The Sandman

[Dancer]

I've never read it, I know that it's meant to be a superb read and basically one of the best comics ever. However the thing that puts me of reading it is the story seems intresting but a little to much based in fantasty for me to be able to connect with the chracters.

The art is another concern, I love vertigo but the art is always a let down. I've never liked the art in Swamp Thing, Hellblazer even Watchmen, so what's the art like?

If anybody could give me anybody feed back it would be great, also this allows you talk about Sandman.

[Shoegaze99]

You could always try this Sandman thread or this Sandman thread for Sandman discussion.

[I, Brian]

It's not necessarily that the Sandman is one of the best comics ever - it just happens to touch a lot of people in the right way.

It's an interesting mix of mythology, modern folklore, and psychological drama - so if theose elements appeal, then Sandman may appeal to you also.

It does have it's peaks and troughs - I bought issue 8 then around 13 onwards, but stop collecting the series towards the end as it felt like it was lacking steam.

When it's good it's good - the one-issue stories could be brilliant - but I'd say there could be weaknesses in the longer story arcs, especially where there was a cross-over to the general DC universe.

The art itself is general comic art - in an ideal world, the entire series would be painted from first frame to end by Dave McKean, and that's really what the series demands - the general comic art was lauded by some people but I really can't understand why. If you never cared for the drawing in Hellblazer then I doubt you'll care much for it in Sandman either. Personally, so long as comic art helps with the storytelling without looking rushed or incompetent, then it does the job and that's enough for me.

Anyway, if you know anyone with any Sandbman it may be worth borrowing something - one of the better longer story-arcs was Seasons of Mist - Lucifer decides he no longer wishes to administrate hell and leaves the realm, leaving characters from all sorts of mythologies jostling to take over the place as their own. The shorter stories - often with Dream as an incidental character - are really concise and rich tales, though, IMO.

[knivesout]

Re: art. If fetish pinups masquerading as superheroes is your idea of good comic art, find something illustrated by Alex Ross or Jim Lee instead. A variety of artists worked on SAndman, and while some were better than others, they all contributed the best of their efforts to create a vivid, surreal visual matrix that is every bit as brilliant as Gaiman's script.

Start with Fables & Reflections, a collection of standalone short stories. If you like it, I'm sure you can use your own discretion to decide what to do next. Good luck!

[Green]

I started with Fables and Reflections, and read the rest in no real order at all (I think it was Doll's House that I finished with).

Although I'd agree you don't need to read them in order, I would reccomend it. I wish I had, anyway. Not because you can't get the gist of what's going on, but I think it's just better structured that way.