I Thought There Would Be Applause

...when I first started heavily buying and reading comics and graphic novels in late 2008, I would spend a lot of time looking up what were must-reads. Even for someone going in blind, it won't take long to find recommendations such as The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Fell, Y: The Last Man, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and so on. Another one that gets mentioned a lot, even far outside of comic book circles, is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.

When I was starting my collection, I was loading up on Batman but also became instantly attracted to weirder stuff like Preacher and The Surrogates. I would see The Sandman every time I would go out but never felt the need to pull the trigger. Something about it seemed off-putting. Instead, I found a copy of Preludes & Nocturnes at the library and opted to sample it that way.

Going back to my initial impression, I remember feeling like it was good, but not quite the masterpiece everyone had claimed. It felt like a less-than-realized Tim Burton film in page form. The art by Sam Keith and Malcolm Jones was memorable, though not amongst my favorite at that time. The writing was crisp but for some reason, I wasn't feeling pulled in. When I finished, I basically felt that it was good, but not really for me. I put it away and thought I would probably just walk away there.

Fast forward a few years. I am on the phone with my friend Red Alert. We both quickly find out and are surprised that the other frequents the find dining of sequential narrative. Back and forth, it's Punisher-this, Batman-that, Preacher-this and Elephantmen-that. In a way, it took the place of the old days when it was record talk (something our friend Tressa use to hate). Amidst these talks, Chris would often say "Dude, have you read Sandman?" Every time we would talk about comics, he would tell that I needed to read The Sandman. Maybe I needed to revisit?

Last fall, I stumbled upon the new release of the first volume of Mike Carey's Sandman-spinoff Lucifrer. The old volumes were decidedly smaller printed on regular paper. The new volumes were double or even triple the page count on glossy paper, making the inking and coloring soar of the page. The concept of Lucifer Morningstar deciding to retire from being overlord of Hell to relocate to Los Angeles to run the piano bar called Lux sounded enticing as could be. Sold.

Through two huge volumes with a third summoning me to procure it, Lucifer has blown me away with every arc. It is so fully realized, elegant and classy for a series with potential for blasphemy. Quickly, it is amongst my favorite of all time in the graphic medium. Sandman was officially back on my immediate radar.

As luck would have it, Half Price Books recently got in brand new copies of the first five volumes of The Sandman at a dirt cheap rate. Now, having re-read Preludes & Nocturnes, I feel as if the light bulb has gone off in my head. Whatever barrier I had up the first go-round has been chiseled away, allowing for me to let the world encapsulate. The artwork is harsh and mesmerizing, the writing is symphonic and the characters are all off-kilter and gleaming.

Time will tell how I feel about The Sandman as I navigate through each successive volume. But the hooks are in. The King Of Dreamland is one I want to watch through the time and worlds. The Sandman is worth the effort.