This is the last volume in the Sandman series. Well, except for volume 0 that was published last but tells of the very beginning (with spoilers though so I really recommend reading it last). And it is a farewell.Dream of the Endless is dead and we are all attending his wake and funeral. All creatures are in attendance, in fact, and we all speak. Thus, characters from throughout the series recount their relationship with Morpheus and - often without them realizing it - discover their interconnect...

An appropriately contemplative denouement for a series that, when considered as a whole, suggests that Neil Gaiman is either: 1) A certified genius whose ability to blend myth, folklore, imagination, social issues, and pop culture puts him at the absolute apex of storytelling masters working today, regardless of medium; or2) An authentic whacko whose ingestion of psychotropic fungus is of such heroically epic proportions that it would slay an entire army of genetically engineered giant yaks with...

The final volume in the Sandman series is a bit odd, and I'm wavering between giving it 3 and 4 stars. The first half of the book deals with the wake held for Morpheus, and is rather touching and satisfactory wrap-up to the series. The final half, however, seem anticlimatic and out of place. The issues about Hob and Shakespeare do have an "end" feeling to them and appropriately concludes their stories that were started in earlier volumes, but I'm not sure what the issue about the exiled advisor

This is the final volume–if you exclude the prequel—of the Sandman series, but it is really more coda than conclusion. Half of it consists of the “wake” itself (Morpheus’ wak, funeral services, and related events) and the other half of three stand-alone tales that provide a philosophical commentary on the life and death of Dream.The wake itself will be a moving and interesting for most faithful reader of the series, as we reacquaint ourselves with most of the characters we remember—and a few we

Well that was well done. We also got some nice closure on some things and of course a tale or two to round things out. "The Wake" follows Dream's family as they prepare to say goodbye along with others.I thought this was great. Gaiman does a great job and has shown us before that the Endless can often "die" and another form of them comes about. We know that the Despair we have known in this series, was not the first, and even know that Delirium has changed over time. Even so, the Endless family

Reread completed 1/10/21“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded by a sleep”--Prospero, The TempestThis is a terrific finish to an impressive epic series that has its place as among the great works without question of comics history, one of comics's contribution to literature and the literature of fantasy, story, and horror. Gaiman says simply, "The ten volumes of The Sandman, of which this is the last, comprise a story of stories."So if what happens in the ninth

Well, after a quarter of a century of meaning to get around to it, I’ve finally read The Sandman all the way through. Yes, I know there are lots of spin-offs and I will get to them but I’ve finished the main book and... well, I love it.Part of me wishes I’d read it when it first came out but, honestly, I was not in a good place at the time and probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now, twenty five years later.This final volume has the most beautiful artwork of all the Sandman boo...

Probably 4.5 stars. I really loved this until the final piece The Tempest. I wasn't a big fan of that section. I think I might like it more on a re-read for meaning, but it was a bit lackluster on first impression compared to the emotion of the other sections. However I'm rounding up to 5 stars because Gaiman.“Just remember, what the French say. No, probably not the French, they've got a president or something. The Brits, maybe, or the Swedes. You know what I mean?""No, Matthew. What do they say...

And thus ends Sandman. The four issues of The Wake may be my favorite issues of the entire run. For all the crap the series takes for "bad art", Michael Zulli's art is stunningly beautiful and detailed. I love how everyone dreaming attends the Wake, including some DC characters you wouldn't expect.These issues were just so meticulously put together. Everything about them is perfect. Now issues #74 and #75 are a different story. Gaiman probably would have been better off having just stopped after...

a word of warning : might be a major spoiler to read on if you don't know what went on in the previous volume ( The Kindly Ones ). (view spoiler)[ Morpheus dies, and is replaced as the incarnation of Dream by Daniel. (hide spoiler)]The Wake is a farewell, a last gathering of all the oddball characters that accompanied us into the realm of the Lord of Dreaming, but also a celebration of the power of imagination. Sadness prevails, inevitably, at saying goodbye to the Endless family, to the denize...

Brilliant. So my review that took me really long to write somehow got deleted... :( Hate that. (Actually, it almost got lost for the second time, thankfully I was smarter this time and copied it.)So, this is it? The end? It seems almost...sad. But definitely strange. Like I should hold a wake. Or maybe I already did. "Everybody’s here. You’re here.""You were there." I finally got to the point that I could finish this series. And this remains my favourite comics series and the best thing Neil...

The end is here. Sandman had a few bumps along the way (Volume 8...) BUT holy hell, what a grand experience it was to get here. While the last volume covered moving towards death and accepting it, this deals with the fallout. What about the people who you've known in your life. How will they feel, or be effected, in the long run. When Dreams family gathers to say goodbye, strangers from all points of time/life come to the dream land to also say goodbye. Some remembering Dream vividly, some just

Again.... parts are probably lost on me. Would really benefit from a reread someday!!

“Charitably... I think... sometimes, perhaps, one must change or die. And, in the end, there were, perhaps, limits to how much he could let himself change.”I loved that this is an ending that is also a beginning. There was something beautiful and cathartic about essentially attending a funeral for a much loved character. “But we do not need to recount every sermon and eulogy. After all, you were there.”The entire time I was reading this I had the song Death Is Not The End stuck in my head - the

“That which is dreamed can never be lost, can never be undreamed.” I have been reading this for five years, reading one volume every six months or so. I have paced my reading out, staggered it, delayed it and put it off completely at times. Why? Because I never wanted the story to finish, so I tried to hold back the inevitable. For me this says a great deal: The Sandman was so good that I did not want to read it because I would never be able to read it for the first time again. I can think of

So this is where we wake up. After being lulled by the nocturnes, after trekking the steep places that only exists when we slumber, after journeying with the good and the bad and the in-betweens, after hurrying to and from the heart of the Dreaming, there will come a time when we need to open our eyes. Nightmares or good dreams—they have to end sometime..Those were the words that came in my head some time ago, when I was about to read the last volume of this beloved series for the first time. I

Re-read 9/27/20:And again, I'm overcome by emotions.What is an End, anyway? Abel said it best. It's the end of a point of view.Original Review:It was a sad and deeply nostalgic first few volumes, even when there weren't any actual recapitulations going on. It's the nature of a wake, or a waking from a dream. It was the letdown, the reminiscence, the transition that made these so powerful.Death is not the end, and indeed, it is not the end at all, but the waking from the dream.Pure poetry.Of cour...

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and I'm quite sad that it's over.I've been reading the books since September and I've never read such creative, interesting, philosophical graphic novels with such great characters. It was interesting to see all the stories come together in the end.

A weak ending for such impressive series Creative Team:Writer: Neil GaimanIllustrators: Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, & Joe J MuthCovers: Dave McKeanLetterer: Todd Klein DREAM OF A FUNERAL AND... Nobody died. How can you kill an idea? How can you kill the personification of an action? This final volume (from the regular series while there are still some other TPBs yet to read about) is dedicated by Gaiman to Dave McKean for his amazing work doing the covers of all single comic book issues

This was the ending The Sandman deserved.I didn't start reading Sandman until some two years ago. Not for lack of knowledge of its existence; a friend had tried to push it to me for over 10 years. I guess it took some maturity and expanding of my reading habits to finally be ready for it (comics was never my strongest side, luckily Sandman is so textbased it didn't bother me). It's been a powerful experience in every way. A complete, immersive universe spanning every myth and folktale and religi...