The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country - Softcover

Neil Gaiman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156389016X ISBN 13: 9781563890161

Publisher: Vertigo, 1991

Synopsis

Presents four Sandman stories, including "A Midsummer Night's Dream," in which Shakespeare's company, at the instigation of the Lord of Dreams, gives an open-air performance of the play to an audience of fairies.

About this title

Review:

The third book of the Sandman collection is a series of four short comic book stories. What's remarkable here (considering the publisher and the time that this was originally published) is that the main character of the book--the Sandman, King of Dreams--serves only as a minor character in each of these otherwise unrelated stories. (Actually, he's not even in the last story.) This signaled a couple of important things in the development of what is considered one of the great comics of the second half of the century. First, it marked a distinct move away from the horror genre and into a more fantasy-rich, classical mythology-laden environment. And secondly, it solidly cemented Neil Gaiman as a storyteller. One of the stories here, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," took home the World Fantasy Award for best short story--the first time a comic was given that honor. But for my money, another story in Dream Country has it beat hands down. "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" has such hope, beauty, and good old-fashioned chills that rereading it becomes a welcome pleasure. --Jim Pascoe

About the Author:

Neil Gaiman is the most critically acclaimed comics writer of the 1990s and is the author of numerous books and graphic novels. He is the New York Times No. 1 best-selling author of American Gods and Anansi Boys. Kelley Jones is a regular artist on Batman for DC Comics. Past credits include Sandman, Swamp Thing, Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, Batman: Bloodstorm, and Batman: Dark Joker - The Wild.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vertigo
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 156389016X
• ISBN 13: 9781563890161
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III