Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

A tale of the endless, and of dreams and dreamers…

The hugely successful Sandman series started out in the early nineties, as 8 separate tales, which were then bound together into this 1991 release. The appeal of this comic series was and still is massive, it’s seen as the must have, an intelligent comic series (wow, I mean really, wow!). That being said this first volume is a very mixed bag.

I am it must be confessed a veritable ‘noob’ to comics in general, only recently have I seen the greatest that can be gleaned from glossy pages. I had been in possession of some Sandman editions before buying the first one, notably middle issues which I stayed away from believing they may ruin the early issues when I came to read them.(I obtained numbers 4,5 and 6 all fairly cheaply in a deal) Little did I know they can be read separately, it appears I should have read the back first.

The focal point for these comics is of course the Sandman; he is in a sense Gaiman, in looks and perhaps in manner. The picture below certainly matches up to the man. The running theme throughout these eight tales is essentially the Dreamlord gaining back his items of power which were stripped from him.

The story starts off with an attempt by a group of practitioners to summon and bind Death to their whim. The ritual goes wrong and Dream, the younger brother of Death is ensnared and stripped of his helmet, ruby stone and a pouch of dust. From then on it’s a simple process of storytelling in which Dream break free and seeks to liberate his lost possessions.

The artwork is generally good throughout, though in places it dips, this only happened in the latter half, as I felt it lost some focus and clarity. The Sandman whenever he is being drawn instantly captures and holds centre stage, his scruffy black hair, and featureless eyes create a vivid and jagged character which is perfect. He is easily one of the most recognisable figures in comics, his wry and calm demeanour is at the same time one filled with quiet immense power, he is perfectly realised as an endless being.

In the land of Lucifer Sandman has to riddle with a demon in order to gain back his helm. The tale a Hope in Hell is a stunning cacophony of visuals as the duel of reality becomes ever more daunting and desperate A shocking piece of imagery can be found in the third tale, Dream a little Dream of Me, in which the Sandman tracks down his pouch, it’s gruesome yet at the same time a stunning piece of art. Yet the pinnacle of Gaiman’s weaving is the issue 24 hours, which accompanied by the stark and slicing imagery creates the shocking and pulsating highlight.

Though not perfect throughout, there is certainly enough good content to merit a read, and it certainly provides the roots of what was to become one of the must reads in comic history, as well as allowing the genius of Gaiman to be brough to life.

Preludes & Nocturnes - 7 / 10