So I just finished Neil Gaiman's Sandman...

[Killgore]

And it put me to sleep.

I am very underwhelmed. It's not that I didn't like it. Hell, a few of the issues were terrific. I loved The Sound of Her Wings and 24 Hours, Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats and a few scattered other ones. The only trade I read without feeling like I was obliged to was Breif Lives, which had the single best scene where Bernie Capax was smashed by the building and his last words were "Not yet". Death's retort "“You got a lifetime. No more. No less. You got a lifetime.” was the best line in the whole series. That whole trade is easily the best.

What I found frustrating and sometimes infuriating was the rapid change of art styles. I really liked Kelly Jones, Jill Thompson and Charles Vess. Most of the others I found it laborious to even look at. Marc Hempel's overly cartoony finale to the series robbed it of any epic grandeur and poignancy. Some of it was unbearably awful to look at. Just when I was beginning to identify and have a fondness to Dream after Brief Lives I was completely uninvolved by the ****ty artwork of The Kindly Ones.

I find it very hard to get involved in any of Gaiman's work. As soon as any story starts with the beginning of time at the big bang and deals with eternal endless godlike beings, I fall asleep. You mix that with a pan playing a flute or an elf, and I am in a coma. It's not that I don't want to like it, but I started to yawn while typing the word PAN and ELF.

Maybe I am missing something. Good thing I had a trades of DMZ and Transmetropolitan to keep me from completely cheezing out.

 

[The Mad Titan]

Aren't you the guy that disliked Preacher?

 

[chuckymack]

What?! You didn't like 'Preacher'?! Or 'Sandman'?!

You're officially BANNED from reading comics. Consider your 'Dork Card' revoked.

 

[Manic]

Lay off the man. I'm disappointed he didn't like Sandman, too. However, I will say that I couldn't get into Preacher after reading the first volume. I kept hearing "it gets good after the third trade", but god damn. Really?

 

[Harlekin]

Understandable, although... you didn't like Season of Mists?

 

[BrianWilly]

It's not really that surprising. It's just different, and different strokes and all that. My brother borrows my superhero stuff all the time, and he couldn't get into Sandman either.

 

[Killgore]

Didn't say that I didn't like Sandman, in fact I really enjoyed a few parts. Seasons of Mists was pretty good, but overall, I wasn't thrilled. It was just OK. I didn't see what the big deal is. It just doesn't resonate with me. Breif Lives, yeah, maybe, and a few isolated issues here and there, but as a whole, it left me cold.

And yeah, I was the guy who wasn't crazy about Preacher either. Sandman is better than Preacher, but neither are in the same league as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Arkham Asylum, or even newer fare like Transmetropolitan, DMZ, Planetary and Powers.

 

[CBG]

I'd have to agree with the artwork on The Kindly Ones. But Zulli's art in The Wake was just great.

Preacher took awhile to get into. I was never a fan of Dillon's art. Not then, and not now.

 

[The Mad Titan]

Pfft, your opinions are jacked up Killgore.

 

[SouLeSS]

I got halfway through it and couldn't get myself to continue to read it. Same thing with Y The Last Man and Invincible.

I don't see what the big deal with these ones are, seriously.

 

[Anubis]

Wow. Now that's a jacked up opinion.

 

[prince_dylan]

i am also about half way through, just finished "A Game of You", and i love it. my favorites have been the angular take on "fairytale" stories...which are a lot so i am happy.