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There are seven entities, called the Endless. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe.
Listed in their order of “birth”, they are called Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium.
Destruction has abandoned his realm, and Delight turned into Delirium. Other than that, they still fulfill their functions, as they have done from the very beginning.
Although all the seven Endless play major parts, Dream - also called Lord Shaper and Morpheus, amongst many other names – is the main protagonist of the series The Sandman, which was written by Neil Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman is among my favourite authors, and other books I would highly recommend are “Neverwhere“, “Good Omens“, “American Gods“, “The Graveyard Book“, “Smoke and Mirrors” and “Fragile Things” (the last two being collections of short stories).
Style
The Sandman consists of ten graphic novels. In every book, he works with around ten different artists. Thus the visual style changes a lot throughout the books.
I don’t like “comics”. The Sandman is not a comic. It’s one of the most inspiring, most creative, most ingenious, mysterious, thoughtful, it’s one of the most intelligent “graphic novel serious” ever written.
As are Neil Gaiman’s other books.
Rating
1+
Must read if you are somehow interested in fantasy, myths, religion, history, psychology or literature.
(Thanks to D. for hosting me for half a year in Norway, for having the books in the shelf, and for working so much that I actually had the time to read all of them)
Quotes
“When you dream, sometimes you remember. When you awake, you always forget.”
– Dream
“Not knowing everything is all that makes it okay, sometimes.”
– Delirium
“The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are wave functions. The endless ar repeating motifs. The Endless are echoes of darkness, and nothing more.”
– Destruction
“This is the second brother I have lost, whispered Despair in her shadowy voice. I cared for him, very much. He was so wise; he seemed so certain of the rightness of his actions. And I, who do nothing but doubt, admired that in him. He was a creature of hope. For dreams are hopes, and echoes of hopes.”
– Despair
The Sandman, Part I: Preludes and Nocturnes; Amazon, 12.95 Euros (delivery free of charge)
March 25th, 2010 at 21:19
Waiting for the iPad edition with shiny bright colors…
March 26th, 2010 at 00:16
Der 1+ kann ich mich anschließen, das ist ganz große Comic-Literatur.
Ja, Comic-Literatur – den Kunstgriff, von der “graphic novel” zu sprechen ohne sie als Gattung anhand von Kriterien abgrenzen zu können, finde ich verzichtbar: Wo wollte man die Grenze ziehen? “Watchmen” eine Graphic Novel, Swamp Thing” aber noch ein Comic? Akira “nur” ein Manga, aber “Maus” eine Graphic Novel? “From Hell” eine solche, aber Y oder DMZ… etc. pp.
Letzten Endes ist “graphic novel” als Absetzung von “Comic” eine Leerformel, durch deren Verwendung der Sprecher Qualität behaupten will und damit gleichzeitig das Comic-Genre als Hort des Schunds bekräftigt. Dass diese Zuordnung zum Glück nicht einmal mehr von Seiten der Literaturkritik geteilt wird, beweisen kompetente Besprechungen der oben aufgeführten Comics wie auch die von Fables, die von Transmetropolitan, die von Invisibles etc.
Abschließend dazu eine vage kulturzeitgeschichtliche Vermutung: Parallel zum Weg des Nerds in den Mainstream vollzieht sich der Weg des Comics in die Literatur.
Sandman jedenfalls (meiner Meinung nach: im Gegensatz zu den Romanen Gaimans) lohnt das Lesen unbedingt, nicht nur aufgrund der dichten und aufgeladenen Erzählweise, sondern auch wegen graphischer (schon die erste Erzählung im ersten Band als Verweis auf den klassischen Horror-Pulp!) und textlicher Intertextualität, die eine Anbindung an die ganz großen Erzählungen (in zweierlei Sinn) eröffnet. Danke fürs dran Erinnern!
March 26th, 2010 at 08:52
I don’t really read comics (or other graphic novels), so I am not acquainted to the genre very much.
Wikipedia says this about Comic vs. Graphic Novel:
“The evolving term graphic novel is not strictly defined and is sometimes used, controversially, to imply subjective distinctions in artistic quality between graphic novels and other kinds of comics. It suggests a complete story that has a beginning, middle and end, as opposed to an ongoing series. It can also imply a story that is outside the genres commonly associated with comic books, or that deals with more mature themes.”
March 26th, 2010 at 13:06
Genau das meinte ich…
Nun denn, wenn Dir Sandman gefallen hat, findest Du oben einige gute Anregungen. Lassen sich sämtlich unter “Graphic Novel” nach der Definition “complete story” beschreiben, was die Qualität angeht sowieso.
April 1st, 2010 at 09:34
Hmm….
… wenn mal wieder Zeit ist, sollte ich vielleicht einen weiteren Blick hineinwerfen. Beim ersten – kursorischen – Blick hat mich der in meinen Augen krude (!) Zeichenstil abgeschreckt und keinen Anreiz zum weiterblättern erzeugt. Aber vielleicht liegen mir ja die anderen Bände mehr (k.A., welchen ich in der Hand hatte).
April 20th, 2010 at 02:41
Was den Zeichenstil angeht: Neil Gaiman hat die Zeichner gewechselt, in dem Ausmaß meines Wissens einmalig. Der Zeichenstil der ersten Geschichte ist meiner Erinnerung nach (wie auch die Story) eine Hommage an den Pulp Comic früherer Zeiten.
March 11th, 2012 at 11:54
Neil Gaiman has written a tribute to Moebius – who did a few days ago – on his blog, and described the first issue of Heavy Metal he ever saw:
“I was — what — 14, and on a French Exchange to Paris with my class, and this beautiful magazine filled with comics opened my mind to what comics could be, and particularly to the art of Jean Giraud, AKA Moebius, who drew about half of the magazine in a way that seemed both familiar and completely alien, made it so powerful and perfect. He drew different stories in different styles, and the only thing they seemed to have in common was that they were beautiful. I bought a copy. I could only afford the one issue of the magazine, but one was enough.”