The Sandman

The Sandman is a comic book series written by the multi-awarded writer Neil Gaiman. It is comprised of seventy-five issues published over seven years, from 1989 to 1996, Vertigo Comics, an imprint of DC Comics. These issues have been collected into ten graphic novels, three of which are made up of independent short stories, and the rest part of the over-arcing storyline involving Dream of the Endless and his existence and eventual extinction. The series is a portmanteau of most mythologies, history and literature, as almost every character is either a rewritten famous personage or an archetype, and the themes visited in each issue are purposeful homage to older stories.
Dream, the main protagonist, is drawn to be tall and gaunt, with disheveled hair, and skin and clothing that tend towards the monochromatic. He is one of the seven siblings that make up the Endless, each of which is the anthropomorphic representation of a concept. He is the third eldest, following both Destiny and Death, and older than Destruction, the twins Desire and Despair, and the youngest of the Endless, Delirium. Each of their names equals their function, but only the elder three take their roles very seriously. His responsibilities involve ruling over the demesne of sleep, a position that involves a whole host of duties such as sculpting nightmares to being the Prince of all Stories. According to the series, he exists for thousands of millennia just fulfilling the duties of office, until people seeking to capture his elder sister, Death, accidentally capture him. As a result of his decades-long imprisonment, Dream begins, unwillingly to change. For a creature such as Dream, who lived unchanged for uncountable years, this transition is unwelcome and contributes to the cessation of existence at the end of the series.
When read in graphic novel format, one can divide the series into identifiable story arcs. The first two novels: Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House involve Dream’s escape from his imprisonment, as well as his successful attempts to regain the regalia of his office, as well as to re-establish himself in the world. The first short story collection, Dream Country, serves as a method of establishing back-story for Dream, as well as the universe that The Sandman exists in, and to show the reader exactly how much Dream has changed since his capture.
Seasons of Mists and A Game of You introduces a host of new characters, including the rest of the Endless, as well as the introduction of a plot by Desire to bring about Dream’s destruction by making him spill family blood. Fables and Reflections, the next short story compilation, is focused on the theme of different rulers and the difficulty each of them faces in trying to fulfill their responsibilities by their dominions; a method through which Gaiman is able to highlight Dream’s own exhaustion with his existence. Brief Lives is a standalone novel that serves as a quiet tipping point towards the end of both the series and Dream’s life; Dream and his youngest sister Delirium go on a quest to find their missing brother, and Dream knowingly brings about his own destruction by fulfilling his son’s wish for death.
The eighth book, At Worlds’ End is the last short story compilation involving a Chaucerian tale where travelers trying to avoid a reality storm, meet at an inn at the end of the world and tell stories to pass the time. It also foreshadows the death and funeral of Dream, which occurs in the last two novels: The Kindly Ones and The Wake. The Kindly Ones is fast paced in comparison with the rest of the series, as things come to a head and Dream deals with the inevitability of his death. The Wake is exactly what it says on the title, an entire novel about the characters of The Sandman coming together to commemorate Dream’s life and works, as well as the reader’s ‘waking’ from the story of The Sandman, and coming to the realization that dreams do not necessarily end when one wakes up.