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24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Another DC Disappointing Reprint, August 22, 2009
This review is from: Sandman by Kirby and Simon (Hardcover)
The good news is DC is giving us access to another 1940's hero. Since I was a kid I have heard of the Simon and Kirby Sandman, but could not find (or afford) these comics. DC a couple of years ago did an archive edition of the Sandman (see Golden Age Sandman Archives, I recommend it too), but it did not get as far as the Simon and Kirby years. I am glad to see these stories. The stories are written OK for being 1940's material. If you're new to 1940 comics you will find the stories in this comic era are generally are not as well plotted or well written as the stories of today. Sometimes older comic stories are almost not readable. As I stated the readability of the Sandman stories here are OK.
The problem with this book is the art. It is neither a recreate or reprint scan of the original work. Recreated art has an artist interpret the original work. Depending on the artist doing this (or their contract, example Disney has strict guidelines for reconstruction of color with their old comics to capture the original visual impact) it may or may not be very accurate. Reprint scans do minor cleaning up of the art, but may not be very pretty to look at because of the primitive printing technology used and the deterioration the comics have suffered over time.
DC has used a hybrid scan approach with Sandman. Generally the yellow text boxes have been retouched (example page 19 and 20) in the book. Also the Sandman's yellow uniform in some places looks as its been retouched too, see page 19 and 20 again. The color where it has been retouched is smooth and continuous. The other art in the book is generally muddy and you can see the original printer dots.
What surprised me was how bad the art in the last story was. This story is from 1974. The colors are muddy and you see printer color dots galore. I compared this with the Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus volumes (which I recommend as great set of books). These comics were drawn around the same time as the last Sandman story. The color in the Omnibus books is crisp and the art has been fully reconstructed in these books. The Sandman's last story art is especially disappointing when you compare it to the Omnibuses.
Likely the art approach used in the Sandman was done to visually improve the art and also save money by only doing a partial recreation of the art. The bad thing is this hybrid art scan approach creates art that is now a 21st century interpretation of the 1940's work. You are not getting the impact of the original art work! Well at least the stories were not rewritten.
DC needs to clean up their act when publishing older comics (e.g. don't blame the book's restorer, Rick Keene, for the mess. He has done great jobs in the past, like the DC Archive series. He was likely contracted by DC to do the Sandman book this way). DC has brazenly published a string of badly restored comics in the last year; examples Starman Archives 2, Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore, and now the Sandman. DC - where has your focus on publishing quality gone?
DC you're lucky to get two stars here...
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simon & Kirby's Sandman Won't Put You To Sleep, January 23, 2010
This review is from: Sandman by Kirby and Simon (Hardcover)
Sandman is undoubtedly a goofy strip. Though often compared to Batman & Robin, these Sandman and Sandy stories have more in common with Will Eisner's Spirit. Colorful villains and wacky supporting characters more often than not steal the show from our titular heroes.
And thank God that Dr. Frederick Wertham never sunk his teeth into them. Wes Dodds and Sandy Hawkins seem to fight less for the cause of justice than for the simple thrill of swinging around in tights. In their off hours, Sandy emulates Wes' style of dress and the two of them even share a bedroom. Eep!
But seriously, this is great stuff, full of verve and energy, created by two of the greatest masters of the medium just as they were coming into their own. Sure, the stories aren't complex, and some of the weird action - like Sandman, Sandy and a bunch of cops dressing up in animal skins to fool some crooks, who somehow fall for the gambit - makes no sense whatsoever.
But man, there is never a dull moment. These guys could pack more fun into 8 pages than most modern comics give you in 8 months.
Now the downside, and the reason I give the book 4 stars instead of 5: the restoration work done on the art is pretty awful.
I understand that the original art and film are long gone, thus forcing them to rely on scans of printed books. Perhaps not even the originals; these may be reprints of reprints for all I know.
But the production work is lackluster at best and bad at worst. The colors are all dark and muddy, not the bright, garish colors of American comics Golden Age. In a few places the printing is downright muddy.
And I'm surprised that even the 1970s story at the end is scanned from a printed book, as evidenced by blurbs like "continued on third page following" that appear throughout. Surely film should still exist for a book so recent?
The restoration is done by Digikore, a studio located in India, with whom I've worked in the past. It's a sure sign they were concerned more with cost than quality on this project. You have to really sit on them to get things done right, and clearly no one was doing that here.
The book is well worth a read, but it's a shame they didn't spend a few extra bucks on production and expend a little loving care to do it right. This isn't a book that's going to fly off the shelves in the hands of newbie fans. Those of us who care enough about Simon & Kirby's Sandman to buy the book are likely to care enough to pay a little more to see it done right.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Return with Us Now to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear!, September 12, 2009
This review is from: Sandman by Kirby and Simon (Hardcover)
Some minor quibbles about the reproduction here - the book is composed of scans from old comic books that could have been corrected a bit better, but overall if you are a fan of Simon & Kirby (and what super-hero enthusiast isn't?), this book is a "must have" for your bookshelf.
It contains all of the stories & covers S&K produced for DC Comics for their revamp of the Golden Age hero "Sandman." It includes all his appearances in Adventure Comics as well as two appearances in World's Finest and the last teaming of these two titans of the four-color world in the 1970's when they revived Sandman for a one-shot comic. The only appearances not included are two stories the duo produced for All-Star Comics - omitted because they were simply chapters in book-length Justice Society of America adventures.
I love the paper DC has selected for this edition. It's much closer to the look and feel of actual comic book paper - which also means it holds the colors better than most of the stock for these hardcover editions.
If you aren't a fan of Simon & Kirby, why not? Their slam-bang, in your face action style is what really laid the groundwork for the Marvel Comics revolution of the 1960's.
If you are a fan, then I only have one final question. What are you waiting for? Order this book today!
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