The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Adult Graphic Novels-Main Level SAN
To anyone who might be remotely familiar with comics, the world of Sandman is probably not new to you. To those who aren’t and are looking for a place to start, this is it. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, eighteen Eisner Awards, two Bram Stoker Illustrated Narrative Awards, and one of the first comic books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list, The Sandman is one of the most highly regarded and influential graphic novels ever made.
The plot revolves around a group of beings known as the Endless that are anthropomorphic manifestations of human existence. While the focus of the story is on Dream, the other siblings Death, Destiny, Despair, Destruction, Delirium (who used to be Delight), and Desire all weave their way into the narrative forming a very unique dysfunctional family.
What makes the Sandman so interesting is Neil Gaiman's ability to take various mythological, theological, literary, and philosophical threads and weave them together to create a rich satisfying story. Where else can William Shakespeare perform “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” to the very Faerie folk that inhabit his story, or Thor, Odin and Loki from Norse mythology, Anubis and Bast from Egyptian mythology, Susanoo-no-mikoto from Japanese mythology, and a pair of angels from Christianity all vie for the key to hell? Besides all these grand themes intertwining, The Sandman also has the ability to examine the small emotional moments that make us human. Not merely a comic book, The Sandman is an important literary work that has helped break the barriers much like Maus did in the past and Persepolis does now.