Gaiman. Dreambook. VERY Poor But Still Happy

Since the day I first stumbled upon Neil Gaiman's Sandman among the shelves of the Rowden White, I've known if there was any comic series to collect, this was it.

Well, many many years after, I've finally bought my first volume. Not the regular first volume, mind you, but the first Absolute volume. Drooool....

I just have one gripe about this, so let me get that out of the way - it's fucking expensive! It practically costs double the normal collection, which, by the way, already costs more than other collected comic series. Man, when I say I'm paying for my indulgence, I mean it literally!

Yes, as Will had said, that's the whisper of very expensive pages.

So why did I part with my money so easily?

Other than the obvious 'fool' answer, of course.

The long explanation is this: This is definitely a collector's item, and being one of those many out there who consider this work as one that has taken the comics genre up to the hallowed status of literature, I simply had to have it.

The Sandman is oooh so good. With a great depth of emotion, layered storytelling, fantastic plot twists, and strands of world mythology weaved into something totally new, Gaiman did for comics what Tolkien did for the fantasy novel (though I kinda hate how he inadvertently started the whole trilogy thing which seems to be multiplying like rabbits).

I could go on and on, really. But either you already know of Gaiman or you don't, and if you don't, you could go sample Sandman by downloading the 1st issue for free here. Mind you, Sandman #1 was all about setting up the story and it's not nearly as good as what follows.

Besides being one of the best stories ever told (in my opinion, but it's also my blog so my opinion's the only thing that matters here), it's also packaged very nicely. Like, to make you think you're getting value for money and all that. And yes, in case it wasn't clear enough in my last post, I really am a sucker for pretty things.

Absolute Sandman Volume 1 really is as heavy as the name would suggest. Quality paper bound in a hardcover reminiscent of my mom's Encyclopedia Britannica set. A slip cover to protect the cover - it may only be cardboard but it's really thick cardboard. It's a wonder they didn't throw in a plastic sleeve to protect the slip cover - now that would be value for money!

To impress the collector even more, they've recolored it. And thrown in Gaiman's original proposal, evolution sketches of the look for Sandman, and the script for the award-winning Issue #19 with the original pencilling by the very good Charles Vess, who also did Gaiman's Stardust (check out his work for Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall).

So yeah, that was my long-winded explanation for getting the book.

Here's the short version - I'm a whore!