Customer Reviews

Sandman: Dream Hunters HC

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Neil Gaiman's Sandman series ranks among the best graphic novels ever written -- and its spinoff materials aren't bad either.

Among those spinoff materials is "The Dream Hunters," a gorgeously illustrated novella about the love between a beautiful kitsune and a Buddhist monk, and the part that Gaiman's legendary Dream plays in their story. Now it's been reworked like fine modeler's clay into an even more exquisite graphic novel, with lushly shaded artwork based on traditional Japanese art. It's a stunning piece of work.

A young monk takes care of a tiny temple by himself, until the day a fox and a badger pass by. They make a wager about who can drive him out of his temple, and who will get it as a new home once he's gone. Using their transformation powers, both the fox and badger try to trick the young monk into fleeing his temple... but they fail miserably. And after the monk drives away the badger, the fox asks to remain in the temple with the monk -- and the two of them fall in love.

But then the fox overhears the Baku -- dream eaters -- talking of their onmyoji master's scheme to destroy the monk through his dreams. Living in perpetual fear, the onmyoji was told (by a freaky multibreasted woman) to kill the young monk without pain or fear -- and this will give him the monk's peace of mind. The fox doesn't intend to let the monk be killed, and when she lapses into a coma, he ventures into the Palace of Dreams to save her life. But asking for help from the King of Dreams has a price...

The "Sandman: Dream Hunters" graphic novel is a very different experience from the original novella -- the novella was a prose story enhanced by Yoshitaka Amano's darker illustrations, while the graphic novel is all about the exquisite images and colorful art. But the story is just as powerful as in its other form, with its haunting forays into a world of dreams that lingers beyond life and death.

The story is actually a rather simple one: monk meets fox and they fall in love, only to become ensnared in a selfish man's plot, and the young monk is forced to go on a journey. It's like a Japanese-flavored version of the Orpheus legend, except that the monk doesn't go into the land of the dead -- his quest takes him into the world of Dream (yes, the dude from the "Sandman" series). And the story takes a darker turn in the last quarter when the omnyoji becomes ensnared in an elaborate scheme to give him what he deserves.

In fact, the story is all the more tragic because Gaiman's quiet, simple prose makes you like the monk and fox immensely -- she's a basic trickster who learns to passionately love someone else, and he's a saintly young man whose caring for animals leads to a romantic love.

And the artwork is simply exquisite -- P. Craig Russell takes his cues from traditional Japanese artwork (lots of maple leaves and flying swallows), with plenty of soft muted colors and elaborate backgrounds. He swirls his realistic designs together with wastelands of bone, dragons of fire, houses sitting in the clouds, and a lord of Dreams who walks in a vast celestial robe of sleeping faces and green fire. Even without the story, this would be a visual feast.

Neil Gaiman's beautiful tale of love, dreams and loss is no less exquisite for being reimagined -- "Sandman: Dream Hunters" is like a beautiful painting of a little prose gem. A must-see.

Incase you haven't noticed, there exist two versions of Gaiman's Dream Hunters. One is illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano (paperback, originally released in 1999), and the other (the product you're currently viewing) by P. Craig Russell. Russell's version is rendered in comic book fashion, while Amano's plays out like a classic fairy tale book (think picture book).

I was not very impressed with Russell's artwork for this book, it doesn't have the detail and style that is featured in the original sandman series or the original version of Dream Hunters. Those works feature a detailed, unique, and ultra stylized type of artwork. The newer version of Dream Hunters feels somewhat flat and bland, it almost has a B grade feel to it. If you are not a hardcore fan of Gaiman's Sandman series, and/or are short on money, I would highly recommend the original over this purchase. The story for Dream Hunters was based on an old Japanese fairy tale, and the original version of this book features one of Japan's finest artists, Yoshitaka Amano. If you want the full experience, buy the original first.

And with a flick of her tail, she was gone.

Originally published with the artwork of a Japanese artist and the story written in standard prose, this redrawing of The Dream Hunters is a traditional comic book format. The new art and format add little, perhaps even nothing, to the tale, nor serve to detract from it either. I prefer the original, but would not hesitate to recommend this version for any fan of the Dream king.

People who are already Neil Gaiman fans and are familiar with the Sandman character will love this beautifully illustrated story. This is not a good starting point for the Sandman mythos, however.

I thought this book was pretty interesting, just like all Neil Gaiman's other graphic novel work. I read the info in the back and they said this novel was not intended to be a comic. But I'm really glad they made it into one because I really liked it!

Something unusual, but refreshing, are the muted colors.

I would have liked to see more meaning behind the characters, such as what is a fox really supposed to be in Japanese stories? sly? evil? silly? not sure there. Same with the badger - is he supposed to be a trickster? or a jokester? I think knowing this stuff before reading the comic would have helped a lot.

Finally, I was a little upset with the ending - I thought it would have come out a little less glum.

"He woke with his hand closed upon a nonexistent key, feeling that the eyes of a fox were upon him."

Okay, its a graphic novel; yes, a comic book, if you must have it that way. But Neil Gaiman's "The Dream Hunters" is a better written and more substantial piece of fiction than 95% of the "real" books that are published today. With a lot fewer words, and a lot more pictures, it actually has a lot more to say than your average top five New York Times fiction bestsellers combined. Still, in times past, I would have been somewhat embarrassed to be seen reading "The Dream Hunters" on the evening commute with a bus full of adults. But now, having begun to wear nail polish in public and my hair in pigtails, I'm beyond that sort of petty self-consciousness.

This Vertigo edition of Gaiman's story is an adaptation of an earlier series told in installments in collaboration with a Japanese artist. Or something like that; it's just too confusing to get into and I'm not even sure I fully understand the explanation given on the flaps or at the back of the book.

No matter.

As a huge, just an enormous, bloated fat fan of the original Sandman series, I've always been hesitant for fear of being let down by Gaiman's other stuff, but I practically inhaled this book in half a day. All of Gaiman's storytelling trademarks are on full display in this story that begins with a wager between a fox and a badger--and that ends, poignantly, with a meeting between two star-crossed lovers in a realm beyond death. Gaiman's powerful and poetic re-working of myth, his mutable blending of dream and reality, and his virtuoso handling of a many-layered plot that challenges rather than insults your intelligence make "The Dream Hunters" a compelling and suggestive read.

I'm half-asleep and practically dreaming as I write this myself and don't feel like blathering on any more about it. I havent had the best of days either. Honestly, what do I care if you read this book or not? I'm basically only writing this review of "The Dream Hunters" to record the fact that I read it and remind myself of the experience when September rolls around and January 4th 2010 comes to seem as if it could never have really existed, something of which my very memory is suspect of having imagined out of thin air, like the unicorn.

Literally, I fell asleep while writing that last line. Anyway, if you want to pass a few hours being entertained by a product that lies somewhere between a book and a television, but far more original and intelligent than both, then you might like to give this book a try.

If you are a fan of the series this book would be a nice complimentary. Books binding and print quality is top notch. Story is very well constructed.