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aceinit's review against another edition
4.0
There are things I absolutely love about The Annotated Sandman, and things I am enormously disappointed with.
I am hugely disappointed with the lack of commentary on most pages, especially as this was sold as Gaiman's way of jotting down his reasons for writing The Sandman, and his driving inspirations for the stories. Given what a landmark series The Sandman was and what an influence it continues to be, I expected more profound notes than the history of British rock bands or song lyrics to show tunes. I would much rather have had in-depth commentaries from Gaiman, the artists and the rest of the creative team. Instead, we are left with an enormous amount of blank pages with no comments whatsoever. There are also a plethora of pages where "In Issue --, this page was followed by an ad page" is the only commentary listed.
Powerful stuff, I know. If you are buying this edition for stellar commentary and insight into the creative process, the characters and the world itself, you will be highly disappointed.
What I LOVE about this volume, is that it is presented entirely in black and white. The uncolored pages are absolutely gorgeous and add a whole new layer of depth and emotion to the story. I find it interesting that so many of the reviews I have read elsewhere are put off more by the lack of colorization than the trivial (and often absent) annotations.
I could never get the hang of the late-80's/ early 90's style of coloring and always considered it a bit on an eyesore. (I know this is how things were done in that age due to printing limitations, etc, but it has still always been a turnoff for me personally). Seeing the Endless, especially Dream and Death, rendered this way, almost makes it feel as though this is how the stories should've been presented in the first place. It is beautiful, and it is haunting in a way that the bold, stark colors are not. I can't wait to see future issues (Season of Mists, The Kindly Ones and Michael Zulli's visually stunning The Wake, in particular) rendered in this stark style.
On a side note: Readers may want to be careful with the pages when thumbing through this book. The black paper is highly absorbent and shows fingertip oils very very easily.
I am hugely disappointed with the lack of commentary on most pages, especially as this was sold as Gaiman's way of jotting down his reasons for writing The Sandman, and his driving inspirations for the stories. Given what a landmark series The Sandman was and what an influence it continues to be, I expected more profound notes than the history of British rock bands or song lyrics to show tunes. I would much rather have had in-depth commentaries from Gaiman, the artists and the rest of the creative team. Instead, we are left with an enormous amount of blank pages with no comments whatsoever. There are also a plethora of pages where "In Issue --, this page was followed by an ad page" is the only commentary listed.
Powerful stuff, I know. If you are buying this edition for stellar commentary and insight into the creative process, the characters and the world itself, you will be highly disappointed.
What I LOVE about this volume, is that it is presented entirely in black and white. The uncolored pages are absolutely gorgeous and add a whole new layer of depth and emotion to the story. I find it interesting that so many of the reviews I have read elsewhere are put off more by the lack of colorization than the trivial (and often absent) annotations.
I could never get the hang of the late-80's/ early 90's style of coloring and always considered it a bit on an eyesore. (I know this is how things were done in that age due to printing limitations, etc, but it has still always been a turnoff for me personally). Seeing the Endless, especially Dream and Death, rendered this way, almost makes it feel as though this is how the stories should've been presented in the first place. It is beautiful, and it is haunting in a way that the bold, stark colors are not. I can't wait to see future issues (Season of Mists, The Kindly Ones and Michael Zulli's visually stunning The Wake, in particular) rendered in this stark style.
On a side note: Readers may want to be careful with the pages when thumbing through this book. The black paper is highly absorbent and shows fingertip oils very very easily.
veganheathen's review against another edition
4.0
I can’t believe it took me so long to delve into the Sandman comics. I really loved the stories. This edition was extra fun to read because of all the annotations and back stories about the characters and panels.
posies23's review against another edition
5.0
This is my first real re-read of SANDMAN since the days I bought it as a monthly. It's interesting to read it more as a whole, as the storylines hold together really well. Gaiman is, of course, one of those writers whose shadow has grown to a gigantic level since he first wrote these issues. But, for me, the stories hold up very well. The characters act in unexpected ways, and seem much more well-rounded than the typical comic book fare. I'd also forgotten how much of the SANDMAN mythology didn't exist in these early issues. Much of that came later. In the beginning, it was very much the story of Dream and those he interacted with after his long absence. There are many seeds planted here that pay off later, of course, and the stories play out very organically, with connections that don't seem obvious at first. There are haunting little moments that stick with you. The art is a strong help with the mood and success of the stories, too. THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN is completely in black and white, not the color that the comics originally published with. In some respects, this makes the art stronger. Without the distractions of color, the lifework is much more obvious, and the talent of the artists is really showcased. There were a few times that the lack of color was missed, since the color helped to highlight the "important" action of the panels.
Klinger's annotations are a mixed bag. They certainly help to illuminate sections of the comics that make allusion to literary or historical events, and there are A LOT of those. Gaiman clearly loves to invoke references to other literature, and Klinger does a nice job of filling in the gaps. There are also some sections that quote directly from Gaiman's scripts to his artists, and some of the asides are very interesting and point out things that never made it to the page. Still, there are times that the annotations don't seem to really make much sense -- like why do we need to know where the ad pages were placed in the original comics?
I really enjoyed THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN, and I think it's a great way to revisit the series. I'm glad DC put forth the effort, and I'll definitely read the remaining three volumes.
Klinger's annotations are a mixed bag. They certainly help to illuminate sections of the comics that make allusion to literary or historical events, and there are A LOT of those. Gaiman clearly loves to invoke references to other literature, and Klinger does a nice job of filling in the gaps. There are also some sections that quote directly from Gaiman's scripts to his artists, and some of the asides are very interesting and point out things that never made it to the page. Still, there are times that the annotations don't seem to really make much sense -- like why do we need to know where the ad pages were placed in the original comics?
I really enjoyed THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN, and I think it's a great way to revisit the series. I'm glad DC put forth the effort, and I'll definitely read the remaining three volumes.
pages_n_puzzles's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this originally in 2017 but only skimmed little bits of it. I really dove into it this month because I was listening to the new audible adaptation. I liked it and like the additional information but didn't LOVE it. Also it takes a lot of work to read a book this big.
nattyg's review against another edition
3.0
It was good. Just not interesting enough for me to want to read the second annotated version. It wasn't a lot of extra info - just notes about ad pages or music he listened to or was influenced by. The good notes, the ones about story ideas and personal thoughts- less than 10% of the 500pgs.
michael_benavidez's review against another edition
5.0
This is a thing of beauty. The info, the art, the black and white, everything. If you loved the comics, you'll love this. Enough said, enjoy it.
zciweikturoj's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible story & art. Enjoyed the annotations more than I expected. Definitely fell in love with Sandman.
starryworlds's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
I'm going to start off by saying that this is the weirdest comic that I've ever read and I will never look at cats in the same way again.
But I did enjoy reading this despite it being weird. In this collection, there are two main story archs and quite a few of the sub-stories. One of the main story archs was basically where the Dream Lord gets captured and he escapes from his captors around 70 years later and he gets his vengeance and gets his realm back. The second story arch is where Rose is a vortex of dream and the main story arch is basically about her life and what happens to her when she goes looking for her brother.
At times, I felt that this was hard to follow and I had to go back a few pages to figure out what was happening. But I did like the fact that everything fitted together.
For anyone wanting to read this, I would definitely say that you would need to be patient with it.
I'm going to start off by saying that this is the weirdest comic that I've ever read and I will never look at cats in the same way again.
But I did enjoy reading this despite it being weird. In this collection, there are two main story archs and quite a few of the sub-stories. One of the main story archs was basically where the Dream Lord gets captured and he escapes from his captors around 70 years later and he gets his vengeance and gets his realm back. The second story arch is where Rose is a vortex of dream and the main story arch is basically about her life and what happens to her when she goes looking for her brother.
At times, I felt that this was hard to follow and I had to go back a few pages to figure out what was happening. But I did like the fact that everything fitted together.
For anyone wanting to read this, I would definitely say that you would need to be patient with it.
babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adored this. I've been a fan of Sandman for years and this was very informative. It had been awhile since I read Dream Country and I fell in love with it all over again. I highly recommend this for all Sandman fans.
noranorasolosolo's review
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Folks who complain about this book clearly aren't taking into account Les Klinger’s unparalleled work annotating Sherlock Holmes and Dracula being at the top of its game. I think they simply wanted Gaiman’s scripts for Sandman which he won’t release (as indicated in this book). Gaiman does offer some insights (through the scripts which Klinger uses as ‘his’ commentary) but many of the facts reiterated are often simply from The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender & Neil Gaiman. I love the sheer depth of citation that comes with the annotations. All of the “the following page is an ad” complaints are met with Klinger’d inclusion of Gaiman’s conscious knowledge of where ads sat in the publications, the way television writers know where the commercial breaks are so they can control pacing and the shock(s) of being reminded capitalism exists. The pages and panels which have been chopped up and refined away from their pages (and ads) for volume productions are also noted, which makes the graphic novel edge-art more appealing in my opinion. I hope I can find adequately-priced editions of the other three volumes.