5 Stars
Pros: A memorable introduction to an iconic character, the Sandman, Dream, one of the Endless/From his imprisonment/escape/journey to get his tools back, Gaiman leaves nothing out/Dream is sullen, yes, but he's also compassionate, never killing or harming/Death, Dream's older sister will always be one of my favorite characters of all time.
Cons: At times some of the art comes off as a bit cartoonish but other than that, it's a great read.
Full Review:
Intent on summoning and then imprisoning Death, Magus Burgess, the head of the Ancient Order of Mysteries performs the ritual but instead of summoning Death, they've summoned someone else. Someone no less powerful but not the creature Burgess wanted. Burgess makes no bargains, simply takes his helmet, his amulet and his pouch of sand. Burgess has summoned the Sandman, Morpheus, the king of Dreams. And he leaves him to rot in a cage for seventy years.
For seventy years people all around the world start to suffer from "Sleepy Sickness." They're either sleeping all day, every day, waking every few years or they never sleep, unable to rest, unable to dream. Dream's imprisonment has repercussions all over but Burgess doesn't care. He's dies a bitter, angry old man because he wasn't able to cheat death.
When one of the guards at his post dozes, Dream takes the opportunity and escapes. He returns to the Dreaming, his kingdom and finds it in ruin. Since he is the King of Dreams and was not there for years to maintain it, his kingdom has crumbled. So he knows that in order to regain his power, he has to find the tools that were taken from him. He goes in search of his pouch of sand first and with the help of John Constantine, he procures it.
He then travels to Hell, to speak to Lucifer, since he was told that a man who had stolen valuables from Burgess and his Ancient Order, traded the Helmet for protection to a Demon. Dream finds the Demon who stole his Helmet and after defeating him in a game of wit, he then goes off in search of his amulet. It was taken by a man who called himself, Dr. Destiny and who's been incarcerated in Arkham Asylum for the last ten years. John Dee, as people call him, manages to escape and wreaks havoc with the power of the amulet before Dream finally finds him, defeats him and returns him to Arkham Asylum.
With his journey over, Dream finds himself at something of a loss. He's feeding the pigeons, moping and sullen, when a young woman comes over to him and starts making conversation. It turns out that she's his oldest sister, Death, the one that Burgess had originally tried to summon. She snaps him out of his self pitying mood by letting him follow her while she works. She gently, compassionately and kindly takes peoples souls from their bodies and leads them to the Sunless lands. She's not the terrifying grim reaper that everyone thinks she's is. Instead, she meets you with a smile and a comforting hand. Morpheus watches her work and begins to understand that he also, has a job to do now too as well. His existence is no longer about revenge. He has to rebuild his the kingdom of Dreaming and calm the chaos that his absence caused.
With the impending release of the Netflix series, it was good to re-read this and refresh my brain. I'm going to try not to judge the show by the books, since, books and movies are two completely different entities. I do wonder if the 11 episode series will try and fit all of the volumes into each episode (which would seem forced and rushed) or if they're going to extend it. Also the role of the Corinthian seems to be more focused on in the trailer, and for my part, I remember him as being somewhat of a minor character in the series. It will be interesting to see the pros and cons of the show and if I'm being honest, I'm both excited and hesitant to watch it. Visually it looks stunning, plot wise, that remains to be seen. But, even if the show flops, at least the Graphic Novel Series will always remain.
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