Booklist Review
Comic-book publishers have grown expert at collecting individual issues of a title as graphic novels and later rereleasing those collections with hitherto unpublished sequences, further artwork, and other "bonus" material to entice buffs to purchase the same book twice and thrice. DC Comics brings the game to a new level with the Absolute series of oversized, slipcased, hardcover volumes of landmark titles. Neil Gaiman revived the name of an early comic-book superhero only to give it to a protagonist whose utter difference, and that of the cohort of relatives who took the spotlight whenever he--the Sandman--absented it, refreshed mainstream comics even more than Frank Miller's overhauled Batman had a few years earlier. The Sandman and his siblings are embodiments of the dark forces of nature----death, destiny, and other dismaying elementals. They play out their adventures mostly in contemporary settings that have been completely recolored for the first of four Absolute volumes that will re-present them all. --Ray Olson Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In 1988, Gaiman began writing the series that was to make him a star in the fields of comics and fantasy: The Sandman. This first lavish (and heavy) oversized hardcover of four planned volumes reprints the first 20 issues, which were previously collected in trade paperback (Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country). With artwork by cocreators Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, plus Colleen Doran, Charles Vess, and others, and improved coloring in the first 18 issues, this features the first appearances of Dream as he escapes after 70 years of captivity and moves to regain his power and dream kingdom. Also included is the World Fantasy Award-winning "A Midsummer Night's Dream," a tale of Shakespeare and the faery folk; the complete script and pencils form part of the 78-page appendix. Filled with wonder and strangeness, this dark fantasy for older teens and adults is one of the most celebrated comic series. Essential for every library, this "Absolute" edition is absolutely its best presentation yet.-S.R. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
