Customer Reviews

Absolute Sandman

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received mine in the mail yesterday, and it blew me away. This is a large, girthy, edifice of a volume. The black leather cover comes complete with raised flourishes on the spine and a subtle embossed key and lock motif on the front and back. The letters are embossed in silver, all in a subtle yet glorious old-style script. There is a wide, heavy black silk bookmarker anchored to the center of the spine. The pages are sturdily bound and obviously built to last. This book would look at home in any of the ancient, eldritch libraries Gaiman's artists draw so well throughout the series.

Much has been made of the recoloring job in this edition, and I can now fully endorse it. I do not own any other edition (and now I'm glad that I waited to buy it), but my roommate does, and comparing my copy to his is like comparing old and new photographs. Mine is crisp, clear, and beautiful. His looks muddy and decrepit by comparison.

If you have never bought an edition of Sandman before, this is the one to get. Gaiman's masterpiece in a presentation that rivals anything I've seen. Fully worth all the money spent on it. I just wish more publishers would give their masterworks this luxurious treatment.

Every fan of the graphic novel format chooses for themselves the moment at which the medium "broke out." Watchmen. Miracle Man. Dark Knight Returns. The Contract With God Trilogy. While there can be no right answer to this question, for me it lies with Sandman, Neil Gaiman's brilliant, literate, and highly entertaining romp through areas as diverse as pop culture, Kaballah, Freudian analysis, serial killers, Shakespeare, death, and other areas too many to number. The story follows one of the endless, creatures that exist as personifications of certain eternal forces, Despair, Destiny, Delusion, Desire, etc, in this case Dream.

The story begins with Dream's capture by mystics in Britain between the world wars and takes off at his release in modern times, following his struggle to rebuild his realm, shattered and abandoned for his absence. While the first few issues touch at the edges of the traditional comic universe, Gaiman quickly departs this and enters his own deep textual musings. While a thread binds all the tales here together, a passion play of rise, fall, and self realization, what one finds here most pleasurable are the stories. Dream is the keeper of tales and many are to be found here. Shakespeare's troop performing a Midsummer Night's Dream for the real King Oberon, a man gifted with eternal life, another of a writer who captures and holds bound a muse for her stories, yet another of the trials of ruling hell, and many others.

Nor does this volume stand along on its prose, for the art too may be some of the most lovely in any modern graphic novel, rich and varied. While the book comes pricey, fans will love the oversized format and those beginning the collection will quickly notice that the price is only nominally higher then buying the individual soft back volumes. Of one thing I am certain, no one will likely regret taking this fine work home.

There are enough reviews and analyses of The Sandman Chronicles to warrant my cutting to the chase. I own the entire Sandman in hardcover with covers by Dave McKean. They are gorgeous. The recolouring alone is worth the price of owning this volume (and subsequent ones). Now looking better than ever, the strange world of the Endless is given extra depth. The care to the binding and slipcover as well ensures that this will live on your shelf for a very long time.

I am completely geeked out over this super-awesome tome. It's huge, heavy, thick, and has that great new-book smell. It's leather bound, features high-quality, glossy paper, and comes in a sturdy cardboard slip-cover. It's a beautiful book that's built to last, and it damn well better be with a cover price of $99.00.

The Sandman is the respected, literary-minded, award-winning comic book series that ran 75 issues from the late 80's to mid 90's. Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 collects the first twenty issues, the first eighteen of which have been completely re-colored. Three more volumes are to follow that will collect the rest of the series.

Sandman is the first major project by Neil Gaiman, who has become well-known for his best-selling novels, including American Gods and Anansi Boys. The story follows Dream of the Endless, also known as Morpheus and the Sandman, a powerful entity who rules the Realm of Dreams. Gaiman blends history, classic legends and myth, religion, philosophy, fantasy, comedy, horror, and drama to weave his epic tale. The story takes us all over the world we know, in times both past and present. We also travel within the many realms of Dream, shifting places shaped both by Morpheus and our own subconcious minds. Briefly, we visit other realms as well, such as Faerie and even Hell itself.

If you enjoy dark fantasy, horror, or just heart-felt human drama, you do yourself a disservice by not checking out Sandman. This book is beautiful but pricey (although it's a lot cheaper on Amazon.com). The story is available in smaller collections that are much more affordable.

In short, read Sandman... you won't be sorry.

The comic is amazing. The art, writing, everything about Sandman is top-shelf. This version is enlarged, re-mastered (so to speak), and the paper quality is great. That being said, they charge you $75 for a product with a glued, not sewn binding. What this means is that if you read it carefully, once, the pages might stay together. If you read it twice, or open it too far more than once or twice, the pages WILL begin to fall apart. This is BS. Unless you don't ever plan on re-reading this, DO NOT BUY.

Anyone who wants to start with Sandman I think should start by heading to the library and borrowing several volumes first. Anyone who's a fan should own this.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is a wonderful series; a mythos that encompasses many other cultural mythologies into one nifty little setting. Anyone can pull up a short little synopsis about the series, but that would be an understatement of a task, for the series is so much more than just that. For the series is itself a mythology, a fantasy, and a reality, and anyone who comes across it, with a little patience, will immediately be swept away by the unfathomable truths contained within these tomes, and for once, being lost in a desert of dreams won't be such a bad idea.

However, I do have a few issues. The wonderful facet of a comic book (in the case of Sandman, Graphic Novels or Visual Literature) is that it is a collaborative medium. While Gaiman is undoubtedly a tour de force, the art itself helps to raise the bar of that force. Initially reading the series, you get a sense of its visceral visions and its somber tones, all through vibrant background colors. In the Absolute Sandman, however, the re-colors have somehow nullified some of that mood that was so powerfully combined with the writing itself. Newcomers to the series won't notice it if they start with this edition, but fans will. If you don't believe me, just compare the print from any of the previous TPB's or hardcovers of Issue #6 "24 Hours" (a shocking high-voltage horror tribute) or Issue #8 "The Sound of Her Wings" (this is the issue which for me is the definitive beginning of the mythos) with the Absolute editions. While the writing is still strong, I miss some of the old coloring, which helped to evoke a certain mood that solidified the series place in the comic book world. That isn't to say that some of the coloring hasn't actually improved on the old. In most cases, the recoloring was actually smoother and stronger, and set the mood more proper.

Newcomers should borrow from the library or from friends who have previous versions, to get a sense of the original mood (also, the book is just way too huge for carrying around), then if they see fit can buy the Absolute editions. I still think this is a wonderfully (and adequately) oversized edition, and some of the new coloring isn't bad, but bland in some cases. The large size magnifies the series in proper grandeur, and is an apt edition for fans to collect. It's not such a bad idea to own previous versions, in which there are those wonderful introductions by authors such as Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Stephen King, etc., with the Absolute editions (despite the costs), which I proudly own.

Received mine today and it exceeds all expectations. I've always regretted not getting the original hardcovers as they were released and this surpasses those in every respect. The new coloring is gorgeous and the extras fascinating. I cannot wait to revisit this amazing story in this format. Also, its heft will assurredly stun any burglar that comes calling in the night. Sweet Dreams indeed! Cudos and thanks to all involved!

I have been reading Neil Gaiman's works for more than a decade now, and have the original Sandman comics. However, they were suffering a bit of wear and tear, and so when I saw this set for sale, I had to purchase it! It comes in a beautiful leather like slipcase, and I was lucky as I bought it a discounted rate which was value for money given the amazing set that this is. It is quite hefty, but a beautiful work of art, and a collector's dream come true. Highly recommended!

I've had the pleasure of working with beautifully bound books on a regular basis. Also have had the pleasure of reading Sandman (now a classic) in the individual issues of the original series. The new material alone is worth the price of admission. The book's format and binding is a treat. Fine bindings are almost a lost art, but to have an exquisitely bound and slipcased edition of the comic that brought a revolution in the perception and understanding of comics is a testament to the respect and dignity that the Sandman series has given to all comic lovers. For those new to the series, this is an opportunity to enjoy the legendary stories in the optimal edition. It's simply beautiful. The stories, of course, have become classics in their own time and are worth reading in the original, perhaps dog-eared editions, as well as this exquisite volume.

Frankly, I've thought that most of the "Absolute" editions were overpriced and a little too self-aggrandizing. Sometimes a good comic book is just a good comic book. I think that's enough. It doesn't have to be a seminal moment in the history of Western literature.

But "The Absolute Sandman" is a little different. The art seems to be clearer (maybe it's just larger) and the coloring has been "sweetened" or maybe "fine-tuned" would be a better term. The book doesn't look like it has been re-drawn; it looks like the same art, only better.

The Special Features are also quite good, showing the history of the development of Sandman and the genesis of the "Midsummer Night's Dream" Story.

This book is worth every penny.

If you are looking for a Christmas gift for the comic-book geek in your life (whether he/ she is into superheroes or art comics) this is the perfect gift. [It is for "Mature" Readers, though]