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Neil Gaiman's first SANDMAN story in four years...can he still cut it?
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: Yoshitaka Amano
Original graphic novel
Published by DC Vertigo 1999
$29.95 hardcover
Reviewed by Antony Johnston
For many people, myself included, this book is a Big Event for 1999. As a project celebrating the tenth anniversary of SANDMAN's inception, the return of creator and master storyteller Neil Gaiman to the character and mythos is enough in itself. Gaiman has not written anything to do with the Sandman since the original series ended in 1996. Mercifully, nothing has been done with the character by anyone else, though plenty continues to be written about the rest of the Endless.
In addition, there is Yoshitaka Amano. The Japanese auteur is unknown to many until told that he was responsible for the creation and/or design of many well-known anime and manga characters, including G-FORCE (also known as NINJA TEAM GATCHAMAN); VAMPIRE HUNTER D; and of course the videogame series FINAL FANTASY. He is also someone Gaiman has never worked with before, a prospect any SANDMAN fan should relish.
As if all that wasn't enough, 'Dream Hunters' is an illustrated prose book, similar to STARDUST, Gaiman's last foray into the realm of Fairie with Charles Vess. The style suited Gaiman very well, and unlike STARDUST this is an original graphic novel, not a collection. It has therefore been conceived entirely as a book-length project.
| "Dream Hunters is not the best story Gaiman has ever told" |
All this background is necessary to understand the amount of anticipation this book has generated (it seems somehow uncouth to call it "hype"), and the varying reactions it has received.
'Dream Hunters' is not the best story Gaiman has ever told. It is not even the best SANDMAN story he has written. Unfortunately, this alone has been enough to make it a disappointment in many people's eyes.
But 'Dream Hunters' is still a successful project. Gaiman has taken an old Japanese folk tale, that of "The Fox, The Monk and the Mikado of All Night's Dreaming", and made it his own. He has taken more than few liberties, to be sure, but the book still has the feel of the Japanese story, obviously enhanced by Amano's art.
The tale is not particularly complex; it is essentially a fable, and the Sandman himself appears only intermittently. What plot there is to speak of is rudimentary and fairly inevitable. But the telling of it is pure Gaiman, and will still appeal to any of his fans. His ear for dialogue, dramatic tension and mystery are all in evidence.
Ironically, Amano's art is more successful than the story. He is remarkably versatile, leaping from a traditional light watercolour one page to a dense, grubby charcoal sketch the next. The atmosphere is certainly mysterious, and the (hopefully intentional) effect is to reflect an ever-shifting visual viewpoint. Each illustration has been rendered to match its subject, eschewing "consistency" in favour of mood. And it works.
| "Gaiman's ear for dialogue, dramatic tension and mystery are all in evidence" |
As an experiment, a work of art and a celebratory project, this book is a success. As a story, I can't help but feel that this would probably have merited only a single issue of the SANDMAN series. But what many of this book's detractors have forgotten is that stories just like 'Dream Hunters', out of continuity and whimsical, were often favourites within the series itself. There, a story such as this served almost as light relief, another peek into the mythos of the Sandman.
In summary, those expecting a Gaiman meisterwerk may be disappointed. But those who still enjoy fleeting glimpses of the Sandman mythos's versatility will probably enjoy it. And the art is gorgeous.
Recommended (with reservations: in truth, only for fans of Sandman and/or Amano)
Antony Johnston is Reviews Editor of PopImage
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