DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Neil Gaiman
WRITERS: Simon “Si” Spurrier, Kat Howard, Nalo Hopkinson, and Dan Watters
ART: Bilquis Evely, Tom Fowler, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, Max Fiumara and Sebastian Fiumara
COLORS: Mat Lopes
LETTERS: Simon Bowland
EDITOR: Molly Mahan
COVER: Jae Lee with June Chung
VARIANT COVERS: Dave McKean; Jill Thompson; Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair; Sam Keith; P. Craig Russell with Lovern Kindzierski; David Mack
48pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (October 2018)
“Suggested for Mature Readers”
The Sandman created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg
The Sandman is a DC Comics comic book series created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg. Published by DC Comics from 1989 to 1996, The Sandman ran for 75 issues, and tells the story of “Dream” of “The Endless.” Also named Morpheus (as well as other names), Dream rules over the world of dreams.
DC Comics announced earlier this year an expansion and quasi sequel to The Sandman, “The Sandman Universe.” This will be a line of four comic books that will launch in September and October of 2018. The release dates are timed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sandman #1, which was covered dated January 1989, but released to comic book stores in October 1988. It will also commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Vertigo imprint.
The Sandman Universe titles are a mixture of new and revived titles. The first is The Dreaming (Sept. 5th), written by Simon “Si” Spurrier and drawn by Bilquis Evely. The second is House of Whispers (Sept. 12), written by Nalo Hopkinson and drawn by Dominike “Domo” Stanton. The third is Lucifer (October 17), written by Dan Watters and drawn by Max Fiumara and Sebastian Fiumara. The fourth is Books of Magic (Oct. 24), written by Kat Howard and drawn by Tom Fowler.
These four titles are previewed in the stand-alone anthology comic book, The Sandman Universe #1. Neil Gaiman provides the story for this single-issue comic book. Simon Spurrier, Kat Howard, Nalo Hopkinson, and Dan Watters write the scripts for previews of the respective titles they are writing. Bilquis Evely, Tom Fowler, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, and Max Fiumara and Sebastian Fiumara draw the art for the previews of the respective series they are drawing. The Sandman Universe #1 is colored by Mat Lopes and lettered by Simon Bowland.
In The Sandman Universe #1, the denizens of The Dreaming discover that their master, the Lord of Dreams, is missing. Now, Matthew the raven must traverse the realms and dreams of four characters: Dora, Timothy Hunter, Erzulie (a voodoo deity), and Lucifer Morningstar (trapped in the body of an old man) to find Dream. But does he want to be found? What if he quit being Dream?
I enjoyed The Sandman Universe #1, but I would not call it an exceptional comic book. It is a particularly well-produced preview comic book. The best art, by far, in The Sandman Universe #1 is the work of Bilquis Evely, who is drawing The Dreaming, so I am putting this title on my reading list.
I want to try House of Whispers because I try to support Black writers of speculative and fantasy fiction, and the Jamaican-born, Canadian Hopkinson is a writer of color. The House of Whispers preview in The Sandman Universe #1 is interesting and is the only truly unique offering in this comic book. However, I must say that it did not quite connect with me the way I thought it would because of its various elements and ideas.
The Books of Magic preview did pique my interest; for obvious reasons, this is the closest thing to a Harry Potter comic book we likely will ever have. I found the Lucifer preview to be a chore to read, taxing my patience for most of its six pages.
The Dreaming is both The Sandman Universe #1's framing sequence and the subject of a preview, which is good. As I just wrote, Bilquis Evely's art is beautiful, and Evely's talent really shows on the killer last page she produces for this story. As a preview of a line of comic books, The Sandman Universe #1 is as effective as it can be, but most of the effort is really up to the creative teams of the individual titles in the line. I recommend this to readers interested in “The Sandman Universe” titles, but I doubt longtime fans of The Sandman comic book series will get much out of it.
7.5 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You'
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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