The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2

by Neil Gaiman

Other authorsDave McKean (Cover Design), Bryan Talbot (Illustrator), John Watkiss (Illustrator), Mike Dringenberg (Illustrator), Stan Woch (Illustrator), Colleen Doran (Illustrator), Kelley Jones (Illustrator), Shawn McManus (Illustrator), Matt Wagner (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2007

Call number

GRAPH N GAI

Collection

Genres

Publication

Vertigo (2007), Edition: Slp, 616 pages

Description

DC Comics is proud to present the second volume of the comics classic THE SANDMAN in Absolute format! The second of four beautifully designed slipcased volumes, THE ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL. 2 collects issues 21-39 of THE SANDMAN and features remastered coloring on all 19 issues as well as brand-new inks on THE SANDMAN #34 by the issue's original penciller, Colleen Doran, and a host of bonus material, including two never-before-reprinted stories by Gaiman (one prose and one illustrated), a complete reproduction of the never-before-reprinted one-shot THE SANDMAN: A GALLERY OF DREAMS, and the complete script and pencils by Gaiman and Kelley Jones for Chapter Two of "Season of Mists" from THE SANDMAN #23.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
This volume covers issues 21-39 of the series and contains 2 main story arcs: Season of Mists and A Game of You. Both of which are excellent. The first of these sees Dream's return to Hell to right the wrong he inflicted on Nuala, the woman he loved and who spurned his offer of becoming his wife
Show More
and so sentenced to eternal damnation, and free her from Lucifer's clutches. Not even sure he will succeed in his quest, even Dream is surprised by Lucifer's actions as he once again enters Hell. A Game of You features the return of Barbie (as featured in A Doll's House). The Land of her childhood dreams is in trouble and needs her to come back and save it from the Cuckoo. Dream is not so heavily featured in this one. While trying to protect her friends there her friends in the real world try to help as best they can. As well as these two major arcs we get several stand alone stories as well featuring various historical characters and situations including the self styled Emperor of the United States, we go to the time of the French Revolution with Johanna Constantine and to Ancient Rome with Emperor Augustus. We join one of The Folk on his hunt and also meet Marco Polo on his early travels.

An Absolute edition wouldn't be so without some extras and here's what's on offer this time around: A fun set of contributor biographies, a never-before-reprinted story about Destiny, articles on Sandman Month and the statue produced for the same, A Gallery of Dreams which show Dream as portrayed by various artists and the full script with original pencil drawings of issue #23. Overall a fine collection of additional material.

This book certainly belongs on the horror side of fantasy and it's definitely not for kids. There are some rather gruesome elements contained in some of these stories. I really enjoyed the Season of Mists and the majority of the singular tales. I wasn't totally enamoured with A Game of You but it's still Gaiman so was still very good. The artwork on the oversize pages is a treat and for this edition has been reworked and retouched as required.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
The second volume of The Absolute Sandman brings together issues twenty-one through thirty-nine of Neil Gaiman's famous Sandman comic series (the issues were first reprinted in the trade collections Seasons of Mists, A Game of You and Fables and Reflections) in addition to a wonderful array of
Show More
extra materials. A new introduction, afterword, and section of contribute biographies are included along with those from the original trade collections. Other extras feature the merchandising and marketing efforts from the September 1991 "Sandman Month," the creation of the first Sandman collectible statue, and the script and pencils from issue twenty-three--the closing of Hell. The reprinting of the artwork collection The Sandman: Gallery of Dreams (more than thirty full-page works with Dream as the inspiration) is absolutely gorgeous and is probably my favorite addition to the volume.

Season of Mists is among my favorite story arcs in the entirety of the original Sandman comics. One of Gaiman's greatest skills lies in adapting and retelling traditional myths, legends, and histories to suit the needs of his story--all while adding his own concepts and creations to the mix. Seasons of Mists, which features many figures from world mythology, allows him all sorts of room to play around in this way. Gaiman's version of Lucifer Morningstar was even compelling enough to earn him his own comic series (Lucifer, written by Mike Carey).

The other major story arc in this volume, A Game of You, has never really been a fan favorite. But, at least according to Gaiman's afterword, it was his "favorite of the Sandman storylines, perhaps because it didn't seem to be anyone else's favorite." I don't find it to be as horrible as many people seem to make it out and am quite fond of some the the characters, particularly Wanda. The volume is filled out by several shorter, one-shot stories that tend to focus on historical figures and events. Although it wasn't technically a part of the Sandman comics, "The Flowers of Romance," featuring Dream's sibling Desire and originally published in the first issue of Vertigo: Winter's Edge, can be found among the extra materials and makes a magnificent addition for the art alone if nothing else.

One of the advantages of DC Comic's Absolute editions is that the pages are physically larger, allowing the artwork and lettering to be seen in more detail. In some instances the coloring is either restored or otherwise reworked to better represent the artist' original intent and vision. Not every issue gets this treatment. Unfortunately, this means that some of the shadowing techniques that work adequately well for the original issues don't carry over as nicely to the larger format. This can actually be rather distracting and I'm somewhat surprised that the affected panels remained untouched. Overall though, the artwork is good and I enjoy the various moods and interpretations that the different artists bring to the series.

The Absolute Sandman is definitely the best edition of Sandman currently available. The second volume more than lives up to the precedent set by the first one. By this point in the comic, the series is really coming into its own. Not as much effort is put into tying the comic to the rest of the DC Universe, which allows it to be more itself (that's not to say the DC connections aren't there--they just aren't as blatant). Fans looking into purchasing the entire series should really consider the magnificent, albeit pricey, Absolute editions--so far, the presentation, production, and extra materials have been worth it.

Issues included: "Seasons of Mists: A Prologue"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter One"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Two"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Three"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Four"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Five"; "Seasons of Mists: Chapter Six"; "Seasons of Mists: Epilogue"; "Distant Mirrors: Thermidor"; "Distant Mirrors: August"; "Distant Mirrors: Three Septembers and a January"; "A Game of You, Chapter One: Slaughter on Fifth Avenue"; "A Game of You, Chapter Two: Lullabies of Broadway"; "A Game of You, Chapter Three: Bad Moon Rising"; "A Game of You, Chapter Four: Beginning to See the Light"; "A Game of You, Chapter Five: Over the Sea to Sky"; "A Game of You, Chapter Six: I Woke Up and One of Us Was Crying"; "Convergence: The Hunt"; "Convergence: Soft Places"

Experiments in Reading
Show Less
LibraryThing member jmgold
A stunningly beautiful book. I almost want to give it a perfect rating just for the production values. And of course the Season of Mists story that's part of it is the highlight of the series, as well as being my second favorite work by Neil Gaiman. But the inclusion of A Game of You Knocks the
Show More
book down half a point for being the weakest story arc in the series.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SatansParakeet
All of these Absolute Sandman volumes are must haves for fans of the graphic novel. Volume 2 includes many of my favorite stories from the series and a lot of the volume is just a collection of tales that are only peripherally connected by the presence of Sandman. Like the first volume, this book
Show More
is bound in gorgeous black leather and a lovely slipcase designed by Dave McKean. The story of Sandman's trip to hell was a breakout moment for the series and we get an inside peak at its construction at the end of the book when we see the original pencils and Neil's original script. Just a really nice book to have on your shelf as well as to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member knitcrazybooknut
Gorgeously bound, meticulously printed edition, collecting Neil Gaiman's graphic novel The Sandman. These stories are literate, compelling, and full of engaging characters. It's a privilege to read such wonderful stories in such beautiful editions.
LibraryThing member elmyra
Having seen what re-colouring has done for the first volume, I must admit I am slightly disappointed that DC didn't bite the bullet and have some of Season of Mists re-coloured as well. This feelingw as prompted by reading the script for Chapter 2 of Season of Mists at the back of this volume,
Show More
seeing the pencils, and realising what Neil actually wanted to do with it. The sky in Hell, for instance, is supposed to be a dull grey. What it's turned out as is an auto-generated gradient of orange. And don't get me started on the Gates of Hell.

From a content piont of view, this volume contains A Game of You (which has grown on me), Season of Mists (which I continue to love, colouring cock-ups or not), and a bunch of short stories. The material at the back, (with the exception of the script and the bonus story) is less interesting than volume 1 - mostly pictures of merchandise - but the introduction is far superior to that of volume 1 and made me laugh.
Show Less
LibraryThing member moonstormer
Incredible! I loved reading the Sandman books in their earlier incarnations, but this truly is a unique experience. I highly recommend the absolute sandman for anyone who has the love of the graphic novel (and the money), it makes the experience that much better!
LibraryThing member Radaghast
A tour-de-force. Sandman is more than a comic book, it is one of the finest stories of the century.
LibraryThing member BenjaminHahn
Three years after getting Absolute Sandman 2 from Amber as a Christmas present, I finally sat down and flew through it. It's not that its a difficult graphic novel to read, quite the contrary actually. It's that its so good and there are only 5 of them. You got to pace them out. Gaiman doesn't
Show More
produce a lot of long reads so if you like him like I do, you have to make him last. This second volume contains a number of great story lines including Dream's descent into hell and Lucifer basically giving up hell to go on vacation. We also get treated to some historical fiction with the French Revolution, Augustus Caesar, Marco Polo, and turn of the century San Francisco. Pure fantasy is dished up with the "A Game of You" series and "The Hunt". All are quite original, finely written and illustrated, and all a bit dark and mysterious. The volume closes with some great "extras" at the end like the facsimile of Gaiman's script to the illustrators with his captions for "A Game of You".
Show Less
LibraryThing member jawalter
Another great presentation of Gaiman's epic. This contains the story of Lucifer's departure from Hell (one of the high points of Sandman) with the story of Barbie's dream world (which is probably my least favorite part of the story, despite the appearance of Thessaly, one of my favorite characters).
LibraryThing member ScoLgo
Some very cool stories set within beautifully rendered artwork. While I'm otherwise not a huge Neil Gaiman fan, (I'm not sure why his novels don't resonate with me), this Sandman material is simply amazing.

Awards

Pages

616

ISBN

140121083X / 9781401210830
Page: 0.7306 seconds