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Summary: The best Sandman story arch
Review: Each story arch of Sandman, Neil Gaiman's adult-orientated comic book starring Morpheus, an amalgamation of morose twenty-something and Greek God, is excellent. But Brief Lives, in which Morpheus' loopy kid sister, Delirium drags him on a quest to find their long-lost brother, Destruction, may be the series' pinnacle. This is for several reasons. Firstly, the story brings the resolution of the series' biggest mystery: the identity of the lost sibling in Morpheus' family (a group of mystic beings called the The Endless who all rule over some "realm" of consciousness) and his reason for disappearing. Yet, the collective little scenes in each Sandman story arch are always just as important as the underlining storyline itself and Brief Lives has many of the series' best little scenes: Delirium (one of Gaiman's most unforgettable characters) trying to remember the proper name of eye-gunk; Barnabas, Destruction's talking dog, slamming his paintings and poetry; Mervyn, a pumpkin-headed nightmare of Morpheus' creation, explaining why his boss is a flake. Another reason why this may be the definitive best Sandman volume is that Jill Thompson may be the definitive Sandman artist. Thompson's simple, cartoon-ish pictures and her flair for telling facial expressions have a way of tenderly assisting the story without letting overly detailed imagery get in the way (a major problem in the Jim Lee era of comics). But the best reason why this is the best Sandman story arch is what is at the heart of the story. Brief Lives is, godlike entities and talking animals aside, a simple, touching story of love and family. There is something about Delirium's naïve attempt to make The Endless "one big happy family again" and the tenderness and grace by which Gaiman writes it that makes Brief Lives an exceptional part of an exceptional series.
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Summary: One Book I Wish I Could Give Six Stars
Review: Gosh, all the Sandman stories deserve five stars. This one deserves six. Atleast. This is THE deffinitive story. I REALLY enjoy the endless, there's something about them and their ways that is so appealing and this story really focuses on that. I really enjoy to see the endless develop in such a way. Especially Delerium (ex-delight) who really becomes a great character here, as well as Despare, who is fully realized and makes for an interesting character (despite her being a naked fat midget). There are no shortcomings to this story. Read this book and it will change you for the better. It'll make you think. Pluss it's actually fun to read!
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Summary: Words cannot describe...well, maybe Neil could
Review: how much i love this book! and the entire Sandman run. this is probably my favorite story arc thanks to Jill Thompson's beautiful artwork. the storyline is simply epic.
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Summary: This is definitely one of the best of the Sandman series...
Review: I am steadily working my way through the entire series, in rough chronlogical order, and I must say that I am most impressed with 'Brief Lives'. The artwork is varied, humourous and colourful, yet unintrusive. The oddly charming character of Delirum is truly fascinating and Dream is finally revealed to have somewhat of a soft side. Additionally, it has the coherance the earlier volumes lack. 'Brief Lives' returns to or introduces a staggering amount of characters. One must admire the manner in which Gaiman introduces 'brief lives' of new characters, and later disposes of them, yet tells us just enough to build our affections. This is particularly evident in this member of the series. For example, the character of Isatar is meerly alluded to, and yet her wisdom, dance sequence (and the change in the artwork) is delightful. As is the devoted cynicism of Destruction's dog. While it may not be the best introduction to Sandman, it is certainly one to look forward to while reading the earlier editions.
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Summary: The best of the bunch - and with this crowd that means "wow"
Review: I have a soft spot of the Kindly Ones because that was my introduction to Neil Gaiman (I had read about him in Wizard, the monthly bible of the comic book world, but I was young, and stupid, and my ignorance kept me away from revelation), and for The Wake because Micheal Zulli's pencils are exquisite - but whenever I _need_ exactly what it is the Sandman has to offer I turn to Brief Lives. It's the distilliation - the essence - of what Sandman is about. Some might argue that Fables and Reflections or even Dream Country would be a better representative, a series of stunning vignettes whose swirling, mythic and dream like quality (I'm thinking of the fabulous Ramadan story) are about horror, fate, the depths of humanity and all that good stuff in the great traditions of fire-side story tellers. But Brief Lives is something even better. As Mikal Gilmore noted in his introduction to the graphic novel edition of The Wake, one of the seminal joys of the Sandman is hearing Gaiman's voice grow clearer with each passing issue. The progression from "The Sleep of the Just" to "The Tempest" is an astounding one; watching him grow makes any burgeoning and would-be writer both jealous and elated. The entire idea of the Sandman was revolutionary and different and pregnant with greatness (yes, a dangerous term, but applicable) - but it wasn't until Brief Lives that we _really_ saw what this thing could be capable of. Some argue that point occurred in "The Sound of Her Wings" in the first story arc, or perhaps Seasons of Mists, but _anyone_ who has read Brief Lives understands the truth.... This story is breathtaking. It's a romp. It's a ride. It blows you away, grabs you, throws you down forever into the endless sky with a wild rush of words and images (the matching of Jill Thompson to this story is once more pure genius), it picks up a fatal and final inertia that doesn't slow down until the final page is turned - that is, the final page of the last issue of the series. It's from this point that the story picks up speed and urgency. Everything revolves around the central act of kindness that concludes Brief Lives, and all the tragedy and death and destruction and redemption that occur later on are merely a reflection of that single act. This is _the_ story. Everything before was technically brilliant, possessed of a fresh and blindingly new verve that the comic books medium hadn't seen in quite some time - but it was somehow _distant_. Brief Lives is full of a passionate proximity, a feeling of the here and now, a sense of both the confusion of every day life and miraculously together with that, the grand rush of scope. This is where Gaiman gets his chops. I can't recommend this book enough. It's got a winding, willowy wisdom (how's that for alliteration?) that stays with you beyond the waking realms, the kind of gift you return to as the years pass by, something that grows with you as oppossed to on you. Each time I read it I read something new and fresh, and each time I read it I never fail to be moved and inspired. Brief Lives is what it's all about. Peter Straub couldn't have said it any better when he wrote in his afterword.... "If this isn't literature, nothing is."
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Summary: Can it get any better than this?
Review: I just finished _Sandman: Brief Lives_ for the first time. There are other things I should be doing but there's no way I can think about anything else, now. I cried my eyes out near the end (which, if you know me you'd know this is something I never ever ever do, I never cry at a book or movie or anything). Is there a word to describe the immense impact a simple work of literature can have on you, an impact so immense and profound that you can hardly comprehend it and you can't think about anything else? I don't think there's a word for it. This review is not very well-composed or coherent for which I apologize, but what can you expect, I just finished _Brief Lives_.
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Summary: Brief Lives
Review: I LOVE the Sandman. Brief Lives, is by far my favorite. The best scene is when Delirium is driving and Matthew is trying to teach her HOW. The drawings are great and the storyline is awsome. You finally see more of Delirium. And now that Desire has he/she doesn't know is he/she really wants it. The Sandman Chronicles are great graphic novels and trust me, they're not just comics! Neil Gaiman is extremely inventive.
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Summary: Didn't like comic books till now.
Review: I never used to read comic books till now, but I guess this would probably be more of a graphic novel. You are literally taken there, to be with the charecters. Once you finish this one you want to find another one.
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Summary: Enriching the Sandman's world
Review: I'm a late-comer to the Sandman, and I don't read the collections in proper narrative order. "Brief Lives" is among the first of the Sandman books I've read, and it gives me a much better appreciation of the mythology behind this series. The artwork is what usually attracts me first. This volume's artwork carries the story in a very capable way. It's consistent enough for continuity but varied enough to express the dreaminess that pervades the series. I like the art in this volume, but it's the story that dominates. How does an immortal quit his job? I won't tell, but it's hard on the mortals who become involved - those are the "brief lives." This book also makes an interesting point: an infinite life may have a definite beginning, then go on eternally. Likewise, an infinite life with an infinite past may have a definite end. I'm not sure what to make of a main character in this book, Delirium. Her former role (not depicted here) was Desire. That clue helps me distinguish Delirium from madness, and Despair has clearly different character. Perhaps, as I work my way through the series, I'll learn more. For now, I'll just enjoy the character's ambiguity. This title certainly gives me reason to read the rest of the seies.
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Summary: I LOVE the Dream King
Review: I'm a recent fan, having been introduced to the series by my younger sister. She has me reading all of the Sandman Library in consequential order, and the seventh installment, "Brief Lives," is quite possibly the best of them all. Certainly it's the only one that made me cry. Delirium, the youngest of the seven eternal siblings known as the Endless, gets an idea in her mixed-up little head to go and search for Destruction, her missing brother. Three hundred years ago, Destruction decided that his realm could function quite well without him to oversee things, so he essentially quit his job and set off in pursuit of more artistic ambitions. Delirium, to whom Destruction was always especially kind, misses her older brother and wants to find him. She approaches the twins, Desire and Despair, who refuse to accompany her; at some length Dream, the thin, serious brother who is the main character of the series, agrees to go along. He is hoping that this quest might distract him from the misery he's been in since his most recent love interest left him. The King of Dreams and the Queen of Madness then descend into the waking mortal world in search of those who have befriended Destruction through the centuries, hoping that one of them may know his present whereabouts. How they ultimately resolve this quest, and the results of the search, is achingly brilliant. Gaiman is a master storyteller, and the artistry in this book (particularly of Delirium, who never looks the same from one scene to the next) is almost too good for a comic book. This book is also of interest in that it is one of only two in the series to have all seven of the Endless appear somewhere within its pages. No true fan of the Sandman should go without reading this book!
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