The Annotated Sandman, Vol. 2

The Annotated Sandman #2

by Neil Gaiman, Leslie Klinger (Editor)

The second of five volumes, THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN collects issues 21-39 of Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN, with annotations by Leslie Klinger (The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Annotated Dracula) to all of the historical and literary references contained in the series. This edition includes the now legendary SEASON OF MISTS storyline, as well as A GAME OF YOU.New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN is a must-have for any die-hard fan or newcomer to the series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Horror, Supernatural

520 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sookie]

I did enjoy cultural and historical contexts given in this volume. Still miss the thought process behind the writer though.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with volume 1, my rating and review relate only to the annotation work and the actual physical book in my hands, not to Sandman overall.

Well, my complaints about the first volume of The Annotated Sandman hold true for this one as well:

> overall, way too many blank black margins with not as many notes as I'd like (fewer, in fact, than in volume 1, since Gaiman made fewer references to other DC characters as he went on);

> notes not present when I wanted them (one example: the panels in Thermidor in that display a life-sized puppet show using the headless corpses of the recently guillotined--surely there's a historical note worth mentioning there!) (I also felt there was far too little information about the cuckoo in myth and culture in A Game of You: in 34.15.1, George says that he is Gwas-y-gog, a servant of the cuckoo, and the note tells us this is Welsh, but doesn't tell us why on earth the Welsh have such a phrase);

> and shockingly poor production/proofing (one note appeared a full four pages before the panel it referenced, even though the panels before and after it also had notes on the same topic!).

Still a lot of useful tidbits to pick up, especially as we get those calendar-themed historical issues. Not all of it is really enlightening in terms of the plot or themes, but it is fun historical background (which I guess means I'm reading these annotated editions for the trivia?). I was fascinated to discover that the Cobweb Palace and the King of Pain in "Three Septembers and a January" were real and not, as I'd thought, inventions of Desire's. And I want to read an entire book about the Chevalier d'Eon, who lived as both a man and a woman at different times in his/her/their life (occasionally under legal compulsion).

I also continue to be fascinated by the places in which Gaiman's descriptions and the final art don't quite match up. I more than understand the desire of a living author to keep any less-than-pleased thoughts about a coworker's work quiet, but I did also appreciate the one place where it slipped through, in a comment that the demon Azazel as it originally appeared in issue #4 looked like a "floating potato." Yeah, Azazel's look is definitely stronger here!

Now to await the NYPL arrival of the next volume...

[Ish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize I did not add an entry for this book, and that I am only updating my reading list after finishing the entire Sandman series. Given the wide variety of characters, and the various storylines that connect, I had to look up what arcs were in this collection. "A Game of You" was in this volume and for that entry alone, this book receives 5 stars.

Rarely do books make me cry, at least, rarely did they in the past. "Song of Achilles" did recently but this was the second book that affected me in such a deep level. The story of Wanda was fantastic and this book introduced another one of my favorite characters, Thessaly. I have said it before and I'll say it again - I am a sucker for witches (and it seems Neil Gaiman has written some of my favorite ones).

The annotations definitely added more to the story and while at first I did not like the Cuckoo, the more I've thought about it the more I like this character as a villain. Their presence adds so much to the story. And Wanda... my dear Wanda... you deserved so much better and it killed me that your story did not end the way I wanted it to. However, I understand the story ended the way it did because it was realistic. This story was fantastic and it rekindled my love for the series as a whole.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only my second time through Sandman. It's kind of fun doing it with the annotated version, like having someone to gossip with on every page. The annotations don't usually add much, they definitely could have told more. And sometimes they are just about exactly redundant with the text. But the edition itself is a masterpiece, even if I have to read it propped up with a pillow. I can't say that appreciate each issue of this volume equally but some at least are absolutely fantastic, and they offset the ones that are just a little bit boring.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

still not loving the annotations but they are more informative in this one at least. still don't care or understand the reasons for telling me about every ad drop in the original book, that's less than useless.

Was able to finish the whole book today because of the heat wave. You don't go outside, you have a lot of time to read.

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. some info was just plain missing, one or two annotations were purely personal, which felt a bit out of place/ unprofessional. and again, i would have loved to have more insights into the workings of the other artists involved besides gaiman.

interesting to see that the sandman library reprint i have shows the stories in a different order than they were originally published.

[Marcy Reads on IG · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

This was quite confusing at times. I really enjoyed Volume 1, although it was also confusing but I felt like it flowed better than this one. Nonetheless I still enjoyed it, mostly because of Morpheus, I just still wish we would see more of him!

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy the one-offs a little more than the ongoing story of the Endless, but the “Game of You” plot was just incredibly satisfying, and I love the way minor characters from past storylines come back in a more major way. Most of all, I love the way Gaiman plays in this vast sandbox.

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the comics, didn't like the black and white aspect, or the lack of annotations that had more of Neil's thoughts vs. just historical references.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be thinking about the cuckoo and that metaphor for awhile.

[Bookdork · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantastic world building and plot continues. You get to meet old characters, and new characters, mixed with the mindblowing art.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

My star rating is as much for Gaiman's material as it is for the notes Klinger adds to this particular edition of it, to be clear.

I have never read the complete Sandman. In fact, when I read the first volume of the annotated collections a few years back, that was the first time I'd read consecutive issues past the original first collection. Because it's been so long (once I've read the complete thing, I'm certain I'll be rereading), my memories of the first volume are a little hazy, but I think I'm somewhat justified in saying that the material in this second volume constitutes Neil Gaiman's huge literary leap forward in the series. And it is a considerable leap.

And listen, I've known for years that fans loved this series, that it was one of the most critically acclaimed comics ever created. With all due respect to Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, it was Gaiman's Sandman that created the legacy of DC's Vertigo imprint, one that has proven impossible to live up to over the years. Even the many prose works Gaiman has released in the years since he completed his original Sandman run have not really, despite a broadened following, resulted in anything close to its equal.

The material in this volume is really that good. The idea of Sandman, that was confirmed with every issue I eventually sampled but in sampling couldn't really suggest the scope of Gaiman's accomplishment, is really the fulfillment of the literary potential of mainstream comics, what Moore could only conceive in his dreams (heh). But the problem is, this is a long series, and its somewhat episodic nature makes it difficult to digest in full. What Gaiman really does is something akin to 1001 Arabian Nights (whether this was the intention or what happened along the way, I don't know). Which means, like Aladdin the best stuff in it may be somewhat unrelated to the bigger story, and chances are that material is found in this volume. Although there are of course two more to follow, and I will be reading them in relatively short order (at last!), so further judgment will be found in later reviews.

But coming back to the nature of this particular version of the collected Sandman, it cannot be overstated how valuable Leslie Klinger's work here really is. If Sandman is to be appreciated as not just great comics material but great literary material, it must be embraced on a literary scale. Moore's Watchmen made it to Time's list of the hundred best pieces of 20th century fiction. But again, I think Moore's best utterly pales in comparison to what Gaiman accomplishes in this volume alone. Gaiman's sheer breadth of knowledge is awe-inspiring, the truly original takes he manages even on characters who've become movie icons in Marvel's Thor, in what are utterly throwaway appearances this volume, for example.

Klinger's notes are a whole level of interest in and of themselves. He doesn't attempt or need to comment on every page, and while at times his notes echo plot points spelled out in the story itself, and he rarely feels the need to explain something that appeared in the previous volume again, none of this detracts from the valuable service he provides. His is the first truly scholarly approach to Gaiman's work (I could be wrong, but other such efforts have been more of a commentary nature?), and a wonderfully immersive one.

If Sandman in a lot of ways embodied the Goth culture that permeated the end of the millennium, it becomes increasingly relevant in its depiction of such characters as Wanda, a transsexual whose story unfolds late in the volume, a mere subplot in some respects, but emblematic of Gaiman's ability to pierce at the very heart of his topics in ways few others have managed in the quarter century that has since passed with increased awareness and tolerance of the whole LGBTQ community.

If that's not the very definition of greatness, I don't know what is.

[Liss Carmody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying poring through the Sandman anthologies, and this annotated version was definitely the way to go, both for the cultural reference annotations (Sandman is rich in references to history, music, mythology, etc, and I catch a lot of it, but sometimes I'm too caught up to notice that I need to look something up) and for the commentary included from interviews with Gaiman that discuss the intent of certain scenes, story arcs, and so forth. The editor also occasionally drew attention to something in the artwork that would have otherwise escaped my notice. It was pretty neat. This 2nd anthology encompasses the Season of Mists, Distant Mirrors, A Game of You, and Convergence arcs, together with the mini-vignette The Flowers of Romance. Season of Mists was classic Gaiman - a convergence of mythology that dealt with issues of will and power, as well as allowing some fascinating perspectives and interactions between mythologies. I particularly liked it for the glimpse into Dream's odd family dynamic, and for the British boarding school issue, which I found weirdly resonating. Distant Mirrors is a trio of tales set in specific historical places, with famous moments of history or historical personages involved. Each of them was interesting in its own right, but they didn't seem to build together as a unit. A Game of You was a weird tale set in the modern NYC and also in a dreamland, with enough plot twists to keep me guessing. I liked that the boring, bookish Thessaly ends up playing such an unexpectedly pivotal role. This arc was more interesting for the dynamic that built up between the characters, than because of the plot itself, which I found a little confusing and convoluted. Convergence, finally, was another pair of disconnected stories dealing in folklore and the nature of the Dreaming and the passage of time. Any of these would bear repeated reading, so I'm enjoying this thoroughly.

[Josh LaFollette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to its unique blend of horror, fantasy, mythology, and loads of historical and literary references, The Sandman is easily one of the best comic series of all time. While the novelty of its brilliance may have worn off after the first volume, the series continues to be entertaining as well as intellectually engaging. Though it can certainly stand by itself, the story is enriched by the great notes in this edition (even if they slow the reading process a bit, or sometimes state the obvious). It's great to see the world of the Sandman being developed further in this volume, which contains a diverse collection of stories. Sometimes the protagonist, Dream, takes center stage, while at other times he holds back and the story follows other characters. It's particularly interesting to see more of Dream's siblings, especially his little sister death Death. However, just as soon as you really start missing him, he comes back to steal the show. Even though this volume contains a variety of self-contained stories, it all feels focused and cohesive. In short, if you've started reading the Sandman, keep reading, because it really does stay consistently great.

[Jaimie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For readers who don't have a literary, historical, or myhtological knowledge base Klinger's commentary on Gaiman's text is xtremely useful. Yet, for people like myself who have much of this knowledge already, this book is made into nothing more than a handy reference guide. Klinger refrains from adding any personal speculation or groundbreaking scholarship (such as appeared in Hy Bender's the Sandman Companion), so I am left feeling a bit let down. Some of Klinger's content choices were also a touch strange and un-unfied (including some interview snippets, yet not enough to justify, and similar practices with mention to the original scripts), so I must conclude that this book is really for the Gaiman-scholar-lite, who can't be bothered to read the actual seminal scholarly commentary.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember "Season of Mists," the storyline that makes up the first chunk of this book, as being hugely influential on me as a high school student, though in re-reading in it, I'm not sure why. And the second large chunk, "A Game of You," feels like the moment Neil Gaiman first became Neilgaimanish, Neilgaimanishness of course being Neil Gaiman's worst quality. As for Klinger's annotations, they're not free of the problems that plagued volume one, but they're better, though they still seem a little lost and scant. I buy annotated editions for the annotations -- if they're lacking, why don't I spend my money on the full-color Absoulte Sandman books?

[Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd out of 5 volumes containing the complete comic series The Sandman. Continue to follow the adventures of Dream, as he regains power and control of his realm. In this volume, you slowly begin to gain more information on each of the endless and their realms. Morpheus has gained control of the underworld and others want it. A huge meeting is held to see who will win the key from him.

I love this book not only because the story itself is intricate and interesting, but so are the characters. We are presented with diverse characters with vastly different ideas, personalities, and outlooks on life.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing Neil Gaiman's annotations, thoughts, & notes accompanying the stories from Sandman was pretty interesting. If you haven't read the comics, I would not recommend these volumes, as the annotations give spoilers. Disappointingly, these are also black & white....you'll want to read the comics in color. I can appreciate that printing these tomes would have rendered them exorbitantly expensive.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome, as expected. Sandman fans have many choices. They can read the graphic novels, or the original comics, or the Annotated version, or the super deluxe Absolute volumes. Or they can be fanatics and read all of them. The annotations are interesting, but the artwork suffers just a tiny bit from being in black and white.

[Charles Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are few stories as rich as the Sandman saga. Gaiman infuses so much into this series, it is a fine example of what is possible within illustrated storytelling. This is one of the stories that really transcends the artform. I know there have been whispers of an live action adaptation of Sandman, but I hope it never happens. I just don't believe it can ever do the story justice.

[Jsrott · Rating 4 out of 5]

SON OF A BISCUIT. Yet another set where I started it before I realized the next three books have not yet been published. Great story, if quite a bit darker than what I normally go for. The third in the set is set for request at my local library, now I just have to have patience. Stupid, stupid, patience.

[Jeff Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It just keeps getting better,two of my favorite story archs are contained in this volume, seasons of the mist and a game of you. as always the level of detail Gaiman puts into his script is incomparable.

[Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Sandman and it was extremely influential and all those things everyone says about it... *This* version, while black-and-white, is super cool simply because there's no way I'd be able to catch *all. the. references.* throughout this series.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the first - lyrical, dark, full of allusions. Best read at a slow pace - so that it can sink in without getting to be too much with all the fantasy/mysticism/what-have-you, but also because you sometimes need an emotional break in between episodes.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it still bugs me that this collection is not in color, I still have to give it 5 stars for containing "A Game of You." It's such a treat to revisit these stories and the annotations are interesting.

[Carl Tubridy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must buy!

[James Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book weighs a ton! But some good background material, well researched. Confirms my suspicion that Gaiman is one of the better-informed fiction writers, esp. in regards to world mythology.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again Gaiman impresses and again the annotations disappoint.

[Kristin Boldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I borrowed and did not buy. I think Hy Bender's Sandman Companion works better.

[Bjørn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was even better than the last.