Rating: 
Summary: The Standard for the Rest
Review: Only giving it 4 stars, because I will save 5 for future issues which get better...I am not going to waste words trying to explain why Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" is the epitomy of modern stoytelling. Enough has been written already and if you are just being introduced to this series as I have been, then you have already heard all about the stories themselves. I will just say that "Preludes and Nocturnes" is a MUST to read first. It's important to know some of the things that will be explained and referred back to in later stories. Gaiman goes to Hell and back (literally) and covers a whole spectrum of things, from the whimsical to the horrifying. Gaiman's storytelling is masterful and believe me as someone who has taught English before, his books will someday (if they are not already) be used within some college course to learn the great literature that was produced in the latter days of the 20th Century. The self-absorbed literary intelligensia in this country will probably dismiss it as "mere comic strips," not to be elevated up to the level of true literature...they are pompous windbags. Some might even dismiss these stories as pagan or even (gasp) satanic. That would be nothing new in the comic world. Those folks are limited in scope and little of brain. Am I saying too much? Wait and see. Better yet. Pick up these books and find out for yourself. I doubt you will be disappointed. If you are intelligent and want to be able to put a book down and continue to think about it for another week because it was THAT GOOD, then these need to be in your collection of must reads. You will read them again, so forget about about trying to borrow them from a friend. Describing these as comics is a great understatement and mischaracterization. To say it's a graphic novel probably is too weak, but it will do until some future generation develops their own classification of this literature ("graphic-literature?" --has promise.) Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Whatever you do, don't buy this book...
Review: ... at least not if you're only getting started in comics. I say this because the Sandman series is among the finest comics you will ever find. In fact, "comic" is too small a word. So is "graphic novel," which is most often used by adults who are trying not to feel silly about reading comics. Sandman is one of those rare comics that transcend the medium. This is no mere comic book. This is fiction, with artwork. This is visual storytelling, a modern descendent of humanity's earliest art forms. Don't let the "comic book" label fool you. This is a full-fledged book. The entire 10 volume Sandman series centers around Morpheus, the Dream King. One of The Endless, he is one of seven eternal beings who are the embodiments of abstracts. Dream's older sister Death makes an appearance in the final chapter in this volume. Other reviewers have criticized this volume for not being very representative of the series on the whole, and that is true. But this volume is a supremely important one becuase it lays the groundwork for everything that follows. Not only that, it's very entertaining in it's own right. Chapters like A Hope In Hell, The Sound of Her Wings, or 24 Hours are extraordinary examples of comics at their best. Any one of those stories makes this volume worth owning, but you get all three of them, plus five more chapters as well. If you already read comics, then by all means buy this book (and the other nine volumes, too). But if you're just getting started in comics, you should seriously think about starting somewhere else. Because once you've read Sandman, you're going to be spending a lot of time in a mostly fruitless search for more books that are as good as this series. Seriously. It's that good. 10 out of 10
Rating:
Summary: Dream a little dream of me
Review: You can't begin to learn about the depth and intense storylines graphic novels conjure up without first paying homage to this, the granddaddy of them all. "The Sandman" series, reinvented and reinterpreted by author Neil Gaiman, took an existing mediocre superhero and transformed him into an otherworldly god. The success of the series is undeniable, and it has the unique additional factor of being equally interested to both men and women. A rarity in comics, I assure you. I had never really read any Sandman before, so I decided to begin at the very beginning. With "Preludes and Nocturnes", you meet the hero of this series naked in a glass container. My kind of show!
With his siblings Death, Destiny, Despair, Desire and others, Dream is one of the Endless that rule at the edges of humanity. In a makeshift ceremony, a cult attempting to capture Death herself find that they have instead captured Morpheus/ the King of Dreams/ the Sandman/ etc. After 75 years, Dream finds a way to escape his captivity, only to find that things have gone horribly wrong in his absence. Three of his tools in which he kept much of his magic have gone missing. Worse still, his very kingdom has disintegrated. To restore it, Dream much locate his items and defeat a villain that wants to use Dream's power to destroy humanity itself.
Oh it's definitely a disturbing tale. No question. There are elements in this story that will haunt you long after you put the book down. Oddly, Dream's visit to Hell is probably one of the tamer tales. Still, it's well written. There's nothing like a good quest tale to keep the reader wanting more. The final chapter in this series introduces the reader to Death, Dream's somewhat punk rock sister. Funny fact: Death's a big fan of Mary Poppins. Who knew? Drawing in elements of everything from Alice in Wonderland to 1950s and 60s pop songs that discuss dreams, dreaming, and the sandman (of which I think there may have been roughly 4 billion) as well as Shakespeare, ancient Celtic myth, and even the original Cain and Abel story, Gaiman goes wild. Remarkably, he does all of this and yet never looses his grip on the tale he's telling. Things are never so wild that they get completely out of hand.
The art in this book is created by the fingers of three meticulous artists. Of them, I had a hard time deciding which I liked best. I'm not an able reviewer of graphic artists, so I can't say who did which story and what style goes with whom. What I can say is that as the stories continue, Dream himself grows and changes. Though he retains his essential look, he goes from contemptuous to thin and drawn to Robert Smith. The last story in the collection, "The Sound of Her Wings" is probably the weakest of the book. While it's wonderful to see Death so perky and mischievous, I was disappointed by the story's hero suddenly looking so much like the lead singer of The Cure. Instead of the Endless master of night and dreams, we have a pouting teenaged kid. Go figure.
Just the same, this is an excellent starter graphic novel. For the person uncertain as to whether or not accept this art form as actual "literature" (and it's going to be many many years before this mindset becomes standard) this book may not convince them wholeheartedly, but it will at least give them something to think about. A great dark tale with a great dark sexy hero. No wonder the ladies like him so.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story!
Review: "Get this: there's a convention for serial killers, and its disguised by calling it a "Cereal" convention. Then a bunch of them get together and do bad, spooky things" Get this, that is not the plot of this edition of "the sandman" Get this, you seem to be someone who doesn't know what they're saying and is simply talking to hear themselves speak. When you actually understand what you're saying please come back and try to write an intelligent review. If you can!
Rating:
Summary: Enter Sandman
Review: So here's the story. I was looking at regular Marvel Comics at a book store, when I saw this older teen with a mohawk. He told me to try the Sandman series. I had heard of this series but never really looked at it. The guy walked off and I picked up this book. I read the first few pages in the store I loved it. I bought the book, without realizing that Amazon had it for a lot cheaper. I finished the book yesterday and thought it was great. Apparently this is the worst book in the series of 10 or 11, but I really liked it. I'm going to buy the next two because this one was really good. If you like mythology and/or dark comedy this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: LET HIM COME INTO YOUR DREAMS
Review: So far I have read 1 to 6 in this series.And each time I have found a connection with my life.Each time I read ,I forget my existence in this world, find myself one of the dreams.Each time I learn something,I remember something,I dream something...
Neil is really good,he combines his knowledge of history,myths,art,language with his imagination so well.I like most of the comics,but this is special ,you can enjoy X-men or Spiderman,but you can never ever compare it with sandman.Let the lord of dreams welcome you.Let him come in to your dreams :)
Rating:
Summary: "Then I don't know what I am."
Review: When Neil Gaiman came back to write "Endless Nights" several years after the Sandman had ended, the Entertainment Weekly blurb on the cover read, "The greatest comic book ever returns."
That's not really hyperbole.
As much-maligned (and as justly) as comic books have been for trading on intricate and nonsensical tropes, recycled stories, characters that never mature, and bloody stupid dialogue, "The Sandman" found ways to take the wayward form and turns it on its ear. Writer Neil Gaiman summons up a vast, literate, and cockeyed theology of prime movers called the Endless who travel freely to Hell, Los Angeles, and (most interestingly) the Dreaming; a sort of mutable landscape of fictions and stories, ruled over by Dream - a stiff, formal deity and one of the most compelling characters in comics.
The stories in this volume range from pulpy horror ("24 Hours;" "The Sleep of the Just") to high-level speculative fiction ("The Sound of Her Wings," "A Hope in Hell"). The art is similarly ranged - "The Sound of Her Wings" uses the subtle Mike Drigenberg to evoke loss and nostalgia, but the Sam Keith psychedelia that festoon "A Hope in Hell" and "The Sleep of the Just" work just as well in a completely different way. This is the problem with "Preludes and Nocturnes" (which should really be called "More Than Rubies," given the story's title in serial form) - it is both an apple and an orange.
Still, there's plenty to like here, and if you think that comics are mostly semi-literate pablum aimed at small children and minor intellects, you've probably never read anything like it. The surprisingly unpretentious mix of the Bible, mythology, potboiler horror, and G.K. Chesterton is something almost completely unique, not just in comics, but anywhere. "Preludes and Nocturnes" is not the best part of the story (that award is variously distributed among "The Kindly Ones," "Brief Lives," and "Season of Mists"), but it is certainly intriguing and highly recommended to anyone who wants to read a book that is both vastly entertaining and something of a literary achievement.
Rating:
Summary: This Is Where It Begins and Also Ends For Some Comic Readers
Review: What I meant by the title of this review is simple:
You are either going to like this book or you're going to dislike this book.....there is NO inbetween here!
Anyway, back to my review. I have almost finished reading this book. I'm more than half way done, and I think I can form a valid opinion of this book as well as anyone who has read the entire book.
That being said, Preludes and Nocturnes' story revolves around Morpheus (aka the Sandman or Dream). Morpheus is a being called an Endless. He was once the ruler of the dream world until he was captured by a religious cult, which had all thought they captured one of his sisters, Death.
Sound confusing, well.....it gets better. Morpheus was imprisioned for an entire human lifetime, which is roughly 60 or 70 years. This imprisionment also has caused thousands of people to either die from staying awake or die by being in an eternal slumber. He finally finds a way out and escapes. The people who were asleep have finally awaken, but what Morpheus doesn't realize is that everything in his world has changed. He also realizes that he has to find his tools that gave him power, so he can get things back in order. The main storyline is the quest Morpheus goes on to get his tools back.
This is a very complex storyline, but it's great fun to read, and is really unlike any comic book you'll ever read. This book has sparked enough interest for me to buy two more books, and that doesn't happen too often. I once thought that nobody could come close to what Alan Moore did with "The Watchmen" or even what Frank Miller did with "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," but I'm starting slowly realize that this Sandman series is coming pretty close.
Rating:
Summary: The weakest of the Sandman series, but...
Review: ...even then that's saying a lot. A bad Sandman trade is still better than 90 percent of the drek that's being published today. I guess the reason that so many of us consider this the weakest of the lot is because we read it after we had read books such as "A Season of Mists" or "A Game of You" and we knew of the majesty, of the mythology and the granduer that this series was capable of.
But you can't fault the book on those grounds, since it is bascially a set up for the rest of the series. Reading "Preludes and Nocturnes" and then later volumes, you see just how much "Preludes" sets up. For example, in "A Season of Mists," Lucifer makes a very dire decision, one that would impact not only the Sandman series, but the DC Universe as a whole. Someone reading it without having read "Preludes" might be at a bit of a loss as to why Lucifier did what he did, but if you've read "Preludes," then you know why. If you started reading The Sandman with "Preludes" and wonder if gets any better, then let me tell you: boy does it ever.
Rating:
Summary: amazing story
Review: all in all the entire series is a masterpiece of masterpieces. there was so many great parts of each of the books. the first one just barely touched on the overwhelming collection. it also gives you a somewhat different feel to morpheus. the stories. the "24 hours" portion of the story was one of the most unusual and creative ways to show what a psycho would do with powers not of this world. the introduction of alot of people's favorite character death was a pleasant ending. the mythology gradually gets better as the series progresses, but it is great how they introduce the dream king as a prisoner due to rules made in the world of reality. this was the first serious graphic novel i read and i wish that the series would never end, but as it stands i am reading the books again because there is so much to put together.
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