Mister Sandman, Bring Me a Dream

so, for my birthday this year, my oldest sister got me the first three books in the Sandman series.

all of these pictures are backwards because they're from my webcam. DEAL WITH IT!

i've been wanting these books for AGES! but the full 2 volume set costs $100 each and i'm broke as shit. so when i opened these up i seriously started crying i was so damn happy. i love these books so damn much you guys!

love

i just...

*sniiiiiiiiiiiff*

...sorry, i'll stop now...

everything i'm about to say about this series has been said before and better, because anyone involved in the comic book/ graphic novel community knows Sandman. or at least, they should because i really think it's up there with The Watchmen in terms of influential graphic novels.

ANYWAYS! getting back to what actually matters! if you've never heard of the Sandman books, maybe you've heard of the guy who wrote them: eccentric British dude, Neil Gaiman!

look at that crazy dude with that dog!

he likes Cthulhu 

if you still have no idea who i'm talking about, why not check out his Wikipedia Article, or his personal blog. He's written such books as Coraline, American Gods,  Stardust, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, and The Graveyard Book; to name a few. in short, HE IS GODDAMN AMAZING! the man has a beautifully twisted sense of humor and a child-like sense of wonder. he's never afraid to run past the lines of decency, but he does it in such a way that it doesn't feel gratuitous.

ok...enough fangirling about the author, lets look at some of the art. i have the fully recoloured editions. the art is by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Daniel Vozzo, Todd Klein, and Dave McKean [as an artist i think it's necessary to list ALL the artists involved in a project]. to be fair, i have no clue who any of those dudes are, but the result is FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!

i'm sorry if you can't actually see this

there's a grungy elegance to some parts that are truly beautiful.

if this doesn't make you wanna run out and read comics i don't know what will

then people's heads fall off and melt and you're just like "wtf?!" and you're truly grossed out because of how detailed some of the gore can get

this is right before Morpheus has a rap battle with some lesser demon. seriously.

but then, like, these huge sprawling full page spreads filled with detail and every one of those demons and monsters has personality and a little bit of humor to them.

basically everything about these books is amazing. the main character, Morpheus,

he's like the love child of Gaiman and David Bowie from Labyrinth 

...is the King of Dreams. and that's what the books are about. Morpheus and his siblings and how they try to carry on with their business. Gaiman has a way of writing supernatural characters that makes them feel totally real and plausible. he weaves cultures, legends, and history together so seamlessly. i won't go into detail about the plot of the books since i've only read the three and they are SO worth reading on your own, but i will say this; if you're looking for some meatier graphic novels to get into, this one is well worth your while.

moral of the story:
        Sandman is awesome.
        Neil Gaiman is awesome.
        GO READ SANDMAN RIGHT NOW!

>Mar