The Sandman 1: Preludes & Nocturnes - Softcover

Gaiman, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401225756 ISBN 13: 9781401225759

Publisher: Vertigo, 2010

Synopsis

Written by NEIL GAIMAN Art by SAM KIETH, MIKE DRINGENBERG & MALCOLM JONES III Cover by DAVE MCKEAN The first volume collecting Neil Gaiman s seminal horror series is available in a new edition featuring the improved production values and coloring from the Absolute Edition. In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, collecting issues #1-8, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps Death s younger brother Dream instead. After his 70-year imprisonment and eventual escape, Morpheus goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine and an all-powerful madman. This book also includes the story The Sound of Her Wings which introduces the pragmatic, perky Death.

About this title

Review:

"Wake up, sir. We're here". It's a simple enough opening line--although not many would have guessed back in 1991 that this would lead to one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comics of the second half of the century.

In Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman weaves the story of a man interested in capturing the physical manifestation of Death but who instead captures the King of Dreams. By Gaiman's own admission there's a lot in this first collection that is awkward and ungainly--which is not to say there are not frequent moments of greatness here. The chapter "24 Hours" is worth the price of the book alone; it stands as one of the most chilling examples of horror in comics. And let's not underestimate Gaiman's achievement of personifying Death as a perky, overly cheery, cute goth girl! All in all, there is a roguish breaking of new ground in this book which is preferable to the often dull precision of the concluding volumes of the Sandman series. --Jim Pascoe

Review:

Praise for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman

"The greatest epic in the history of comic books"--The Los Angeles Times Magazine

"One of the few comics that segued from the comics crowd, entering the intellectual and art worlds, winning over a large non-comics-reading audience..."--The Hollywood Reporter

"The Sandman is a modern myth, as well as a precis on why the stories we tell matter so much."--Playboy

"The landmark comic-book series that actually made Death seem . . . cool."--Entertainment Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Vertigo
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1401225756
• ISBN 13: 9781401225759
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Keith Sam, Dringenberg Mike, Jones Malcolm III