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Rating: 
Summary: Totally different but totally good
Review: First of all let me say that people who are looking for a title themed like Neil Gaimans Sandman, this book is not it. This title ties in a little bit every now and then but that's it for comparisation, it's a totally different ball-park, a totally different sort of comic. What this is is a very fine (non-supernatural) detective story (this particular book collects #1-4, the complete "Tarantula" story-arc) based around "The Sandman", a revamped character from the early days of DC. The Sandman is a guy with a secret identity dressed in a John Constatine coat, an Al Capone hat, a gasmask and a gaspistol, who acts as a secret detective and tries to solve crimes his way. About the story: An anonymous kidnapper who calls himself 'The Tarantula, is on the loose and he claims his vistims rapidly. He shows to be extremely violent and not fearing any act of brutality to show he's meaning business in getting what he wants. The police are without a clue and don't know where to start. And does the Tarantula really pick his victims so randomly ? Meanwhile the commisioners daughter has taken an interest in a young man named Wesley Dodds who seems remarkably interested in the case, and there's also the mystery of the man who's going all over town wearing a gasmask and carying a gaspistol, attacking people who seem possibly related to the Tarantula. Like I said, it's not a Gaiman's Sandman type of book but more of a detective book set in a time about 60 years back. While reading it you'll really get the feeling you're watching a police detective series on TV. People who enjoy titles like Sin City and possibly even Top Ten lovers (provided they don't have a problem with this book not involving characters that aren't out of the ordinary) will have a very good time with it. It's a complex story which requires some attention while reading but it's very much worth it in the end. Try it out sometimes because the fact this book was never a big hit doesn't say anything about it's quality.
Rating:
Summary: Good start to an awesome ride
Review: I have to admit, I've been an admirer of Peter Milligan for a long time --- his sense of literacy and character is (to me) beguiling. Shade TCM was one of his longest running US comics - and revivies a classic Steve Ditko character most impressively. In this collection (which covers the first six issues, rather than the first arc sadly) we get introduced to Rac Shade (from Meta, via the Area of Madness), the Madness Vest, Kathy and the American Scream. Issues dealt with here include the death penalty (an anachronism to Europeans), JFK's assassination, Hollywood and hippies. These all seem very dull, jaded targets - but Milligan adds more value than can easily be conveyed. It's a good mixed bag, but the series really took off later in it's 70 issue run. Hopefully, this will sell enough (on the back of X-Force/X-Statix) to make more volumes appear - if not, look for issues 45 to 50 "A Season in Hell" - the finest moment of this series.
Rating: 
Summary: If Raymond Chandler wrote comics....
Review: I think he would have come up with this character. The Sandman was always, amongst the Golden Age heroes, something of an anamoly - when others dressed in brightly colored spandex, the Sandman wore a gas mask, business suit, fedora, & cape. Matt Wagner & Guy Davis come up with one of the most unique "re-inventions" of the character, creating a horrific image straight out of WWI (with an appropriate gas mask) and putting a unique hero amongst a word where corruption and prestige walk hand in hand. This arc - which may or may not be a "rewriting" of a Golden Age classic (the Tarantula was, believe it or not, the Sandman's first foe) also has the trademarks of classic pulp fiction, including the seedy goings-on of a prominent family, a kidnapping, several murders.... OK, this proves that comics aren't just for adults, and personally, I wish they would release more graphic novels (including the "Man of the Hour" arc, which had a unique take on Hourman). However, let this be your introduction into a unique series that, although never was a million seller, had a charm all its own.
Rating:
Summary: Pulp Detective Supehero Perfection
Review: Nobody has reviewed this book. You're kidding me right? This has to be the finest detective series modern comics has produced in years and no one has reviewed it? Yeesh. The Sandman was one of DC Comics earliest characters, and little more than a glorified Batman clone at best. But Wagner and artist Guy Davis take the walking cliche and make him into a driven individual determined to right injustice. But its the world of the classic Sandman that is so good: its the real New York of the '30s, complete with speakeasies and dives, the Depression, and immigrants; not at all like the WASPs usually populating the comics of the 1930s and '40s. The characters are 3D, especially the Sandman's alter-ego Wesley Dodds and his future girlfriend Diane Belmont. She in particular holds the reader's interest, because she is clearly the most capable detective, even though no one takes her seriously. No one save Wesley. . .and the Sandman. Fans of Neil Gaiman's fiction may know Morpheus, and a little about Wesley Dodds. But they don't know the whole story until they pick up this excellent graphic novel. Sadly, Sandman Mystery Theatre ended its run not long ago, but for the adventurous there's still a chance to find back issues in your local comic shop. Now if they'd only start collecting this excellent series in trade paperbacks, I'd be a happy man.
Rating:
Summary: Underappreciated 90's Comic Title; Hope They Release More
Review: Pop Kulcher Review: Not sure why, but Amazon has reviews for Sandman Mystery Theater printed below. As for Shade the Changing Man, all I can say is -- it's about time. Having released at least token trade paperbacks of most of the DC Vertigo titles, Shade seemed to be singled out for obscurity. Which would be a shame, as it was one of the most well-written Vertigo-related titles of the 90's, certainly on par (or close) with Sandman, Hellblazer, and Morrison's Animal Man & Doom Patrol. The first few issues (collected in this volume) were far from the title's best work, but still pretty cutting edge. At first, Milligan was big into general psychedelic weirdness coupled with an outsider's commentary on Americana. He got a bit too hung up on the (kinda silly) American Scream storyline, and struggled to integrate his book into the briefly-lived original Steve Ditko series, but once he put these aspects behind him, he made this a more character-oriented book, focusing on the 3-way love story among Shade, his girlfriend, and wisecracking NYC lesbian Lenny (all while continuing to keep a bizarre, sci-fi-ish weirdness). The book was often depressing, perhaps even more focused on young angst than Gaiman's Sandman, and that comes across even in these early issues. I hope (but doubt) that they'll work their way through the whole series, but I'm glad to have even a token bound collection of Milligan's ground-breaking work.
Rating:
Summary: Underappreciated 90's Comic Title; Hope They Release More
Review: Pop Kulcher Review: Not sure why, but Amazon has reviews for Sandman Mystery Theater printed below. As for Shade the Changing Man, all I can say is -- it's about time. Having released at least token trade paperbacks of most of the DC Vertigo titles, Shade seemed to be singled out for obscurity. Which would be a shame, as it was one of the most well-written Vertigo-related titles of the 90's, certainly on par (or close) with Sandman, Hellblazer, and Morrison's Animal Man & Doom Patrol. The first few issues (collected in this volume) were far from the title's best work, but still pretty cutting edge. At first, Milligan was big into general psychedelic weirdness coupled with an outsider's commentary on Americana. He got a bit too hung up on the (kinda silly) American Scream storyline, and struggled to integrate his book into the briefly-lived original Steve Ditko series, but once he put these aspects behind him, he made this a more character-oriented book, focusing on the 3-way love story among Shade, his girlfriend, and wisecracking NYC lesbian Lenny (all while continuing to keep a bizarre, sci-fi-ish weirdness). The book was often depressing, perhaps even more focused on young angst than Gaiman's Sandman, and that comes across even in these early issues. I hope (but doubt) that they'll work their way through the whole series, but I'm glad to have even a token bound collection of Milligan's ground-breaking work.
Rating:
Summary: The "other" Sandman, but just as good!
Review: Sure, Neil Gaiman's Sandman gets all the praise, but I prefer Matt Wagner's version of the Golden Age Sandman, which is modified to tie in loosely with Gaiman's stories. This wonderful series ended several years ago, and DC/Vertigo is hesitant to collect the story arcs, for some unknown reason. Thankfully, they at least released "The Tarantula", issues 1-4, for our reading and viewing pleasure. This book adequately sets up the series, fleshing out Wesley Dodds and the supporting characters as has never been done before. Guy Davis' artwork is beautiful, understated, and is the perfect match for Wagner's story. Don't let the fact that this series is "noirish" keep you away (this is no paper-thin Sin City). The story has depth and feeling, and enough plot to warrant multiple reads.
Rating:
Summary: Scream and Scream Again
Review: Too bad they didn't go all the way back too the 70s and show the beginning of Shade, the Changing Man, but we are still grateful to see Shade in his 90s re-invention via the sterling work of Peter Milligan, who is sort of like the Greil Marcus of the comic world--filled with grim and fascinating re-caps of the "old, weird America." The striking thing about the AMERICAN SCREAM storyline is, I think, still the characters Milligan gives us, the tormented Shade and the incredibly generous, if haunted, Kathy.
Lenny remains one of the most original characters in comics, although in the greater world of culture outside she would be regarded as a stock figure, the hip, take no prisoners almost-lipstick lesbian. Hooray for Milligan for bringing us actual, literal change in panel after panel, page after page, and long live our "man on the inside," Shade.
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