Status
Call number
Series
Publication
Description
The second of five volumes, THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN collects issues 21-39 of Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN, with annotations by Leslie Klinger (The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Annotated Dracula) to all of the historical and literary references contained in the series. This edition includes the now legendary SEASON OF MISTS storyline, as well as A GAME OF YOU.New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN is a must-have for any die-hard fan or newcomer to the series.… (more)
User reviews
Well, my complaints about the first volume of The Annotated Sandman hold true for this one as well:
> overall, way too many blank black margins with not as many
> notes not present when I wanted them (one example: the panels in Thermidor in that display a life-sized puppet show using the headless corpses of the recently guillotined--surely there's a historical note worth mentioning there!) (I also felt there was far too little information about the cuckoo in myth and culture in A Game of You: in 34.15.1, George says that he is Gwas-y-gog, a servant of the cuckoo, and the note tells us this is Welsh, but doesn't tell us why on earth the Welsh have such a phrase);
> and shockingly poor production/proofing (one note appeared a full four pages before the panel it referenced, even though the panels before and after it also had notes on the same topic!).
Still a lot of useful tidbits to pick up, especially as we get those calendar-themed historical issues. Not all of it is really enlightening in terms of the plot or themes, but it is fun historical background (which I guess means I'm reading these annotated editions for the trivia?). I was fascinated to discover that the Cobweb Palace and the King of Pain in "Three Septembers and a January" were real and not, as I'd thought, inventions of Desire's. And I want to read an entire book about the Chevalier d'Eon, who lived as both a man and a woman at different times in his/her/their life (occasionally under legal compulsion).
I also continue to be fascinated by the places in which Gaiman's descriptions and the final art don't quite match up. I more than understand the desire of a living author to keep any less-than-pleased thoughts about a coworker's work quiet, but I did also appreciate the one place where it slipped through, in a comment that the demon Azazel as it originally appeared in issue #4 looked like a "floating potato." Yeah, Azazel's look is definitely stronger here!
Now to await the NYPL arrival of the next volume...