SandMan: Preludes and Nocturnes (1 Point)

 I read the first chapter/issue of Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg. Although I am still unsure of the setting of the story, whether it is the realm of all dreams or just one person, I found the whole concept quite intriguing. Gaiman created a strange world filled with characters from many different mythos, such as Cain and Able from the Bible, Hypnos, the Greek God of Dreams, and the three that are one, which are found in many different mythos, and refer to them as such. During the scene where the older woman wanted to see her son, I was very concerned when they referred to the place where he was imprisoned as 'Arkam'. The dread of this possibly being connected to superhero comics was confirmed by the eldest fate, who says Hypnos' stone was with the Justice League. I really enjoy the tone and interest of this comic, and I am curious to read more in the future and see how Gaiman writes these well known iconic heroes. Comparing Sandman to some of the superhero comics I read for this class already, I much prefer the more subtle and novel-esque version these comics provide. As mentioned during class, I can easily tell that the Sandman graphic novel is actually just a bunch of comics compiled into one book, but in this case, I'm not mad, as I feel this story works very well in the format, unlike classic superhero comics. It's not just hero encounters problem and saves the day, there is a lot more nuance. I have not read many comics of this time period, but especially in the cover art, you can even see that there is a lot more refinement of this work.


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