something powerful being kept in the city of Jerusalem, a weapon perhaps, has been offered to Strange and he has arranged for it to be transported to England. Something is in the air and while the trio talk lightly about how it might be the end of the world it just might. Meanwhile, in the High Tower of the Palace of the Inquisition in Spain, a familiar mutant awaits execution and on a ship bound for England from colony of Roanoke with the young Virginia Dare and her large bodyguard Rojhaz. These are just the first of the many pieces that Gaiman puts into play. My initial thought while reading "Marvel 1602" was that he was overplaying his hand with his conceit of putting most of the original roster of Marvel superheroes into the time of Elizabethan England because he was working in a couple of dozen characters (including a couple of extremely familiar first line villains). I was thinking that he was simply juggling too many characters and that the best stories I have read putting familiar Marvel and DC superheroes in another place and another time have been fairly specific (e.g., Batman appearing in the London of Jack the Ripper). You might put an entire super group like the Fantastic Four into such a story, but in "Marvel 1602" Gaiman works in just about everybody and it would be easier to try and count on one hand the number of original Marvel characters who do not appear in these pages. But then we learn that Gaiman is going for something more than an alternative history version of the Marvel Universe. There are forces at work that explain why Matthew Murdoch, Carlos Javier, and Peter Parquagh are running around in Merry Olde England and parts of the Continent. This is important because how much you like "Marvel 1602" probably depends on how much you think of the prime cause. Ultimately I think it is an okay idea, especially since it forces Gaiman to skirt the origin issues (so to speak) for most of these characters, and what there is often smacks of necessary convenience. However, if there is one thing we know about Neil Gaiman it is that the best way to appreciate his work is usually to look at it from a mythological perspective. That perspective is important because ultimately what matters about the time period that Gaiman has picked is not the existence of the Inquisition and the strong parallels that immediately exists between religious persecution back then and the persecution of mutants that has always been a strong undercurrent (if not tsunami) in the world of the X-Men, but rather that this was the beginning of the epoch in human history where the Old World gave way to the new one that was being created in the Americas. That makes Virginia Dare the pivotal character in "Marvel 1602," and the second time through reading it pay attention to the character more as a symbol. The final irony is that the more I appreciate the symbolism of Virginia Dare, the more I think it undermines the grand conceit of dressing up so many Marvel superheroes in Elizabethan garb. Instead I found myself wanting Gaiman to start over and basically begin with Virginia Dare and Rojhaz sailing on the ship to visit Queen Bess and not involve the other characters. Or, conversely, to leave the pair from Roanoke out of the picture and keep the focus on the Euorpean stage. Granted, each time we read "Marvel 1602" there will be more to unpack from Gaiman's storyline, but while it is quite interesting it does not rise to the heights of "Watchman" (insert your own classic graphic novel standard if you want) and I certainly do not overly interesting in seeing what Greg Pak and Greg Tocchini come up with following in the shoes of Gaiman and Kubert in "1602: New World."
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Customer Reviews
A little on the short side, but still an excellent collection, 22 Aug 2008
The third Sandman collection represents a change of pace from the first two. Whilst the first two were unified by a central story arc that ran through each one, Dream Country is essentially a short story collection, featuring four tales that although self-contained, do illuminate parts of the backstory and the ongoing overall storylines of the entire series.
The first story is Calliope. A young writer, Richard Madoc, has a bad case of writer's block following the success of his first novel. In desperation he turns to the occult to find a way out of his problem and enlists the help of Erasmus Fry, an elderly author and successful playwright. It turns out that Fry owes his success to his imprisonment of Calliope, one of the nine muses of antiquity (and the former muse of Homer), and he passes control of Calliope over to Madoc. By holding her hostage and abusing her, Madoc gains the inspiration he needs and becomes a bestselling writer, churning out novels, a poetry collection, screenplays and even becoming a gifted director. Unfortunately for Madoc, he is unaware that Calliope is also the former lover of one of the Endless...
This is an interesting story. The notion of 'the muse' is explored here, although the literal personification of Calliope can be substituted for whatever a writer uses for inspiration. The abuse and over-use of the muse resulting in a horrendous case of writer's block, perhaps permanantly, is an interesting idea to use for a story, but it works well. We also get some intriguing backstory for The Sandman overall, including the tantalising revelation that somewhere out there Morpheus has a son (although those who know their Greek mythology will be way ahead of the game here). For those interested in writing graphic novels and comics, the complete script for Calliope is included in the book as well.
The second story is much more straightforward and fun. The Dream of a Thousand Cats sees a cat travelling the world, preaching a message to all the other cats, and we see the impact of that message on a young kitten. This story has been called 'cute' but it really isn't. The dream the cat is trying to bring into reality really isn't very nice (especially for humans) and the final line and image are brilliantly contrasted with what is going on in the cat's mind. This is as self-contained as Sandman stories come, and shows Gaiman's wit and imagination in full flower.
The third story is the legendary A Midsummer Night's Dream. Back in Men of Good Fortune (included in The Doll's House), Dream and William Shakespeare made a deal whereby Dream would give Shakespeare access to a font of imagination in return for Shakespeare writing two plays for him. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the first, written for Dream to show as a piece of entertainment to the real faerie king and queen, Auberon and Titania, who return to the mortal plane with their retainers for the occasion.
This is a splendid, clever story which rightfully won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. As the play unfolds events offstage are illuminated by it: Titania's enchantment of Shakespeare's son (who died several years later), Robin Goodfellow (Puck)'s irritation at being portrayed by a mortal and the running commentary provided by several of the faerie court viewing the play, with some disagreement about whether they should congratulate the mortals for their art or eat them. There's also some more scene-setting for later stories (an invitation is extended to Dream who hasn't followed up on it by four centuries later). The highlight of the collection, this is an amusing story, although probably of most interest to established Shakespeare fans.
The final story is Facade, about an extremely obscure DC hero who finds herself lost and lonely, living in her apartment with a weekly conversation with the guy who signs her pension cheques as the highlight of her week. This is a somewhat bleak story about a hero with the power to save the world but who loses herself in the process, but it is given an uplifting ending by the arrival of Death, who is fleshed out a lot more here than in her previous brief appearances.
Dream Country (****) is an excellent addition to The Sandman mythos, although it can be criticised for being on the short side (collecting only four issues, compared to the previous two collections' eight apiece) and only padded out to a reasonable length by the Calliope script. But the quality of the actual stories more than makes up for it. A Great Collection Of Short Stories......., 02 Jun 2005
As I said in my review of Sandman: "Fables & Reflections", Neil and the team would write short, self-contained stories between the big ones (in order to attract new readers). The stories here are more horror-based than those of "Fables." My favourite is "Caliope" - the tale of a writer's need for inspiration, and the depths to which he'll sink to find it. The other three stories star Lady Death, William Shakespeare and a Cat with a dream. If you enjoyed the "Fables" collection then this is a must. Or check-out "Fables & Reflections" next if you like this volume. On a side note, I should mention the size of this book. Compared to other titles in the series, this is by far the smallest. It wouldn't be so bad, except a big portion of the book is dedicated to reprinting one of Neil's story scripts. As a writer myself, I found this interesting. But most people buy Sandman for the stories, and I can imagine many being a tad narked since this precious space could have been used to squeeze-in another great tale. That aside... DEFINITELY a superb read. Sandman is the business, folks!
the worst of an amazing series, 17 Jun 2003
I was pretty disappointed with this edition in the series as it is far too short! Four decent but emphatically short stories and a large section devoted to the script of the first of these stories is as somebody else noted, a huge cop out. You simply do not get value for money here. The stories themselves whilst perfectly enjoyable are far from the (extraordinarily high) standards which I have come to expect with the other Sandman novels. It is certainly worth reading but borrow a friends copy. Only for those who wish to complete the series.
Gorgeous., 07 Apr 2001
This is the one that hooked me on Sandman. I now have almost everything Gaiman has ever written. So this was a good starting point for me. There is a large portion of the book devoted to the script for Calliope, which is probably annoying if you are a first-time reader of Sandman, but brilliant if you're an obbsessive, like me! There are four short stories, each of which is a fine example of why Gaiman has become so famous now. My personal favourite is 'Calliope' which reveals a few things about Morpheus, the Sandman of the title. If you're a first time reader of Gaiman's graphic work, then I'd start off with 'Preludes and Nocturnes', the first in the series, but if you've already read his work, you won't be disappointed. I only direct you to the first in the series because its annoying to read things backwards, and once you've read a bit of 'The Sandman' you'll read all of it. I guarantee.
Disappointing, 19 Mar 2001
I loved the first 2 in the Sandman series but I found this very uninteresting. Maybe I was expecting too much with the first two books having set the scene so well but I just found all of the stories somewhat pedestrian and aimless. The last fifth of the book (the original script for the 1st story) is one of the biggest cop outs that i've ever come across. These books are more expensive than most and don't last that long so to see such a large portion of the book devoted to satisfying the curiosity of a small proportion of the readership is scandalous.
Packed With DVD Extras, 04 Oct 2007
Neil Gaiman's Sandman collects the first 20 issues of the comic series , and highlights one of the UK's brightest talents in the industry . The story focuses on an immortal being , Dream , who is one of the seven Endless . These demigods are eternally tied to all living things in the universe ( not just on Earth as is demonstrated in the first few issues ).
The book is presented in an enlarged "prestige" format , with high quality paper and binding , as well as recoloured artwork throughout the book . There is also the added extras of Neil Gaiman's initial pitch and plot synopsis for the first few issues , and a complete script for the award winning 'Midsummer's Night Dream' issue .
The book is beautiful , and as you read on ( almost three years worth of issues ) you can see the increasing maturity of Gaiman and his artists . It may be quite pricey , but is certainly no dearer than if you had bought each issue individually ( or even now in terms of the rarity value ) , and represents excellent value .
Thoroughly recommended .
Come on amazon!, 29 Sep 2007
This volume isn't out of print, and it's the start of a series the second of which is out this autumn... So why are you claiming you can't get hold of it?
Sandman rules!, 03 Jun 2007
I completely agree with the reader from leicester below in that this needs to b listed as ideal for older teens. i too started to read sandman and the death comics at this time and it totally opened up my world, not only to mythology but to the world of comics in general which i had before percieved to be only about superheros.
I think there is still great misunderstanding about what the comic medium has to offer and pointing people as young as possible in this direction may go some way to help sort that out!
P.S. Buy this book, if u like sandman and u like gaiman, u cant really go wrong (so long as its not gunna put u in the red ofcourse ;) )
Never have the words , 06 Feb 2007
First off, this is not an item you have to pay full price for so don't be daunted. Shop around and don't assume you have to fork over £70. I had to wait a bit, but in the end got it for about £[...] new from america.
Onto the book itself. I've only really begun to read comics recently (Personally I don't much like the term graphic novel, I think it was Neil Gaiman who said "Graphic novel is to comic, what 'lady of the night' is to prostitute) and what I've read has mainly been restricted to the darker comics: Sandman, Hellblazer, Lucifer, Sin City, etc. Sandman is by far the stand-out. Simply for the scope of the narrative (I'm a sucker for old mythology and high tragedy anyway), the quality of the writing, and the beautiful artwork.
That little intro established, I would like to say that while I object very much to the stereotyped view of the teenager with a comic book obsession, harping on about a spiderman villain in issue #91, I confess that reading Absolute Sandman brings out something of the anorak in me.
Effectively, what we have on our hands here is the equivalent of your favourite film, remastered, extended, on solid gold DVDs, with a leather slip case and about as many comentaries and interviews as you could wish. Not only is the first quarter of Gaiman's superb comic series reproduced here with early editions recoloured (the colouring on some of the early issues not being great), in large format, on beautiful quality paper, superbly bound, with a big presentation slip case, large amounts of concept art, Gaiman's original proposal, and so on and so on...
This books is quite simply a joy to read, even if you almost feel bad about touching it. It's that nice.
I won't really repeat anything about the comics themselves, as it has all been said in other places far more eloquently than I ever could. Anyway, if you're reading this chances are you're a fan, as few people would fork over this much for 1/4 of a comic series they didn't already know.
But to all you Gaiman fans out there: Start reserving your expendable income, the other volumes are coming.
Absolutely the best way to read Sandman, 04 Jan 2007
The quality of this volume is hard to beat, both in terms of content and packaging. The first 20 issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman have been collected in the Absolute oversize format with new colouring that compliments the artwork.
I had no prior experience of Sandman and was blown away. Highly recommended.
Amazing!, 19 Aug 2007
I absolutely adored this book! I was a bit apprehensive about buying it at first because I'd heard all the usual whinings about "oh, but this hardly has Death in it at all!", but I read it and it was another stroke of brilliance from Neil Gaiman. Admittedly it doesn't feature Death as much as 'The High Cost Of Living' does, but it does feature Hazel and Foxglove, who are my favourite humans in the whole series. In this book we see a side to Death that hasn't come up much in the main series- instead of being her usual optimistic self, she seems to actually be sad at the thought of having to take the life of someone who was once a friend. 'The Time Of Your Life' is darker than 'The High Cost Of Living', but this only adds to its absolute amazingness. And any book that shows a buddhist underwear model, a lesbian rock star and her bodyguard sailing to the border of Death's realm in a huge floating umberella has to be worth a read!
A So-So read; not Gaiman at his best...., 17 May 2005
I first became hooked on Carey's "LUCIFER" series, which lead me to check out the Sandman: SEASON OF MISTS story. I have been a Gaiman Fan ever since and now own the complete Sandman Library. However, having just read Death: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, I must say, I feel a little cheated. Lady Death is not really involved in this three-part tale. All she does in the first two parts is sit and listen to another character whining about her troubles, then finally, at the VERY end of the third and final part, she perks up and says a few well-written lines, before wrapping-up the story. This is NOT a story about the sexy, dark character of intrigue we all love from The Sandman. My advice is to check out Death: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, which focuses more heavily upon HER as opposed to ordinary, everyday people. I'm glad to own it (from a collector's point) but not one of Neil's better works is this. I'm presently waiting for Death: AT DEATH'S DOOR to be delivered... full report soon!
The best graphic novel I've read, 23 Feb 2004
I've read a fair few graphic novels and read Neil Gaiman's work in particular. I have to say that this is THE BEST I've ever read. Witchy gothic lesbian rock chic, oh yeah! I got the book out of the library to read and now I'm ordering it on Amazon because I don't want to let it go. Oooh it's good.
The Cutest Face Of Death, 19 Aug 2003
Wow, I mean wow. I never knew of Death, the Sandman or any of the Endless before I read this book, thanks to this piece of work I can now proudly say "IM A FAN OF THE SANDMAN AND THE SPIN-OFF BOOKS BY GUM". Thank you Neil Gaiman for opening my eyes to this and all your other works. BTW: Death is such a babe
An elegant fable about fame its human consequences, 01 Jun 2001
I don't think I'm the only person to have fallen in love with Death, who is certainly Neil Gaiman's most popular and possibly his most original character, and while he himself may not consider this his best work, any story that gives us more of her can only be a good thing. 'The Time of Your Life' may not quite be the transcendental, life-affirming experience that the first Death outing ('The High Cost of Living') was, it's message and philosophy, as well as character development, are more focused. Death herself plays a fairly minor role, with the relationship between the two real leads, Hazel and Foxglove, being plausibly and sympathetically explored. This means that we get less of Death's profound and amusing soundbites, and have to make do for the most part with the sight of her (very pretty) face, but given the quality of the rest of the writing, this isn't as bad as it might sound. Before you read this, you should probably have got through most of the Sandman series (or at least the 'A Game of You' storyline), and the previous Death book.
Strange things are stirring in renaissance England..., 09 Oct 2006
The skies are in upheaval; there are whispers of a growing storm ferocious enough to end the world. Strange creatures (the witchbreed) are stalking the woods and hillsides, and a young girl and her burly native protector are undertaking the long and dangerous voyage from the american colonies back to england, bringing strange, awesome powers and warnings of a terrible fate back to the dying Queen Elizabeth. Against this background, the brilliant, twisted Count Otto Von Doom and the puritanical, mysterious Inquisition pursue their own terrible agendas...
Sound exciting? It is. I really love this book. It's a huge, wonderful "What if..?" story, but one like i'd never read before. The transposition of Marvel Comics' colourful cast of superheroes to Elizabethan england is a crazy, inpired notion that could only have come from Gaiman. The art is beautiful, though Andy Kubert (despite his daddy) is very much of the Jim Lee school of superhero drawing, so it is as limited and gorgeous as that heritage implies.
Why only three stars? It's undeniably flawed. There's far too much in it, so there's a panicky rush to resolution in the last half of the book that leaves several significant characters quite short changed in story terms. It reads magnificently for three-quarters of the page count, and just when you begin to think "there's no way he can resolve this in the space he has left..." certain important plot threads fall away, major characters abruptly take their leave or worse, just disappear into the background not to retake the spotlight again. In a time when comics find themselves stretching stories out beyond their natural or advised lengths, this is one story, at least, that could have stood to be half as long again as it turned out to be.
Anyway, i forgive it those cons on the basis of its wonderful list of pros. The conversation between Dr Strange and The Watcher is wonderful and bizzarre and beautiful; Peter Parker's place is surprising but fulfilling; The Invisible Woman's measured, rational debate with Donal over the merits of his summoning of a pagan god, is funny, heartbreaking and masterfully written. That's just a handful of the many things that make me love this book... It's flawed, but wonderfully readable.
400 years ago, but still works!, 16 Sep 2006
Neil Gaiman is an excellent writer. Anyone who's read Neverwhere, American Gods or Anansi Boys should pretty much agree. He doesn't make things easy, his premises for writing are pretty off the wall, but he's worth the effort.
My girlfriend, god love her, bought me this as I was reading his books, and I love comics. I was unsure whether he could tranlate the suspense of his novels into comic-book format, but I have to say he's done it.
The artwork is of a high quality, not always as varied as I would like, but it is visually enticing, and compliments the story very well.
It is a good story too. The characters are almost seamlessly inter-woven with history, and readers of his novels will totally appreciate where his ideas are set. The marvelverse characters depicted are stereotyped into a legitimate role in the story, cleverly using the facets of characters like Dr Strange, Nick Fury, and the X-Men to full effect. There's plenty more people to read of here, and they are manipulated to fit in with an enticing plot and clever storyline.
My one very slight criticism, which doesn't apply to me but may to others, is that you aren't familiar with history, Gaiman, or marvel, is that it may seem confusing, even trite. It is only when you appreciate the writer, the setting and the characters that this graphic novel is shown for the excellent piece of work that it is. Well worth a read if not, but background knowledge is what transforms this book from another story into a fascinating concept.
World 311, 24 Apr 2006
Although I'm not a great follower of Marvel comics, or any comics for that matter this was the first 'Graphic Novel' I've picked up and read. However this book caught my eye because my exposure to the television Marvel. Gaiman has taken some well known and adored marvel characters and placed them in 17th century england. The plot is thick and needs the reader to treat certain events separate from others for full understanding. The reader must also remember not to judge the charecters by there modern World counterparts (from earth 616).
This being the first Graphic Novel I've read i may be slightly biased to say i adore it, But i think with all the characters appearing the Graphic novel it allows fans and readers of all kinds to choose favorites and get involved in the plot. Although some would think that this would clutter the book, i think it allows a unique and yet varied selection of events to take place, where as if you were to limit the charecters to say just a small group far less events would of been possible and the Graphic novel may have become repetitive and dull in its length. Although some charecters only make slight appearances and mostly just fill background space makes it seem as if there over looked but i think it allows the reader to ponder and judge how this character came to be the way they are in the 17th century.
The cover art work is incredible and very eye catching, this would attract readers in its own right, however some say the actual pictures within the Graphic novel are terrible. I however disagree with this, The cover work and the separations within the book are breakingly entrancing, however the art work is good in its own right to. For the amount of charecters having to be drawn Andy Kubert has done well to make each and every character individually identifiable even if they're far in the background, this is an achievement within itself. The charecters are very well drawn to an extent however this depends on the critics view, after not everyone likes the same art style. The colouring is detailed yet simple, the use of diagonal lines is for the appearance of hand craft; i personally think this is a pleasant touch, however some seem to disagree which again is down to personal opinion.
Over all i suggest that readers of all ages, comics and styles should pick up this Graphic novel and give it a chance; i think it might just impress, even if your only impressed by one or two of the contents of the Graphic novel.
I gave this Graphic Novel four out of five, because as does everything it is judged on personal opinion, and to judge it as a five would merely be impressing my opinion upon the reader.
Cluttered Storyline, Mostly Awful Art, 16 Mar 2006
The only Gaiman work I've ever read was his novel American Gods, which I didn't particularly care for, and my only exposure to the Marvelverse is via the various film adaptations of the last few years. This book caught my eye because of the amazing cover and the premise, which appealed to me as I had recently finished reading a non-fiction book about Elizabethan England. Gaiman has taken Marvel's "Silver Age" (pre-1969) characters and placed them in Europe at the dawn of the 17th-century. Some of them are now operatives of the dying Queen Elizabeth, some are independent entities, Magneto is a Spanish Inquisitor, and mutants are known as "witchbreed." It's a time of great uncertainty, as James lurks up in Scotland waiting to ascend the English throne, strange weather phenomena portend the end of the world, and an alien "watcher" dithers over whether to intervene in human affairs. All of this is interwoven with a strange artifact from Jerusalem, the Virginia colony in the New World, and all kinds of other hocus-pocus. Frankly, the entire enterprise felt rather cluttered, with far too many characters running around -- you need a scorecard to keep 'em all straight. Of course you don't need to know the characters in order to follow the story, but I suspect that a great deal of the enjoyment many readers will lie Gaiman's transformation of beloved characters into period players (eg. Daredevil is presented as a blind Irish bard with some serious tumbling skills). People like me, who aren't steeped in the Marvelverse will probably get a lot less out of it. Quite a lot of the characters make only a token appearance, such as The Thing, The Beast, and then stick around only to clutter backgrounds. The story and art would have been better served by some judicious paring down of characters and tangents, allowing the core a little more breathing room. The cover art that caught my eye is the work of poster designer Scott McKowen, who employs a modern scratchboard engraving technique somewhat akin to what most people think of as woodcuts. Each of issue covers, which serve as section breaks in the book, are absolutely breathtaking and beautifully colored. The same can not be said about the rest of the art. I realize I'm in the minority here, but Andy Kubert's penciling is terrible (especially faces) and the digital coloring by Richard Isanove is even worse. Every now and then there's a nice panel with an unusual perspective or close-up, or a decent sequence (my favorite is near the end of Part 3, when Nick Fury challenges a prisoner to a fight), but in general, the panels are jam-packed with characters and text. The "digital painting" colorizing is universally awful, and looks like lame airbrushing. Moreover, a filter of diagonal lines has been applied to most of the coloring, in a very weak attempt to make appear "hand crafted". Overall, a very neat premise with rather lackluster execution.
Neil Gaiman puts Marvel's superheroes 500 years in the past, 16 Nov 2005
Admittedly expectations were going to be high when Neil Gaiman was signed to do a Marvel Comic. Gaiman's decision to create a unique vision of the Marvel universe set four hundred years in the past during the last days of the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, which certainly whetted my appetite to read this trade paperback collection of the mini-series. When you see Scott McKowen's scratchboard covers that ups the ante even more, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with Andy Kubert's art it is hard to look at those covers and not imagine the entire series done that way, even if it would take McKowen the rest of this decade to get it done. So "Marvel 1602" begins in the throne room of Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England, where Sir Nicholas Fury, the head of her intelligence organization and Stephen Strange, the court physician, are meeting with her Majesty on a stormy night. Something powerful being kept in the city of Jerusalem, a weapon perhaps, has been offered to Strange and he has arranged for it to be transported to England. Something is in the air and while the trio talk lightly about how it might be the end of the world it just might. Meanwhile, in the High Tower of the Palace of the Inquisition in Spain, a familiar mutant awaits execution and on a ship bound for England from colony of Roanoke with the young Virginia Dare and her large bodyguard Rojhaz. These are just the first of the many pieces that Gaiman puts into play. My initial thought while reading "Marvel 1602" was that he was overplaying his hand with his conceit of putting most of the original roster of Marvel superheroes into the time of Elizabethan England because he was working in a couple of dozen characters (including a couple of extremely familiar first line villains). I was thinking that he was simply juggling too many characters and that the best stories I have read putting familiar Marvel and DC superheroes in another place and another time have been fairly specific (e.g., Batman appearing in the London of Jack the Ripper). You might put an entire super group like the Fantastic Four into such a story, but in "Marvel 1602" Gaiman works in just about everybody and it would be easier to try and count on one hand the number of original Marvel characters who do not appear in these pages. But then we learn that Gaiman is going for something more than an alternative history version of the Marvel Universe. There are forces at work that explain why Matthew Murdoch, Carlos Javier, and Peter Parquagh are running around in Merry Olde England and parts of the Continent. This is important because how much you like "Marvel 1602" probably depends on how much you think of the prime cause. Ultimately I think it is an okay idea, especially since it forces Gaiman to skirt the origin issues (so to speak) for most of these characters, and what there is often smacks of necessary convenience. However, if there is one thing we know about Neil Gaiman it is that the best way to appreciate his work is usually to look at it from a mythological perspective. That perspective is important because ultimately what matters about the time period that Gaiman has picked is not the existence of the Inquisition and the strong parallels that immediately exists between religious persecution back then and the persecution of mutants that has always been a strong undercurrent (if not tsunami) in the world of the X-Men, but rather that this was the beginning of the epoch in human history where the Old World gave way to the new one that was being created in the Americas. That makes Virginia Dare the pivotal character in "Marvel 1602," and the second time through reading it pay attention to the character more as a symbol. The final irony is that the more I appreciate the symbolism of Virginia Dare, the more I think it undermines the grand conceit of dressing up so many Marvel superheroes in Elizabethan garb. Instead I found myself wanting Gaiman to start over and basically begin with Virginia Dare and Rojhaz sailing on the ship to visit Queen Bess and not involve the other characters. Or, conversely, to leave the pair from Roanoke out of the picture and keep the focus on the Euorpean stage. Granted, each time we read "Marvel 1602" there will be more to unpack from Gaiman's storyline, but while it is quite interesting it does not rise to the heights of "Watchman" (insert your own classic graphic novel standard if you want) and I certainly do not overly interesting in seeing what Greg Pak and Greg Tocchini come up with following in the shoes of Gaiman and Kubert in "1602: New World."
Not up to Gaiman's usual standards, 17 Mar 2004
I do love Neil Gaiman's work, but Mr. Punch is not one of his better efforts, in my opinion. It was loosely put together, and failed to offer up the blurbed promises of "A nightmarish world of violence and betrayal." Though the artwork is good, and Mr. Gaiman's prose is good, the book simply was unable to create even a low-level dread of the creepy Punch & Judy puppets. It is simply a bland story of a young boy's memories of his Grandfather's failing arcade off the main attractions of a seaside business area. The boy is sent to stay with his Grandparent's while his mother is due to deliver his baby sister, and he meets and old puppeteer who is not very mysterious and witnesses his grandfather have an argument with a young lady he is involved in. No real violence or threatening situations, merely a vaguely distorted view of some old puppets. The prose is good, but rather pointless; the artwork is good and strangely done, but when put together to form the whole it came out rather unfulfilling and anticlimactic. A rather generic musing of a mundane summer. If you have everything else by Neil Gaiman, then go ahead and fill up your collection with Mr. Punch, but this is not a good place to start to introduce yourself to Gaiman, and not recommended unless you are a die hard fan. Pick up one of his novels first, or his Sandman series or Black Orchid which was beautifully done.
Not for kids, 09 Sep 2003
Utterly excellent. Both lyrically and graphically. Punch and Judy a kids tale? Apparently not!
A return to childhood., 23 Jul 2003
The easiest thing to say about this book is that it looks simply fantastic, but this doesn't do it true justice. Drawing disturbing parallels with the Punch & Judy Show, the story of the narrators grandfather begins to emerge but is never fully explained, much like the chiropractor's in "Violent Cases". In fact, this book is very much a companion piece to that earlier work, reflecting upon similar themes (how childhood & fiction combine) but taking you down a far more adult path. Recommend? Certainly, but it won't be to everyone's taste...
Wonderfully macabre..., 02 Feb 2003
I have a vague recollection of watching a Punch and Judy show when I was very young. The only tangible memory is of Punch beating Judy - repeatedly. I don't remember the story or the other characters. This book, "The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr Punch" had the unnerving ability to bring trace memories back to vivid recollection. This, in itself, makes the book quite brilliant. But, it is the art of Dave McKean with his juxtaposition of styles and elements that makes this book wonderfully macabre. I switched on to McKean before Gaiman. His work on 'Arkham Asylum' transcended the constraints of the 'comic book' medium and, because of it, he has been accused of being inaccessible by some so-called 'comic book' purists. Which isn't really surprising because McKean's influences owe much more to modern art and, in particular, the Dada movement of the early decades of the last century than to the Kirby school of thinking. But, this falls far short of defining McKean's art because his art is impossible to define. And as a result his version of the Joker was, in my opinion, the best ever. Dave McKean has given Mr Punch the same eerie sensibilities as he gave to the Joker. Just the right mixture of jest and malevolence to make a brutal story even more disturbing. It's difficult to nail down precisely the intent of Mr Punch. It partly revolves around a young boy's growing awareness of evil in the world with Mr Punch as the catalyst but, as with McKean's art, it is impossible to define. And because of this, it has to be read.
An amazing book, the comic strip style draws you in!, 29 Mar 2001
A Romance is a misleading explanation of this book. It features the talents of both Neil Gaiman and the artistic skills of Dave McKean. The story focus' on a characters memories of childhood. Particularily his memories of the Punch and Judy shows which placed fear within his heart. The illustrations are fantastic and the comic style that the whole book enroles in is typical to many of their other colaborations. An excellent book, start a collection!
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