Customer Reviews

The Sandman Companion: A Dreamer's Guide to the Award-Winning Comic Series (Sandman (Graphic Novels))

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I was hoping that the Sandman Companion wouldn't be too much of a repeat of the Sandman Annotations online, and, happily, it isn't at all. There's definitely enough new stuff to make it worth the cover price. Besides that, some things many fans are already familiar with from rumors and/or interviews are clarified here, like the origin of Death, and the connection between Delirium and Tori Amos.

Each Sandman collection is discussed, one at a time, with insightful essays by Hy Bender, and then the Neil Gaiman interviews. There really is a lot of new information. For every issue, almost, there's some neat fact you didn't know before, or a comment from Neil. (For example, it's no coincidence that "Three Septembers and a January" sounds like "Four Weddings and a Funeral", although the comic was released before the movie!) Even if I had known everything in this book already, Neil's interviews are always fun to read.

The book includes an excellent introduction and "Frequently Asked Questions", with questions such as "Why should I read a comic book?" The answer to this question is the perfect thing to show someone who turns their nose up at comics. Yes, comics can be worthy literature, and not only that, they have potential for artistic effects that can't be achieved through film or words alone.

The Sandman Companion is also well illustrated. With the text, there are black-and-white illustrations by Sandman artists, including panels from the comic, trading card art, and proposal sketches--early ideas for what Dream should look like. Then there's a great full-color section with more trading cards, and cool stuff like Sandman statues and posters (Now that I own picures of them, I don't feel so bad about not being able to get my hands on the actual items), foreign-language editions of the comic, and even some of Dave McKean's Vertigo Tarot (Mad Hettie as The High Priestess, Dream as The Hierophant, Delirium as Temperance, Destiny as The Wheel of Fortune, and Death as...well, Death).

This is a very well-done companion book to the Sandman series, readable and constantly interesting. I really recommend it. The hardcover price may be a bit much for the casual fan, but any serious Gaiman fanatic (like me!) should buy this as soon as possible. I'd suggest that after you've finished the Sandman series at least once, read the Companion as you re-read each volume. That's what I'm doing--it's like discovering the series all over again.

Okay, The people at DC Comics are sqeezing the Gaiman/Sandman phenomenon to the last drop. Toys, posters, spin offs - and now an Official Companion? ARGH! Well, actually its a very interesting and readable book. It works both as a sort of Neil Gaiman biography/interview and as an definitive overview of one of the most important graphic novel series of the 90'ies. Most people will need this guide if they want to fully appreciate all the weird details and in-jokes in the series. Oh, and the HUGE Gaiman interview could also work as a sort of introduction to some important story telling techniques of the comic book medium.

When Neil Gaiman set down his pen and brought the saga of the Sandman to an end several years ago, it left a huge void in the comics market. Since the 80s, the trend in comics has been to diminish the role of the writer and bring the artist to the fore (check out Todd McFarlane's track record if you don't believe this to be the case.) Thus most of the comics on the rack will have gorgeous artwork and incoherent plots, a la The X-Men.

Neil Gaiman fought this inexorable tide almost single-handedly throughout his run on the Sandman with thought-provoking, intricately layered tales which simply could not be confined by genre or medium.

The Sandman Companion gives even casual readers a sense of how deep and how complex Gaiman's stories were and provides a fascinating window on the comic business and the creative process to boot.

Author Hy Bender opens with background on how Gaiman got his start and how the Sandman came about, none of which will be very new to those fans who've followed Gaiman's interviews in fanzines.

Then we hit the meat of the book. Bender takes us through every Sandman story, providing a detailed synopsis of the plot, then deconstructing the story with the aid of insightful interviews with Gaiman and others. Even those of us familiar with The Annotated Sandman on the Web will find this fascinating.

The collection wraps up with 3 interviews/essays and a detailed list of credits for the original Sandman comics.

Some have criticized DC for trading on the Sandman allure to make a buck. (Given the puerile garbage they put out for comics today, who could blame them?) The Sandman Companion is no marketing ploy, however. It is a solid addition to the Gaiman canon and will be a welcome gift for fans of the author or his immortal creation.

As a true and loyal fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book series, the Companion was a must buy. The book is divided into three parts: 1) overview; 2) the Sandman Collections; and 3) back story. The format is a combination of researched facts and direct transcripts of Bender's interview of Neil Gaiman over a five day period. The overview discusses what the sries is about, the various collections, its origins, its influences and how it has influenced the Goth movement. It also provides some insight of who Gaiman is, his past writing experiences, his relationship with artist Dave McKean and how Gaiman was "discovered." Part Two provides a detailed summary of each collection followed by an in-depth interview of Gaiman regarding various aspects of the collection intersperesed with various pieces of information about the artists involved and their feelings on their collaboration. Part Three discusses the origins of the Endless, Sandman, the series most character, Death, and the menagerie of folks who populate the Dreaming and the series. It gives a rare glimpse at a comic scriptand how Gaiman presents his work to his editors and artists. The book includes three appendices 1) a list of every penciller, inker, colorist, letterer, and editor involed in every issue of Sandman; 2) other Sandman related works; and 3) a list of references the book utilized and other works by Gaiman. It should be noted there is a fair amount of artwork in the book including 16 pages of color photos. True fans of the series will not be too surprised by the information and will woder wy Bender didn't ask certain questions as only crazed fanatics would. At times, Bender's lack of knowledge can be glaring, however, the book remains a must for every fan of the series. After reading it, I was ready to pull out each pristine copy I own and read them again!

I bought Sandman Vol 1, Preludes and Nocturnes, without really knowing anything about Sandman. I liked it so much I bought and devoured the other nine volumes as soon as I was able. Then I reread them all, slowly and meticulously. The second reading was even better than the first, but still I was hungry for more.

So I bought this book, The Sandman Companion. I was hoping for an in-depth analysis of the series. I wanted to see inspirations, symbology, hidden meanings, historical references. And I got it... sort of. It's kind of a lo-cal, lo-carb version of what I was hoping for.

About half of the text is one long interview with Neil Gaiman, broken up by story and spread out over the length of the book. Also included are concept drawings and the author's own exposition on various stories. Much of the work is focused on the creative process.

I was hoping for a scholarly guide to the subtle details, with footnotes, suggested readings, and all the rest of the trimmings you'd find in a serious study of such a nuanced work as The Sandman.

This book is more like "The Making of The Sandman," and unfortunately reads like a really long article from People magazine.

If you're looking for interviews, then this book would be an excellent buy.

But personally, I got more from Googling "Sandman annotations."

Sandman afficianados who have combed the interviews, annotations and other goodies available (cons, fans, the web, etc.) are probably familiar with at least 90% of what's presented here. For those of us who enjoy the series but haven't researched it, this book is a gem. The insights into plot, characters, themes, and the comic book biz in general are fascinating, and it's a good read, full of wit and Neil's unique voice. The world of the Sandman is a richer place for it.

When DC released the first issue of The Sandman, I picked it up because the concept seemed cool. I hadn't read any of Writer Neil Gaiman's previous work except Black Orchid, but I thought I'd give it a try. Little did I know that I was about to step into one of the most well-told stories I've ever read.

Sadly, Neil Gaiman concluded The Sandman after 75 issues. The good side of that is The Sandman is so superbly crafted that repeated readings yield new insights into the characters and their histories. I've read the series three times, so I figured The Sandman Companion would just reaffirm things I already knew.

WRONG!

Turns out I HAD caught a lot of the hidden subtexts, but a lot more had slipped right by me. I still haven't had my #1 Sandman question answered (What WAS the favor Morpheus wanted from Loki in exchange for his freedom in "A Season of Mists"...?), but I learned so much more that I didn't know that I feel like reading the series yet AGAIN! Hy Bender tackles the series by collection, giving a comprehensive overview of each arc, following that up with interviews with Neil Gaiman and the various other contributors. The book is packed with information, and is done in such a breezy style that I never wanted to put it down. Also, the hardcover is just beautifully designed. It's truly a great package, and I can't recommend it highly enough- Not just for Sandman fans, but for anyone who wants to get into the creative processes of a talented Author.

I recently read the entire Sandman series for the first time, as the books rather than the comics, and in order. And I liked it a lot. I thought Gaiman did a very good job of balancing stories with timeless appeal, that echoed familiar myths, fairy tales, and folk tales (even superhero comic books), with modern references to club Goths, pop stars, pop psych concerns, and so on. (Actually the pop-culture references seem a little too geared toward increasing sales among teenagers, but I was usually able to ignore them.)

Then right afterward I read _The Sandman Companion_. I thought it would reveal greater depth in the work. More explanations of the mythologies Gaiman drew from. More explanations of the symbolism he used. More explanations of plots that were not entirely clear. (Like, why was Rose given back her heart late in the series?) Even endings of stories that were not fully told. (What happened with Cluracan and his Nemesis?)

That's not what _The Sandman Companion_ is about. It's for fans. It's not for analytical readers. Much of it consists of dull summaries of plots that readers who have read Sandman are thoroughly familiar with. Most of the rest consists of trivial details like, which acquaintance of the author or an artist served as a visual model for which character in which comic. They do not support the depth and power of the Sandman story. Really they have nothing to do with it. Bender seems to be catering to fans so hungry for any further connection with the work and its author that they feel privileged to "overhear" his "intimate" interview. Which actually, seems to be merely very carefully calculated publicity.

I found this book quite by accident in a comic shop about a year ago. Being skeptical about companion books, I was QUITE surprised at this book. Neil Gaiman takes the time to go into incredible detail on each issue of Sandman. While I was heartbroken to see Sandman and all the wonders of his world go, this book allows me to enjoy the series over again in a whole new light. It's like seeing a new side of someone that you thought you knew intimately, and falling in love all over again.

This book is packed with behind-the-scenes information about the wonderful Sandman series, but also provides terrific insights about the writing process. If you have any interest in comic books, in Neil Gaiman, or in creativity, you're likely to enjoy this.