The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
Book Review: The Beginning
Summary: 4 Stars
Collected in this volume are the first eight issues of Gaiman and company's The Sandman. "Sleep of the Just" introduces us to this revamped character--not a super-hero--but the lord of dreams who is captured no less, by an occultist. A proficient horror story.
The next six issues dealt with Morpheus' quest to re-assemble his tools. "Imperfect Hosts" sets the stage; "Dream a Little Dream of Me" pairs him with John Constantine (who was also new to the DC Vertigo line at that time) as he searches for his pouch of dreams. In the quest for his helm, Morpheus travels to hell to battle a demon in "A Hope in Hell." While the bulk of the battle is reminiscent of other stories of characters battling a demon, the ending has a nice twist. The next three installments ("Passengers," "24 Hours," and "Sound and Fury") document Morpheus' battle with Dr. Destiny (a small-time villian from DC super-hero titles). While "24 Hours" does work as a horror story on its own, the entire set of tales reads more like a standard super-hero comic--Morpheus, the good-guy, versus Dr. Destiny, the bad guy.
The final story in this volume, "The Sound of Her Wings," introduces us to Morpheus' older sister Death. Instead of a morbid grim-reaper type character, Gaiman's version of Death is of a lively Goth-chic, and if anything, full of life.
Some may find the art for this series not to their taste. None of it is realistic--but then one could argue this series was about anything but realism. For example, the characters are often misshapen or drawn as a caricature. This can be effective at times, but at other times, it seems sloppy and serves the story poorly.
Overall, I still find myself liking and enjoying these stories after nearly twenty years. While the stories may not seem so revolutionary or original now (just think of the state of the comic industry in the late 1980s), they are still good stories that are competently told and drawn.
Book Review: Astounding
Summary: 5 Stars
I,ve long been told that this series is the best set of comics to date, but I only rcently (as in 4 days ago) got this one. I must say that it's fenominal to say the least. The story takes a few to get going which might turn off some, and the art has alot in common with that of yor(although once you get used to it it compliments the story well. After you get past that it's a thrill ride to the end.
++SPOILERS++
The story is about one of the seven Endless, Dream (he has many names really), whose captured by mistake instead of Death. He's imprisoned for about 100 years, but thanks to mistake on his captures' part he's set free. Afterward he sets out to return to himself what is his, and fix some of what went wrong while he was captured.
I suggest this to any fans of the following: horror,fantasy, great stories, or comics. WARNING: This graphic novel does contain prophanity, gore, and brief nudity.
Book Review: Hour 5: The Flies Get Restless
Summary: 5 Stars
Intermittently, between the films that I watch and the video games I shamelessly play, I do enjoy reading a good graphic novel here and there. Why not taste all the facets of pop culture when I have the opportunity? Neil Gaiman is the author that re-introduced me to the world of graphic novel. Through his fantastic novel (meaning a story that you could read more than one time) entitled "American Gods", I found this fantastical writer's ability to draw upon the strength of other pop culture ideas as well as nearly blend fantasy and fiction together with the greatest of ease. It was right after my reading of "American Gods" that I decided to pick up the first in his ever-popular "Sandman" series entitled Preludes & Nocturnes. From the opening frames of a miscalculated capture, through the inevitable adventures to recover lost/stolen items, to the hauntingly original final scenes where our main character, Sandman, introduces us to his family and builds a stronger, more poetic beginning to the next chapter, The Doll's House.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the first page of this glorious graphic novel. There were so many different themes and stories blazing the pages, that at times I felt a bit overwhelmed, but what makes this collection of stories stand out, I was never lost or confused. Gaiman, with impressive artwork by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III, takes us through different (already established) storylines - like John Constantine, Satan, and the all-powerful JLA - but with a bold new stroke of creativity. Gaiman, from frame one, never looses his momentum. He combines familiar characters with those we know nothing about, but are willing to learn about. What I enjoyed the most about Gaiman's story is that he never once let us forget about smaller, minuet characters. Even closer to the end, when we think that we have already learned all we can about our smaller moment, or that they have left our story all together, Gaiman pulls them out once more to demonstrate how small this very large world truly is. Finally, what pulled this story together for me to the bitter end (at least of this collection) was our main character, Sandman. For a character confined to the dream world and imprisoned for 40 years, his level of humanity and humanistic actions created one of the strongest literary characters I have witnessed. His expressions, emotions, and overall development through these stories kept me glued to the page until the early hours of the morning. I believed in our heroine, while Gaiman gave no indication that his character would be successful in his quest, I believed and kept the pages turning to see what would be the final explosive conclusion.
I do not believe I felt any negativity towards this collection of stories. The artwork was crisp and continually changing to appeal to a growing audience. The story was extremely smooth with characters that would immediately mark Gaiman's honest entry into the world of graphic novels. I especially loved the blend of other graphic characters. I thought this gave Sandman more depth and bigger scope. If I had to point out one miniscule issue that I had, it would be the sporadic change of illustrations. Most of the time the panels read right to left, but occasionally, our illustrators changed it up (a neat idea, ill-fully carried out), but again, a very small issue that was forgotten about by the end of the story.
Overall, I loved this story. While I don't have many words to put down about my overall feelings of this collection, it is just because I am currently reading the next collection eager to see what new troubles our hero must face after nearly 40 years of incarceration. Gaiman and his team have crafted a cult hero with this series, demonstrating humanity and demonic truths all piled into one. Almost takes me down a Hellboy path, but I don't want to draw that connection. I strongly suggest starting at this point in the series. Some series you can begin anywhere and still get the full effect, but with this one, events are set up early to allow for future dwellings and happenings in this fantastical world. Go out and get this now. I promise you will not be disappointed.
Grade: ***** out of *****
Book Review: You know all about this
Summary: 5 Stars
Any comic fan, avid or casual, knows the list of essential comic reading that proves that comics aren't just for kids. Of course there's Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Maus, Preacher, and more, and of course also on that list is Neil Gaiman's celebrated Sandman series. Preludes and Nocturnes is the beginning of one of the most revered adult series in comics history, as Gaiman weaves a tale in which Dream of the Endless seeks to reclaim the realm he lost when he was imprisoned some seventy years before. He sets forth on a mission to regain the tools of his that were lost and seek revenge on those responsible, and on the way he comes across many of DC/Vertigo's icons, including John Constantine and the Martian Manhunter, and travels to the depths of Hell to face down Lucifer Morningstar himself. Frequently chilling and startlingly poignant, this first volume in the Sandman saga is essential reading, and believe it or not, it only gets better with each passing volume.Book Review: It Is What It Is
Summary: 4 Stars
This is, for all intents and purposes, Neil Gaiman's first real piece of work. Granted, he'd been a journalist, and he'd written a couple of other graphic novels, but nothing on this scale, nothing with this distribution, and nothing as significant.
And frankly, it shows.
There are some faults that Neil Gaiman suffers from that most of his fans are willing to forgive, and all are in evidence here. He relies heavily on preexisting characters (though in this case, it's not only mythological characters, but also a couple of moderately obscure stock DC Comics characters), but provides little exposition as to who these people are. His general style is somewhat detached and off-putting. If you don't like Gaiman for whatever reason, this book won't make you like him any better.
All that said, this is still a decent story in its own right, and a necessary step toward getting the best out of the rest of the Sandman cycle (which gets better very quickly). While the first story or two happen to be awkward and clunky, by the time the book gets to the last chapter Gaiman is firmly in control of his subject matter, though he's still feeling his way around. In particular, the last story of the collection is a favorite for most, being the introduction of perhaps Gaiman's most popular (and one of his few original) characters--Death.
As an isolated story arc, the first seven stories are roughly on par with most average comic books. Nothing to write home about, but interesting treatments all the same. I'm personally not nearly as blown away by 24 Hours as the majority of the reading public (though it does have one of the greatest humor panels of the entire series), but it's still solid. Most of the material that you encounter here will become critical in later story lines as well, so skipping it isn't the greatest option.
In short, you're probably not going to get the internal references to the hosts of the old DC horror series (Eve, Cain, Abel, and Destiny all appeared in that aspect, and were salvaged from those stories), you may not recognize the primary DC villain, but you can probably still appreciate the story for what it is, and it sets you up for much better things to come.