"Wake up, sir. We're here." It's a simple enough opening line--althoughnot many would have guessed back in 1991 thatthis 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, I greatly prefer the roguish breaking of new ground in this book to the often dull precision of the concluding volumes of the Sandman series. --Jim Pascoe
--This text refers to the
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"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, I greatly prefer the roguish breaking of new ground in this book to the often dull precision of the concluding volumes of the Sandman series. --Jim Pascoe --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
About the Author
Neil Gaiman is the most critically acclaimed comics writer of the 1990s and is the author of numerous books and graphic novels. He is the New York Times No. 1 bestselling author of American Gods and Anansi Boys, and won critical acclaim for his first feature film, Mirrormask, with long-time collaborator Dave McKean.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Gauver
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
C'est un récit intemporel à saveur temporelle sur un fond de patience. Très captivant et merveilleux. Cette BD est à la hauteur de sa réputation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Preludes and Nocturnes is easily the weakest of the individual Sandman novels... but still better than most of the funny-books out there. The first chapter is a self-contained story dealing with Morpheus' seventy-year imprisonment by an amateur English magician, and his escape. The rest of the novel deals with his adventures re-claiming his three tools: his sand pouch, his ruby, and his helmet. The second chapter is set-up for the rest of the story, featuring DC Comics' horror mainstays Cain & Abel. The third story is one of the best in this book, guest-starring Hellblazer's John Constantine, whose ex-girlfriend is in possession of the bag of sand. Part four is one of my all-time favorite Sandman stories: "A Hope in Hell", where Morpheus goes to the pit, running into Lucifer Morningstar (one of the best characters in the series), and challenging a demon to regain his helmet. Parts five through seven involve a super-villain named Dr. Destiny (not to be confused with the real Destiny, Dream's brother) escaping from a madhouse, going on a murderous rampage in one of the most horrific stories I've ever read in a comic. Part six "24 Hours," especially so, where Dr. Destiny slowly drives the customers in an overnight diner mad, eventually killing each other. But chances are, if you're buying this, and you've heard of Neil Gaiman's Sandman before, it's for part eight, "The Sound of Her Wings", the introduction of the most famous (and nicest) member of the regular cast, Dream's big sister Death. She shows up to take her depressed brother with her for a hard day's work of taking people to the next life, quoting Mary Poppins all the while. This is a fine story, a nice promise of the kind of story that there are to look forward to later on.
Neil's style was just coming onto its own here, but his lyrical, poetic style is for the most part intact, as well as his original, and at times terrifying ideas. The superhero stuff really doesn't work all that well. Surely Gaiman could have thought of some more interesting hero than Mister Miracle to aid Sandman in his search, and the cameo by Martian Manhunter, while nicely handled by having him recognize Morpheus as the Martian god of dreams, left that character grossly mischaracterized. On the other hand, I was impressed that so many characters that would be important later on were introduced here, given the feeling that Gaiman was still cutting his chops in this book.
The art style is a bit weak, compared to the other novels in the series. "Preludes" is the one that looks the most "four-color", more like a traditional comic. Sam Keith's (who was absolutely right when he describes his work on Sandman as "Jimi Hendrix playing with the Beatles") work is a little too cartoony, though I must admit, the man draws one mean Hell. Mike Dringenberg's style, on the other hand, works very well with Sandman, despite being a bit too sketchy, and not having enough detail in faces.
In closing, I'd recommend to anyone thinking of purchasing this book to either read it before the others, because it won't seem as diminished as it would after reading some of the other classics later on in the series, or after the others, since there are other books in the series that give the reader much more bang for your buck.
By DintMoo
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Sandman remains my favourite comic series. I have been reading comics since I was a kid in the 70s. Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller. In the first volume, Gaiman is just getting his feet wet and starting a series that doesn't quite fit the DC comics template. Later volumes such as Seasons of the Mist are better representations of Gaiman's ability to weave multi-layered story lines. The new editions feature new covers and clearer coloring printed on slick paper. All the great McKeen covers are included.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Changed the way i think about comics
I am a hard judge I don't give 5 stars for very much. Sandman is a necessity for any comic collection. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Miranda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great series!
I bought this for my boyfriend as a part of his Christmas gift and he loved it so much that I ended up getting them all for him for Valentine's Day! Read more
Published on Jan 21 2011 by Ying Liu
5.0 out of 5 stars
The nights of no dreams
The world of comic books was a very different place before the Sandman came into being. Neil Gaiman revolutionized the graphic novel with "The Sandman Vol. Read more
Published on Jun 6 2010 by E. A Solinas
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, sometimes disturbing.
While interesting, I personally found some parts of this first Sandman volume a little disturbing for my tastes. Some folks into the darker stuff may love this volume. Read more
Published on July 16 2007 by Milhouse Van Houten
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dream a little dream of me
You can't begin to learn about the depth and intense storylines graphic novels conjure up without first paying homage to this, the granddaddy of them all. Read more
Published on July 6 2004 by E. R. Bird
5.0 out of 5 stars
Whatever you do, don't buy this book...
... at least not if you're only getting started in comics. I say this because the Sandman series is among the finest comics you will ever find. Read more
Published on Jun 8 2004 by Boog
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good series, slow start
I'm a late-comer to the Sandman series, but it's become one of my favorites. I read these collections of the original comics out of order, as I encounter them, and started with... Read more
Published on Jun 6 2004 by wiredweird
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not a good indicator of what the series would become
Don't get me wrong. I love the Sandman. I started on it by the last volume (the Wake), which wasn't the smartest thing to do, but heck I didn't know. Read more
Published on Mar 28 2004 by Liloo
1.0 out of 5 stars
For fifteen-year olds and under only
Get this: there's a convention for serial killers, and its disguised by calling it a "Cereal" convention. Then a bunch of them get together and do bad, spooky things. Read more
Published on Mar 18 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Here your learning begins
This review is directed mainly at those of you who are not widely experienced with modern (one can hardly use the word 'adult' without erotica coming to mind) comics, because I do... Read more
Published on Mar 15 2004 by Itamar Katz
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