I’ve actually read Preludes and Nocturnes multiple times since I was a wee 90s teen but I decided to give it a reread since the Netflix series dropped. I’ve been waiting for an onscreen version of Sandman for actual decades so a little refresh was in order so I could pick all the nits in the series. I have to say overall it does a great job of bringing Morphus and The Dreaming to life in a way that would not have been possible in a live action series until very recently. At least I think so. My copy of The Doll’s House, which covers the second half of the season is currently missing in action.
For those that didn’t have a minor teenage obsession with this comic, Morpheus aka Dream is one of The Endless. The endless are the personifications of different aspects of humanity; Death, Dream, Desire, Despair etc. While weakened and returning from a long journey, Dream is captured and imprisoned by magician Roderick Burgess and his son for seventy years. Upon his escape, Dream sets out to retrieve his tools (a bag of sand, a helm and a ruby) which have been stolen and lost over the decades. The final chapter introduces Death, Dream’s older sister who gives him some much-needed advice. Sandman was originally released as a horror comic and it’s evident in the art and writing. Many of the gorier aspects of this were eliminated in the screen adaptation. It also includes cameos by many other DC characters (John Constantine, Martian Manhunter, Etrigan the Demon) because in the late 1980s Neil Gaiman was an unknown commodity that needed a little help from his comic brethren.
Reading this book again reminded me of why I loved this series so much. As an adult, I’ve noticed more of Gaiman’s early shortcomings. He’s not always great at giving his side characters inner lives, which the show compensates for. But damned if Dream and the world he inhabits aren’t so much fun to immerse yourself in. Definitely pick this up if you never have before. It adds some context to the Netflix series and it’s a wonderful read.
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