Graphic Novels

Waking Dream

Advantages: First half is a surprisingly good ending.
Disadvantages: Second half of unrelated stories is a disappointing waste of time.

...that Neil Gaiman's saga of The Sandman came to a satisfactory close eight years after its first issue hit the shelves. This final paperback collects the three issues comprising 'The Wake' epilogue and three supplementary, independent stories tying up some of the more obscure loose ends before the series is finally put to rest... you know, aside from the other couple of Sandman books Gaiman has written since, and the numerous spin-off comics continuing ...
...The previous book 'The Kindly Ones' was a long and winding road to the Sandman's inevitable death, and 'The Wake' deals with its consequences while also providing a sentimental farewell for the comic series itself. Fortunately, this amounts to more than just a bittersweet parade of favourite characters saying their goodbyes (though it is partly that), with Gaiman and returning artist Michael Zulli working to create something original and distinctive ...

Frankingsteins 21.04.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Sandman: The Wake - Neil Gaiman

When the Wind Blows

Advantages: Charming art, devastating story
Disadvantages: Compact panels

...and illustrated by Raymond Briggs, When the Wind Blows was his first attempt at an adult graphic novel. Released in 1982 on the back of his success with children’s books, it tells a sorrowful tale of the effect a nuclear attack on England has on a retired couple living in rural Sussex. A heavy topic, but the dark, yet compassionate sense of humour pervading the book lightens the mood somewhat. Twinned with the cosy, pastel shaded art-work, the unsettling, ...
...disaster on two people who have never done anything to deserve it. The harmless pair are developed through their interactions with each other, and (some clunky exposition in the first page aside) are convincingly characterised. Their tender, occasionally abrasive relationship adds some humour as well as developing their characters. They are both survivors of WW2, with some strangely nostalgic memories of that time. Despite Jim’s research at the local ...

pigeon_of_doom 27.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of When the Wind Blows - Raymond Briggs

You Can Choose Your Friends...

Advantages: Explores the full extent of the Sandman universe.
Disadvantages: Tediously slow moving story.

After the stand-alone tales of the third Sandman collection, Neil Gaiman is back to writing a large scale story spread across a number of issues that seeks to address some long pressing questions as well as introduce a host of new characters, realms and possible directions for the series hereafter. 'Season of Mists' is the most singularly focused effort in the series yet, taking the customary time-out for a single issue in the middle but otherwise ...
...of Dreams, rather than, as the series had done previously, pursue an assortment of seemingly unrelated plot threads tied up neatly by the conclusion. In this sense, and especially after reading the individual short stories that made up the previous 'Dream Country,' 'Season of Mists' felt to me much like "the Sandman movie," a self-conscious expansion of a popular series striving to give something back to long-time fans as well as seek a new audience, ...

Frankingsteins 31.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Sandman: Season of Mists - Neil Gaiman

Bimbos of the Night

Advantages: Neil Gaiman's epic horror-fantasy tackles social issues.
Disadvantages: Fns may find the shift of focus disappointing.

After the slow and arduous multi-dimensional grandeur of 'Season of Mists,' DC's adult comic series The Sandman returns to Earth once again, and successfully rekindles its former glory. The problems I had with the preceding story were partly down to my personal tastes regarding the series, now approaching its half-way point, but even leaving aside the shift in focus from the complex fantasy realms of the Dreaming, the afterlife and far too many other ...
...least for the most part), it's clear that writer Neil Gaiman has got back in touch with his juju after what was a most trying eight-issue task of exposition. It wasn't all a waste of time though; having now firmly outlined far more than readers could ever need to know about the series' complicated, multi-faceted universe and politics, Gaiman and his artists are now free to explore it at their leisure. 'A Game of You' addresses all the problems I ...

Frankingsteins 07.04.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Sandman: A Game of You - Neil Gaiman

Stark vs Austin: bring it on Marvel!

Advantages: Great amalgamation of Marvel characters, artwork
Disadvantages: A bit hurried, occasional irrational characterisation

...to #7 of the Marvel Civil War series, Mark Millar scripts a compelling tale that encompasses a large number of Marvel's recognisable and not so recognisable characters, and pits them in a head to head battle that is fraught with broken friendships and unnecessary interference. This 2007 'book' is the latest Marvel offering I have read, and it shows that the Marvel Universe is just as susceptible to change as ours is. When an over-zealous young group ...
...main part of the first Civil War episode. There are others, which feature various Marvel characters, such as the Civil War: X-Men series. This one, however, shows how the Marvel Universe starts fighting amongst themselves when the whole idea was to make it safer for them to fight crime. It is well written, with excellent artwork, and I was glad to have read it. The 7 episode series is currently available from amazon.co.uk for £7.37, and it's well ...

pmcds 03.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Civil War - Mark Millar