Customer Reviews

The Sandman Presents: Taller Tales

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This droll, witty collection is based -- very loosely and kinda sideways -- on Neil Gaiman's darker "Sandman" series. All the stories are themselves about storytelling, the first being the not entirely trustworthy account by Merv Pumkinhead (Dreamland's janitor) of his exploits in recovering stolen dream-dust and (of course) saving the world in the process. He's a James Bond clone in his own mind, with a bit of Agent 86 thrown in. The second piece, which should appeal to my fellow librarians everywhere, is "The Further Adventures of Danny Nod, Heroic Library Assistant," about the perils of recovering checked-out library books. It's kinda weak, though. The last piece is a catch-all sort of visual narrative FAQ about why dreams work the way they do. But in between is the meat of the book, a four-part yarn centering on the last of the Thessaliad witches, her quest to do unto the ancient death gods of various cultures before they do unto her, and her possible involvement with a nice-looking but ghostly fetch (called Fetch, naturally). On the surface, Thess is a cute, bespectacled college student in pink bunny-slippers and a teddy bear backpack, but underneath she's a cold-blooded survivor who's not afraid of anything. People tend to die around her, innocent civilians included, but that's not (usually) her fault or her problem. Willingham writes a good story and Shawn McManus is a terrific artist of the realist persuasion, just right for this sort of story.

This is a collection of stories by various writers and artists set in the Sandman framework. Each of the stories is quite different.

First we have a spy thriller staring Pumpkinhead Jack. Is her really a hero or is he just pulling our leg? The answers might be surprising. The most entertaining story of the lot.

Next we have a tale of a young boy in the Library Corps. He must take his red wagon and retrieve book that were taken out the previous night. The weakest of the stories and far too cartoonish for my taste.

Next we have a three part story of a powerful witch who is the target of a group of death gods. She is joined by a Fetch (a type of ghost). Nice plotting and shows promise of further tales.

Finally we get a short collection of loosely-joined scenes meant to answer dream questions we were afraid to ask. This has its ups and down but is generally OK.

A reasonable collection that will hopefully be followed by more in a similar vein. We shall see.

Fans of Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman' series will find much to like in this spin-off collection of vignettes penned by 'Fables' creator Bill Willingham. Similar in tone to 'Fables' these tales have a lighter, airy tone in comparison to Gaiman's with a dark edge lurking at the periphery. 'Sandman' aficionados will be pleased with content featuring Merv Pumpkinghead, Danny Nod and the Thessaliad witch. Great variety of quality artists makes for an all-together enjoyable reading experience.