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title = The Sandman
''The Sandman'' was a Comic Book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. It became the flagship of DC's Vertigo imprint, and is kept in print as a series of ten Graphic Novel s. It is widely considered one of the most original, sophisticated and artistically ambitious comic book series of the Modern Age . By the time of the series's conclusion, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of comic books and become a Pop Culture phenomenon in its own right. The Protagonist of ''Sandman'' is Dream , the immortal Anthropomorphic personification of Dream s and storytelling. He is known by an array of names, most often Morpheus , but also Oneiros , Lord Shaper, the Prince of Stories, and, rarely, " The Sandman ". He is one of a family of seven siblings known as The Endless , each of whom personifies some aspect of reality, such as Death or Desire . Gaiman has summarized the plot of the series as: "The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision." The character's initially haughty, and often cruel, manner begins to soften after his years of imprisonment at the start of the series, but the challenge of undoing past sins and changing old ways is an enormous one for a being who has been set in his ways for billions of years. Unlike most popular US comic books of its time, ''The Sandman'' existed almost completely outside of the Superhero genre. The first third of the series somewhat conformed to the Horror genre, but it later grew into an elaborate Fantasy series, incorporating elements of Classical and contemporary Mythology . The series is occasionally labeled as "Sophisticated Suspense", a small genre that also includes '' Swamp Thing '' (particularly after Alan Moore took over writing it in the 1980s), and Jamie Delano 's '' Hellblazer ''. SETTING The storylines primarily take place in The Dreaming , Morpheus's realm, and the waking world, with occasional visits to other domains, such as Hell , Faerie , Asgard , and the domains of the other Endless. Many used the contemporary United States Of America and the United Kingdom as a backdrop. (The DC Universe was the official setting of the series, but well-known DC characters and places were rarely featured after 1990). Most of the storylines take place in modern times (presumably the late 80s and early 90s), but many short stories are set in the past, taking advantage of the immortality of many of the characters to deal with historical individuals and events. ART Also unlike most comic books, ''The Sandman'' did not feature an ongoing illustrator; instead, different artists were hired for each new storyline, sometimes for only a single issue. Aside from co-creator Sam Kieth , artists who illustrated a significant number of issues include Colleen Doran , Mike Dringenberg , Marc Hempel , Kelley Jones , Jill Thompson and Michael Zulli . Their styles ranged from cartoony Expressionism (Hempel) to detailed, delicate Realism with a hint of the Pre-Raphaelites (Zulli). The lettering for each issue was done by Todd Klein , save for a handful of issues during the book's second major storyline, where John Costanza filled in while Klein was away on honeymoon. Each issue featured a cover created by Dave McKean . McKean’s approach combined Painting , Photography , pencil and ink Drawing s, Collage , Digital Art , found objects and even Sculpture , resulting in distinctive, often Abstract or Surreal , images. COLLECTIONS ''The Sandman'' was initially published as a monthly serial, in 32-page booklets (with some exceptions to this pattern). As the series quickly increased in popularity, DC Comics began to reprint them in hardcover and paperback editions, each representing either a complete novel or a collection of related short stories. DC first published "The Doll's House" storyline in a collection called simply ''The Sandman''. Shortly thereafter, the first three volumes were published and named independently and also collected in an eponymous boxed set. (Death's debut story, "The Sound of Her Wings" from issue #8, appeared both at the beginning of ''The Doll's House'' and at the end of early editions of ''Preludes and Nocturnes'', creating overlap between the first two volumes. This overlap isn't present in newer editions.) Further collections would then be released shortly after their completion in serial form. A total of ten collections contain the full run of the series, and have all been kept in print. They are as follows:
In addition, the cover images from ''The Sandman'' have been compiled into one volume:
As the 10th anniversary arrived, Neil wrote new stories. This can be perceived as the eleventh tome.
Neil Gaiman's blog already talks about an Absolute Sandman which would be a new edition of all the 10 volumes {Link without Title} . OTHER BOOKS AND SERIES Because of the amount of critical acclaim ''Sandman'' received and because of its commercial viability (at the time of its conclusion, it was DC’s best-selling series), a number of spin-off volumes have been produced. Fans disagree about the quality and legitimacy of these volumes, and most agree that while a few approach ''The Sandman'' in quality, the majority are of a decidedly lesser quality. Here is a list of the more important ones:
IMPACT ''The Sandman'' was one of the most widely respected comic book series of its time, finding recognition not only within the comic book industry but in the general literary world. A few years prior to ''Sandman,'' works such as '''' by Frank Miller , and '' Maus '' by Art Spiegelman conferred a new respectability on comics, but no ongoing series has ever gained as much acclaim as ''Sandman''. This helped support the notion that comic books could be high-quality literature or art even in a long-running series with no preset number of issues (i.e., the format comic books are usually published in). ''The Sandman'' also demonstrated that a comic book series does not have to be a superhero series to be successful. Along with Alan Moore’s '' Swamp Thing '' stories, ''Sandman'' helped establish " Sophisticated Suspense ", a genre which is meant for older readers, includes elements of horror and fantasy, and tackles controversial topics. In 1993, the success of Sandman inspired DC comics to launch the Vertigo imprint, which specialized in this genre and published some of the most acclaimed series of the 1990s, including '' Preacher '' and '' Animal Man .'' ''The Sandman'' also strengthened the importance of the writer in comic books. Before ''Sandman,'' writers were often overshadowed by superstar artists such as Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee . Gaiman became one of the most popular comic book creators of the era (launching his career as a novelist), and DC did not dare to continue ''The Sandman'' after he felt the series had come to a suitable conclusion. Almost universally, popular corporate-owned comic book series continue long after the original creators have left (which may be decades for especially popular series). Todd Klein 's distinctive lettering on ''The Sandman'' also helped popularize individual typescripts for the word balloons of certain characters, a technique that had been used in '' Cerebus '' and scattered other places. Gaiman & Klein particularly used unique styles for the Endless, such as Morpheus’ word balloons being black and irregular with white lettering and Delirium’s being irregular, abstract and multi-colored. In addition to its impact on comic books, ''The Sandman'' has had a significant influence on Pop Culture . The series was mentioned in songs by Tori Amos , Alice Cooper and others, Sandman posters can be seen in the background of the sitcom '' Roseanne '', and Extreme Championship Wrestling star Raven is fond of wearing Sandman T-shirts. Dave Sim parodied the characters (Dream became "Swoon", Death "Snuff" and so on) in his '' Cerebus ''. Sam Kieth also parodied the character Death and Sandman fans in his comic, '' The Maxx ''. ''The Sandman'' has also gained a decent amount of attention outside the comics world among other subcultures and has gained increasing popularity in the Goth subculture. Occasional covers and work with Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano has brought the title to the attention of fans of Japanese art and pop culture, as well as Video Game fans familiar with Amano's work through the '' Final Fantasy '' series, as well as other game and Anime projects he has contributed to. ''The Sandman'' issue #19 "A Midsummer's Night Dream" won the World Fantasy Award in 1991 for Best Short Fiction. The following morning, the rules of the award were changed to ensure no other comics could get that award. As a result, it is the only comic that will ever win a World Fantasy Award unless the rules are again changed. . While the majority of the set involved Garfield researching the actual Arabian Nights stories, one card, named "City in a Bottle", was a direct nod to the ending of "Ramadan". SEE ALSO REFERENCES
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION The story ''The Tempest'' from Sandman 75 was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic-Book Story for 1997. The trade paperbacks "Sandman: The Wake" and "Sandman: The Kindly Ones" were both top votegetters for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for 1997. "Dustcovers: The Collected Sandman Covers" was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album for 1998. EXTERNAL LINKS
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