Sometimes there are things that just slip through the cracks in life. Everyday during regular, normal, boring conversation someone on the planet will look at someone else and say something like, “You’ve NEVER SEEN ________________!?!” Fill in the blank. You’ve never seen A Christmas Story. Or Die Hard, or Lord of the Rings, or you-name-it. It’s always some pop culture staple that memes are now made from. Same goes for books and TV shows and comics. You’ve NEVER READ Watchmen? You’ve NEVER READ The Sandman? Hey, it happens.
The good news is, there’s no time like the present. Netflix will debut its adaptation The Sandman-the acclaimed comic series-on August 5. But if you’ve never read the series, or want a primer before going into it, we’ve got your back.
A bit of table setting…
First a little comics history: The Sandman #1 was published by DC Comics in 1989 and its main story ran for 75 issues ending in 1996. Like Watchmen, referenced above, it’s highly regarded as an example of the medium at its highest form. In Gaiman fashion, the major players are personifications of things that are already abstract concepts themselves: dreams, destiny, destruction, despair, etc. It can be hard to explain, so I’ll let others do it for me:
The Sandman tells the story of Dream, who is the personification of all dreams and stories. (He can make himself look like pretty much anything, but generally appears as a pale, mopey guy with dark eyes and a shaggy head of hair.) The story begins in 1916, when Dream is captured and imprisoned by a group of black magic occultists. In 1988—the year Gaiman began working on the series—Dream escapes and spends the remaining issues trying to regain control of the world of Dreaming and the powers he once possessed. Once that story is resolved, The Sandman leaps around in space and time, following Dream as he travels around fulfilling the his job: overseeing and influencing the dreaming, storytelling, and inspiration for every living being in the universe.
Scott Meslow for GQ
If you’re looking to jump right into the comics you’re in luck! Netflix has authorized the re-release of the entire series in four separate collections: books 1-4. This doesn’t collect the entire Sandman Universe that these comics and characters spawn, but they will definitely get you in the door. Book one includes The Sandman issues #1-20. The first season of the Netflix show will cover issues #1-8, if you’re comparing notes. So this first book should be sufficient to get you into the world and beyond Netflix’s first season.
Important things going in…
It’s good to know, especially if you’re reading other articles about this, that The Sandman refers to Dream who’s also named Morpheus. Dream, Morpheus, Sandman…all the same guy. Dream rules The Dreaming which isn’t confined by space or time. You can literally be in present day one moment witnessing a Shakespearian play the next. One of the best things about the series is that its scope is huge and the world within Dream walks is limitless. It’s just one of the elements that makes the story so fun to read.
Another thing to note, if you read the comics, they’re set in the late 80’s-which was when Gaiman was writing them. The Netflix show will update this to bring the story into a more modern time. Besides that point both Gaiman and Netflix promise it will be a pretty true adaptation of the comics.
The titular Sandman is one of the seven siblings known as the Endless. They are “the anthropomorphic embodiments of powerful natural forces” who predate gods. They each rule over a different realm of existence. And though they are powerful, they are not totally invulnerable, all-knowing, or free from the rules of the universe. We learn this important lesson the first time we meet Morpheus.
From this starting point, does the entire universe of The Sandman unfurl. I’m not sure the scope or the scale that Netflix has in mind for the series, but the entire comics run is fantastic. There’s breakout stars and spin off series, like Sandman’s sibling Death, that go on their own journeys and story arcs. There’s literally an entire world to dive into. But, for those of you who are at the tip of the iceberg, reading that first book will set you up for everything Netflix is about to drop.