From: v125qj86@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Jeffrey B Rogers)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Re: Sandman
Date: 6 Nov 92 03:56:00 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Nov5.124757.29505@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, cliffr@pyuxf.uucp
 (25347-roberts) writes...
>I know it sounds like alot, but could someone who is a regular reader
>of sandman please give the new readers a brief synopsis of the character
>and what story line the book is trying to tell.  Some origins would help.
> 
>Thanks,
>Cliff

	Here goes: Sandman is a monthly book published by DC Comics (and soon,
under the mature/horror-title subgroup called Vertigo). As of the 1st week of
November, the current issue # is 44. It is a monthly book, with no annual as
such, but a "Sandman Special" was released about 10 or so issues back (I could
be wrong about the number).
	All the issues of the book are written by Neil Gaiman. The artists 
change from storyline to storyline. The issues seem to 'alternate' between
groups of stories that only take one issue to tell, and multi-issue stories, 
although the series as a whole could be seen as one even longer story. The 
current issue is part 4 of a multi-issue story called "Brief Lives". Most of the
multi-issue stories, and even the groups of one-issue stories, are given titles.
	The attraction for this book is, for the most part, that it is written
well, an all-too-sad rarity in comic books. Ask diffrent people and they'll
give you diffrent reasons why they like it; it could be all the obscure ref-
erences to a wide range of literature and art, the 'original' view of the 
workings of the universe, whatever. But the strength of the writing is usually
the reason cited.
	The main character of this series is Morpheus the Sandman, also known
as Dream (with a capital D). Dream is the 3rd eldest in a 'family' of beings
known collectively as the Endless. They are called such because, well, they're
endless. They don't die. (Actually, it's a little more complicated than that,
but suffice to say, as long as the universe exists, they will.) Each of the 
Endless controls an aspect of mortal existance, and is the sum of that aspect.
So, not only is Dream the master of all Dreams, he IS all Dreams.
	The other Endless are the supporting characters of the comic. The story-
lines either deal with what Dream has to deal with, his dealings with his family
and friends, and occasionaly what the other Endless have to deal with.
	The Endless all have names that begin with D, (at least in Modern 
English) and have a generally fixed appearance, personality, and sex. One of
the running plotlines has been that the 4th eldest, a male, had 'given up' his
position and gone into isolation. The current storyline deals with a search for
his whereabouts, and I will not say who he is here for the sake of those who
wish to read the back issues first and try to figure it out. If you really want
to know, read issue 41, or any of the posts dealing with the current issues.
	Each of the Endless also appears to have a 'home', where their power is
absolute, and within that home a "Gallery", containing symbolic representations
of each of the others. The Galleries are used for communication and transport,
much like the Trumps from Zelazny's Chronicles Of Amber. The Endless are, in
order of 'age': Destiny, a male; Death, a female; Dream, a male; ???, a male;
Desire, a fe/male (it is whichever sex it wants); Despair, a female (Despair
and Desire are said to be twins); and Delerium, a female (Delerium was once
Delight---the circumstances behind this change have not yet been revealed). 
	Dream appears as a thin, pale man with black hair and 'pools of dark
water with distant stars shining within' for eyes. Like most of the Endless, 
the particulars of his appearance depend on who's watching. If viewed by a 
caucasian, he will have caucasian features. If viewed by a cat, he will appear
as a cat. And so on.
	As far as his personality, he is a very serious being, very consious
[sp?] of his responsibilities. When angry, he becomes very quiet, and polite,
instead of the usual opposite. He is said to be creative, intelligent, and
capable of sublety, yet lacks in judgement and common sense. His sibling
Death is far more sensible than he is, and this is a point that has been shown
several times in the course of the book. He has also had a number of failed
relationships, and the current storyline finds him directly after his last
break-up.
	IMHO, the best way to approach this book is to start from the begin-
ning, and the accessability of the first 27~ issues in collected softcover
could definitely be a help. As for the rest, you're on your own. The order
of the softcovers is: Preludes and Nocturnes (1-8), A Doll's House (8-16),
Dream Country (17-20), and A Season of Mists (21-27). The uncollected subsets
after that are: Distant Mirrors (28-30, shorts), A Game Of You (31-37, multi-
issue story), Convergences (38-40, shorts), Brief Lives (41-4?, current multi-
issue story). The Sandman Special was released in the middle of A Game Of You,
and has a glow-in-the-dark cover. 
	As I said above, the current storyline deals with the missing brother.
Delerium makes up her mind to find him. She gets Dream to go looking with her,
even though he really doesn't want to find him--he just wants to get over his 
lastest breakup. Along the way, diffrent members of the family remember the 
'prodigal son', and Delerium and Dreams search is being subtlely interfered with
by ---something.
	In a few months a "Vertigo Sampler" will be issued to the shops, and in
it is a short story written by Mr. Gaiman that the Comics Sampler calls "an
excellent jumping-on point for new readers", or something like that. Then again,
they say the same thing for part 7 of Brief Lives, so who knows? Also, Dreams'
sister Death will star in a 3-issue book called _Death:The High Cost Of Living_.
	Hope this all helps, and didn't make ya dizzy. 
	And for those who know: please, no flames for wrong stuff- this is all
off the top of my head.
							J.B.Rogers
							SUNY@Buffalo
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc