As with any of the Sandman books, the stories between the covers and wonderful, but the standout content in this volume lis in the Miscellany section. Here we find representations of some of the first Sandman merchandise, the (never before reprinted) Holiday Special, a script with initial pencils, and a gallery of Morpheus and Death portraits. This last section was definitely my favourite, because I appreciate both art and literature, and I especially like it when great literature inspires great art. ( )

Volume II of this series is as gorgeous as Volume I. There are two main stories, only one of which I'd read before. The first, about Lucifer abdicating as ruler of Hell, did not appeal to me as much as the second, about The Cuckoo, with its cast of characters from under-represented groups and very mysterious goings on. Apparently I'm unusual in liking it more than the other. I still feel Sandman is at its best when it relies on Gaiman's own invented mythology of the Endless more than on any connections to the wider DC universe or obvious borrowings from elsewhere.

I keep forgetting the strong horror sensibility that Sandman has - it's not prominent in Gaiman's prose fiction. I like it.

There's heaps of bonus material in the back, most of which has not been collected before, including a very short piece featuring Desire. Presumably the original comic is quite valuable now. It's all worth reading, including the script for the issue in which Sandman returns to Hell. Hilariously, we find out what Gaiman was watching on a B&W TV whilst writing it and that if you're not fully paying attention one might mistake Boorman's self-aware, ironic and hilarious film Excalibur for rubbish...

Bring me Volume III ! ( )

Some very cool stories set within beautifully rendered artwork. While I'm otherwise not a huge Neil Gaiman fan, (I'm not sure why his novels don't resonate with me), this Sandman material is simply amazing. ( )

Another great presentation of Gaiman's epic. This contains the story of Lucifer's departure from Hell (one of the high points of Sandman) with the story of Barbie's dream world (which is probably my least favorite part of the story, despite the appearance of Thessaly, one of my favorite characters). ( )

Three years after getting Absolute Sandman 2 from Amber as a Christmas present, I finally sat down and flew through it. It's not that its a difficult graphic novel to read, quite the contrary actually. It's that its so good and there are only 5 of them. You got to pace them out. Gaiman doesn't produce a lot of long reads so if you like him like I do, you have to make him last. This second volume contains a number of great story lines including Dream's descent into hell and Lucifer basically giving up hell to go on vacation. We also get treated to some historical fiction with the French Revolution, Augustus Caesar, Marco Polo, and turn of the century San Francisco. Pure fantasy is dished up with the "A Game of You" series and "The Hunt". All are quite original, finely written and illustrated, and all a bit dark and mysterious. The volume closes with some great "extras" at the end like the facsimile of Gaiman's script to the illustrators with his captions for "A Game of You". ( )