Top Graphic Novel Reviews

This is one very unique book by Gaiman. This is actually an adaptation of a popular folklore tale in Japan. He stumbled upon this story while researching his translation of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke. It does not follow the traditional comic kind of story telling. It is more of one page of story, one page of graphics and they don’t mix. Neil Gaiman morphs the story into the world of Dreaming

The story begins with a wager between two jealous animals, a fox and a badger: which of them can drive a young monk from his solitary temple? The central characters are the Fox and the Monk, and the Sandman only plays a peripheral role. But an excellent peripheral role at that.

So the story goes that the fox tries to temp and seduce the monk by turning into the form of a woman. Gradually, she falls for him. Meanwhile over in Kyoto, an evil rich master of Yin-Yang is haunted by fears and nightmares (mainly through his own insecurities). He tries to find solace in his command of sorcery. He finds out of the inner peace the monk has and sends monsters and demons to capture and kill him to bring peace to himself. The fox learns of this and begins her mission to save the man she secretly loves and whom she so admired.

It is also the first time Gaiman works with Yoshitaka Amano and full credit to the Japanese for the wonderful illustrations that can tell a story by themselves. These paintings make the story come alive on the page and create a sense of past and wonder that could only be hinted at with words alone. It is unlike anything done before in Sandman or anything I’ve seen in Japanese Manga. A beautiful work of art.

He also does his best in retaining the original story whilst weaving some Sandman elements inside. Kudos to him for that.

Midnight days is really more of a mish mash collection of Neil Gaiman’s previous works. These are 5 never seen before tales. These were works when Gaiman was young, in every sense of that word.

In Sandman Midnight Theatre, the golden age Sandman investigates an age-old mystery - and, for the only time, comes face to face with his namesake, Dream of the Endless.

In Hold Me, trench coated mystic John Constantine faces a ghost haunted by a very modern kind of loneliness. In Brothers, the Swamp Thing’s extended family meets a flower-power loving geek and the decidedly unamused U.S. government. In SHAGGY GOD STORIES, a half sane plant-man plumbs the mystery of existence. And finally, in the never-before-published JACK-IN-THE-GREEN, the Swamp Thing of another time confronts the horrors of his world - large and small.

“Sandman Midnight Theatre,” is a masterpiece. Gaiman proves his ability to seamlessly incorporate other DC characters within his milieu while retaining there inherent characteristics. Truly inspired stuff, if you don’t mind wading through the rest. Jack-In-The-Green was quite complicated and fans with no prior Swamp Thing background would most likely be left scratching their heads.

Oh what a fantastic book this is! One of my favourite amongst all my collections of graphic novels. This is Neil’s vision of the Marvel Universe in the year 1602.( The book has a nice smell to it, literally)

“1602 is a triumph. The Marvel universe hasn’t been this engrossing in ages.” - Entertainment Weekly

Strange things are stirring in England. In the service of Queen Elizabeth, court magician Dr. Strange senses the bizarre weather plaguing the skies above is not of natural origin. Her majesty’s premier spy, Sir Nicholas Fury, fends off an assassination attempt on the Queen by wing warriors rumored to be in service to a mad despot named Doom. News is spreading of “witchbreed” sightings - young men bearing fantastic superhuman powers and abilities…

Andy Kubert does a fantastic job on the artwork and the stunning graphics more then compliments the story line. Only Gaiman’s mind would have thought of matching the superheroes power into 1602’s setting. There are 2 versions to this book, the hard cover one and the non hard cover. I got the hardcover one, the woodcut cover is to die for.

The story’s pace is excellent and makes for an interesting, intellectual and exciting read. All contributors to this story complement each other quite well, making 1602 an essential part of any comic library. It is a little pricey though but cost conscious reader can always opt for non hard cover edition.

Has to be one of the best among the library.( although that would present some debate) Not that is was easy to choose from so many outstanding works. They are all masterpieces in their own right.

Ten thousand years ago, the Dream King banished his lover into the abyss of hell. Now, his siblings are convinced that this was a travesty and would do will to persuade him to correct this injustice. He must go through the fiery gates of hell to rescue his condemned lover. Several major obstacles stand in the way, most notably Lucifer who has sworn to devastate and destroy Morpheus. Inside the calm and cool mind of Morpheus, a daring, cunning and brilliant plan is hatched.

Morpheus would receive a key to hell. Chaos and fun ensued when various underlings and

mongers try to wrest, cajole and put forward their argument as to why they should be the owner of hell. Their reasons for wanting it and plans for it, were as varied and entertaining as they are. As always, the characters drawn up leaves a lasting impression. I really do dream of them sometimes. It seems the Dream King does visit.

Characteristically, there are the usual short stories. These little gems managed to be weaved into the main story without appearing obtrusive. In fact, they complement to the overall mood and feel of the main theme. The artwork is good and adds even more life to the characters in the ‘movie’. With the ending of each chapter, comes an innate urge to quickly read the next one. It is an excelling compelling read. Oh and the conclusion to a marvelous volume was fantastic. You would have to find it out yourself. Borrow from a friend lf you really have to. You will not regret.

“To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.” –Jim Pascoe (From the 2nd chapter of Seasons of Mist)

I always like to include nice words from other people. The San Francisco Examiner:

“A singularly literate comic rife with subtext, humor, run-away archetypes and a healthy does of perversity.”

First of I would like to say, in this 2nd installment of the series, the artwork is not as beautiful as the others. But its the stories that really count in this book. It is in this book that the character Hob Galding is born in “Men of Good Fortune”. He goes on to make several appearances in other books. I enjoyed this particular entry a great deal as it slowly unfolds and tells the story of the man who cant die. It also sets in place a century old pact with the Dream King - To meet every 100 years. It also shows the more human and soft side of Lord Morpheus (as he is also known) I am afraid I am giving away too much now.

The first chapter “Tales In The Sand” makes a very good start to a exceptional book. Somewhere in a desert land, a man and an elder one are walking around. And a tale is told. This one has the classic story within a story format (like in World’s End). I shall not go into detail on what the tale was about but it is a tale the man must carry on and tell it to his generation like it was told to the elder. There are different versions of the tale, in which the talk amongst themselves But then, it is the women’s tale and it is never told to men. I must say this few words alone will not do that chapter any justice. It simply absorbs you and bring you to that dimension and place and setting - And then it totally enchants you.

The other parts of the stories deals plenty with the main story of Morpheus, his family and his domain. For those reading this as a stand alone, some parts might be pretty confusing and weird. But then again, what is a fantasy novel without a little weirdness? Many important characters are introduced here. One of them is Rose Walker. She enters into a fantasy kind of world, from long lost relatives to a serial killer convention.

To end off this review, a word from Clive Barker in his intro :

“Forget what is written in the title page. Hero and author are here synonymous. Mr. Gaiman is the Sandman…he just brought you a dream.”

I will be randomly jumping about the volumes and they follow no particular order. The first GN that I am reviewing is World’s End.

This books is a wonderful collection of short stories ala Canterbury’s Tales. It is easily one of my top 3 favourite books in this series. It is a rather short one, with just 7 chapters but each of those chapters are, in their own right, a trove full of treasures. I shall not spoil the fun by giving away too much but several characters and stories stand out. Not like a sore thumb stand out but like a rich diamond kind of stand out. Basically, travelers of different dimensions, time and space got caught in a storm and were gather in this little inn. Here, they share their stories and pass their time as they hope the storm would.

The first tale, “A Tale of 2 Two Cities” by one Mister Gaheris. It is a story about a man who lived in the city and had lived in the city all his life. He goes about his routine daily work life and is quite the loner. The spends his lunch time and after work hours touring his city. Admiring and absorbing the sights and sounds of this marvel of a city. You can almost feel for him. He ends up inside the dream of city and meets many brilliant characters along the way. How he struggles to get out and how the city should never wake…

This story is superb because you can draw many parallels from the story and your own life. You can see a little of yourself in him and its the way that these bits appear, so sublime and well craft that you can really appreciate the genius that is Gaiman.

The other tale that I would like bring up is “Hob’s Leviathan”. The story is told by the young “boy” who was in that story itself. His sea-lust and dream of sailing was spawned from his early years. You build up feelings for the characters very quickly even though their appearance is rather brief. Old character reappear in the form of one certain Mr. Galdings. He makes more then a cameo here. The people they meet, the thing they saw and how he dealt with it. Of course what is a good ending without a few surprises?

More then anything, the interactions and on-goings in the inn itself between the colorful characters is an interesting tale to watch and behold. The ending ends with a BANG and it is only a prelude to bigger events to come.

An accolade I might add by UK Online:

“World’s End Demonstrates that there is much more to the modern comic than costumed superheroes. In these pages you will find real emotion, stunning artwork…and most Important of all, spellbinding stories…it’s one of the most richly rewarding experiences the graphic novel has to offer”

I would have definitely go on rambling more if not for his other reviews. Go get it from your local bookstore, through my Amazon links or something. It really makes up a enriching read.

To sum it up, I quote what Stephen King’s wrote in his pretty little introduction for World’s End :

“It is a classic format,, but in several of them there are stories within stories, like eggs within eggs, or more properly, nested chinese boxes.”