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Comic Review: "The Sandman"
| Published 10/17/03

Graphic By: Brandon Faust

Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" is one of the greatest comic books ever produced. Gaiman cleverly reinvented the DC Comics' character "The Sandman" into an antihero for the 90s and invented an original mythology for the series. "The Sandman" revolves around its title character that has many names such as Dream, Morpheus and Oneiros. It also involves his family called "The Endless," who are personifications of destiny, death, desire, despair, destruction and delirium.

The stories in "The Sandman" tend to be diverse; Gaiman was given a lot of creative freedom with the series. He could set a story anywhere involving anything. "Calliope" is a short story about an author who keeps the goddess Calliope captive in order to write best-selling novels. "The Doll's House" is book two in the series, and it revolves around Rose, a young woman who has a great power that the Sandman is obligated to end. "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which is arguably the comic's most famous short story, is about William Shakespeare's first production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" being performed for the Sandman and a group of odd creatures.

Gaiman's stories are great, and what makes them so good is his strength in developing his characters. Characters in this series are so strong, it is as if Gaiman simply wrote about real beings in a fantasy world; they have their different personalities, idiosyncrasies, complexities and shortcomings. Gaiman's grasp of characterization is that strong.

Few comic books are as complex and rich in quality as "The Sandman." It's one of the few that can appeal to comic-book fans and intellectuals.



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