Sandman!?

[Blitzkrieg]

Ok. So I have been hearing so much about this 'Sandman' character, and one 'Neil Gaiman' over the last year or so, mainly from you comic book enclined people, namely Spawn, Wrathy, Phloggy, etc, that I can't help but be a little bit entrigued.
Whats this shit all about, is it easy to get into, are the books cheap and easy to get, can I get the first issues without having to search and pay lots, and most importantly, will I like it??

Spill.

 

[spawn]

Its fantastic Its very easy to get into, and the books are pretty readily available. They are a tad expensive though, about $34.95 I think But they are so good you are almost tempted not to complain
Its about a bunch of people called The Endless, one is Dreams, one is Death, one is Lust etc. Its great, especially the one where he goes to hell and takes on Lucifer.
I reread them a lot so to me they were worth it (Im only up to 6 or 7 I think)

 

[phlogiston]

Oh, I'm a comic book enclined person now. That's not bad considering I only have 5

I found Sandman because Wrath and Spawn were rabbiting on about Gaiman one day, and I was buying a novel and I saw one of his there so I bought it. Now I'm a Gaiman fan. And, Gaiman wrote Sandman so I got one.

The trade paperbacks are pretty easy to find. I know Minotaur in Melbourne have them, as do Comics-r-Us in Bourke Street. CRU is cheaper. I paid $40 for the first one, which is like the first ten or so comics. It's the only one I have at the mo. The others go up to about $50-$55 I think, depending on the series.

It kinda starts funny, but once you get familiar with the character it seems to take off more. Gaiman wrote a bit of a blurb about it in the book, and he says himself he's not really happy with the first few because he hadn't found his "voice" in them.

It's kinda dark fantasy-horror, and quite creepy in places. I found myself being weirded out more than I should have been by a stupid book with pictures in it.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Sounds like it would be worth checking out for something to read, if they were a little cheaper, and I wasn't as cheap.

Phloggy, I just picked the 3 people that have talked about it a bit lately.

 

[phlogiston]

I was saying that for a while as well, Blitz. And I'm going to start saying it again. I only got the one I did because I was in a particularly upbeat mood that day, and I wanted to by myself a birthday present.

 

[Mark]

You could also try getting the Books Of Magic trade paperback (first 4-part series, NOT the Vertigo series - ask the comic store guy, he'll know). Kind of a pre-cursor of Harry Potter (even looks like him) but much better and fucked up

 

[Spiff]

Best Neil Gaiman is still Signal to Noise. That rawks.

 

[Mark]

Nope, Mr Punch is much betterer

 

[Spiff]

Violent Cases is good too.

 

[Goreripper]

OK. I saw "X2" yesterday, and I got a question. I know Jean and Scott were two of the original X-Men, but I can't remember who the other three were. Over to you...

 

[spawn]

Cyclops, Angel, The Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) and Professor X(avier)

Or do you mean the originals from the first movie?

 

[Goreripper]

No I meant the originals. Thank you spawn. Weren't Cyclops and Marvel Girl also part of the Fantastic Four with The Thing and the Human Torch? Or am I getting my mutants mixed up here?

 

[spawn]

Cyclops wasnt as far as I know, theres an Invisible Girl in the F4 but I dont recall Marvel Girl ever being a part of the F4, but no doubt theres been crossover stories in the past where they teamed up and stuff, so they have all probably been int he same comics together occasionally

 

[Wrathchild]

Mark, "Books of Magic" was and still is a Vertigo title. Gaiman just wrote the first four issues, which I have as a trade paperback. The art is beautiful, and John Constantine's in it, so you can't go wrong there .

Blitz, for more info on Sandman and Neil's other work, go to www.neilgaiman.com (the official site) or www.holycow.com/dreaming (a fan page). If you do start reading his stuff, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

There's a hardcover collection of new Sandman stories called "Endless Nights" coming out in September to mark the tenth anniversary of Vertigo Comics. Is Neil. Is good.

As Death once said, "okay I've finished. You can shout at me now."

W

 

[Wrathchild]

I still can't find Violent Cases or Signal to Noise! Where did you Bridgeman boys get 'em?

W

 

[Goreripper]

Cyclops wasnt as far as I know, theres an Invisible Girl in the F4 but I dont recall Marvel Girl ever being a part of the F4, but no doubt theres been crossover stories in the past where they teamed up and stuff, so they have all probably been int he same comics together occasionally

Hmmm. Perhaps. I have a F4 issue here and there's a "Scott" and a "Dr Grey" in it -- prototypes, perhaps?

 

[Spiff]

Wrathy - Comics Etc. in Brisbane, back in the halcyon days of 1994 - 1996.

 

[spawn]

Hmmm. Perhaps. I have a F4 issue here and there's a "Scott" and a "Dr Grey" in it -- prototypes, perhaps?

Id say it must have been a crossover thingy, that seems like too much of a coincidence for them to just be unknown characters in the F4 comic

 

[Goreripper]

I'm going to try and find that issue. Just for the record, who were the Fantastic Four?

 

[Spiff]

A bunch of kids who solved crimes involving smugglers.