The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country

Neil Gaiman; Kelley Jones [Illustrator]; Charles Vess [Illustrator]; Colleen Doran [Illustrator]; Malcolm Jones III [Illustrator]; Steve Erickson [Introduction];

ISBN 10: 156389016X / ISBN 13: 9781563890161

Published by Vertigo, 1991

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 156389016X-3-25664455

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Sandman Library, Volume 3: Dream Country
• Publisher: Vertigo
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 156389016X
• ISBN 13: 9781563890161
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Kelley Jones; Charles Vess; Colleen Doran; Malcolm Jones III
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 9 ounces

About this title

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.

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