The Sandman: Overture

Last updated
The Sandman: Overture
Sandman,Overture Cover Page.jpeg
Cover of The Sandman: Overture
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo
ScheduleBi-monthly
Genre Dark fantasy, supernatural fiction
Publication dateOctober 2013 – September 2015
No. of issues6
Main character(s) Dream of the Endless
Creative team
Written by Neil Gaiman
Artist(s) J.H. Williams III
Colorist(s) Dave Stewart

The Sandman: Overture is a six issue comic book miniseries written by Neil Gaiman with art by J.H. Williams III. [1] It is a prequel [2] to Gaiman's The Sandman series, and debuted in 2013, about 17 years after the end of the regular comic. [3] It was originally published as six issues with two-month intervals in between. [4] A deluxe edition combining all six issues was published in November 2015. [5]

Contents

Plot

On an alien world, an aspect of Dream senses that something is very wrong, and dies in flames. In London 1915, while intending to deal with the troublesome nightmare The Corinthian, Morpheus is alerted to the same wrongness and is summoned to an alien world to investigate.

A meeting is held on a distant planet. Aspects of Dream from various sentient species are present and have been awaiting his arrival to investigate. After consulting the oldest Aspect of Dream and another figure known as "Glory of the First Circle" he learns that the cause of the wrongness is the insanity of a star which will spread until the universe itself is destroyed. Glory claims that Dream is at fault for the insanity.

Realizing that the source of the madness was his mishandling of a past Vortex, he embarks on a journey accompanied by a cat that seems to be another aspect of Dream. Over the course of their journey, they meet the three fates and an orphaned alien girl named Hope. After telling a story to pass the night, he confirms that his mission isn't to save the universe, as he has accepted it's too late for that. Instead, they journey to the domain of his father Time who refuses his request for aid, saying that he has already given him too much. As he leaves, he asks his father bitterly if he has spoken to his mother Night recently. Emerging out of his father's domain, he appears at the gate of the "City of Stars" and is granted entrance after a heated exchange with other stars. Entering the prison of the mad star, he tells the story of how his refusal to kill a vortex led to the madness spreading to an entire solar system. After having destroyed the entire planet, he spared the sun, reasoning that he had done enough killing on that day. Finishing his tale, he attempts to destroy the mad star but fails.

The other stars reveal that the madness has spread to infect them and they will kill the child. Before he can protect her, his father summons him back to his domain and asks if he could put him in contact with his mother. He returns to find the stars have killed Hope, and they toss Dream into a black hole. Inside the black hole, Dream visits Night's domain. After he mentions his father Time's wish to visit her she refuses and offers to create a personal Dreamworld where he may be happy. After that offer is rejected he is thrown out of the dimension as his mother remarks that he has been very selfish.

He is summoned to Destiny's domain after a short while in the black hole. A mysterious ship belonging to Dream has appeared in his garden, and the cat aspect of Dream has been meeting with members of various species from the surrounding galactic war and housing them in the ship. The cat reminds Dream that he reflects reality and that the universe can be saved. Journeying into the realm of his sister Delirium, he learns that the cat was actually Desire in disguise. Returning, he instructs Hope (who had been rescued by Desire from the afterlife) to have the inhabitants of the ship dream of a changed reality, while he guides the ship towards that reality. He succeeds and arrives at the original meeting place, where Glory congratulates him on his success. Weakened by his effort, he begins his journey home but is captured, setting up the events of the original series.

In the epilogue, Desire reveals to Despair that the successful rescue of the universe was the result of Desire's third attempt to assist Dream. The first two attempts were thwarted by Dream's refusal to accept help, and Desire was able to start over by using Father Time's saeculum, symbolized in the story by a warped timepiece hidden in Mad Hettie's memories.

Recognition

The Sandman: Overture was awarded the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. The win was controversial because the protest group Sad Puppies supported its nomination. Gaiman called their involvement "disappointing" and the reaction to them an "unfortunate mess" in his acceptance speech, but said that withdrawing from consideration would have given the Sad Puppies "too much acknowledgment". [6] It received critical praise from IGN. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman</span> English writer (born 1960)

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards. It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London, England that The Independent called "...theatre at its best".

<i>The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes</i> First trade paperback of the comic book series The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Preludes & Nocturnes is the first trade paperback collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. It collects issues #1–8. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III, colored by Robbie Busch and lettered by Todd Klein.

<i>The Sandman: The Dolls House</i>

The Doll's House is the second trade paperback of the DC comic series The Sandman. It collects issues #9–16. It was written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli and Steve Parkhouse, coloured by Robbie Busch and lettered by Todd Klein.

<i>The Sandman: Dream Country</i>

Dream Country is the third trade paperback collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics. It collects issues #17–20. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran and Malcolm Jones III, coloured by Robbie Busch and Steve Oliff, and lettered by Todd Klein.

<i>The Sandman</i> (comic book) Comic series by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman is a comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of the Endless</span> DC Comics character

Death of the Endless is a fictional personification of death who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8, and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dream (character)</span> Protagonist of the comic book series The Sandman

Dream of the Endless is a fictional anthropomorphic personification who first appeared in the first issue of The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. One of the seven Endless, who are inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, all that is not in reality. He has taken many names, including Morpheus and Oneiros, and his appearance can change depending on the person who is seeing him. Dream was named the sixth-greatest comic book character by Empire Magazine. He was also named fifteenth in IGN's 100 Top Comic Book Heroes list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucifer (DC Comics)</span> Comic book character

Lucifer Samael Morningstar is a character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is an adaptation of Lucifer—the Biblical fallen angel and devil of Christianity—and is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. Though various versions of the Devil have been presented by DC Comics, this interpretation by Neil Gaiman debuted in The Sandman #4 in 1989. Lucifer appears primarily as a supporting character in The Sandman and as the protagonist of the spin-off Lucifer.

<i>Death: The High Cost of Living</i>

Death: The High Cost of Living is a comic written by Neil Gaiman with art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham. It is a spin-off from Gaiman's best-selling Vertigo Comics series The Sandman, featuring the Sandman (Dream)'s elder sister, Death of the Endless. Its premise is that Death takes human form once a century, to remain grounded and in touch with humanity, an idea touched upon in several other media, for example in the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday and in the Terry Pratchett novel Reaper Man.

<i>The Sandman: Endless Nights</i> 2003 graphic novel by Neil Gaiman

The Sandman: Endless Nights is a graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman as a follow-up to his Sandman series. The book is divided into seven chapters, each devoted to one of the Endless, a family of siblings who are physical manifestations of the metaphysical concepts Dream, Death, Desire, Destruction, Delirium, Despair and Destiny. It was published by DC Comics in 2003. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative. It is also the first comic book to ever be on the New York Times Bestseller List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Dringenberg</span> American comics artist

Mike Dringenberg is an American comics artist best known for his work on DC Comics/Vertigo's Sandman series with writer Neil Gaiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Maggs</span> British writer and director

David George Dirk Maggs is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story construction, layered sound effects, orchestral music and digital recording technology. Maggs introduced productions in Dolby Surround in BBC Radio and termed the result, "Audio Movies".

<i>The Dreaming</i> (comics) Monthly comic series published by DC Comics

The Dreaming was a monthly comic series that ran for 60 issues and was revived in 2018. It is set in the same dimension of the DC universe as The Sandman and the stories occurred primarily within Dream's realm, The Dreaming, concentrating on characters who had played minor roles in The Sandman, including The Corinthian, Matthew the raven, Cain and Abel, Lucien the dream librarian, the faerie Nuala, Eve, and Mervyn Pumpkinhead. It also introduced a number of new characters, Echo and a new (white) dream raven, Tethys. After those characters were retconned the 2018 version of The Dreaming introduced new characters such as Hyperion Keeter, WAN, and the night hag, Dora. The 2020 spin-off / continuation, The Dreaming: Waking Hours introduced other new characters such as Linsy, Ruin, and most notably, Heather After, a direct descendant of Roderick Burgess. There were brief appearances by The Endless during the series, including cameos by Dream, Death, Destiny, and Desire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endless (comics)</span> Sandman comic characters

The Endless are a family of beings who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The members of the family include Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and Dream.

<i>Sandman: 24 Hour Diner</i> Canadian film

Sandman: 24 Hour Diner is a 2017 gothic horror fantasy fan film produced and directed by Evan Henderson and Nicholas Brown. The film is a direct adaptation of a story from Neil Gaiman's best selling graphic novel series, The Sandman. The film follows the story of issue #6, "24 Hours", considered one of the darkest and most horrific issues in the series.

<i>The Sandman Universe</i> Comics line

The Sandman Universe is a line of American comic books published by DC Comics under its imprints DC Vertigo and DC Black Label. The line launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (1989–1996) and Vertigo's 25th anniversary. The Sandman Universe began in August 2018, with a titular one-shot, which was followed by four ongoing series—House of Whispers, Lucifer, Books of Magic, and The Dreaming. Each comic is overseen by Gaiman but written by new creative teams.

<i>Black Orchid</i> (comics) American comic book

Black Orchid is an American comic book written by Neil Gaiman with art by Dave McKean. It was published by DC Comics as a three-issue limited series from December 1988 to February 1989, and was later reprinted in trade paperback form. Black Orchid follows two girls, Flora and Suzy, who awaken in a greenhouse. Their journey to find out who they are leads them into contact with DC Universe figures like Batman and Swamp Thing, but also into conflict with criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, who seeks them for his own interests.

<i>The Sandman</i> (TV series) Fantasy drama television series

The Sandman is an American fantasy drama television series based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. The series was developed by Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg for the streaming service Netflix and is produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. Like the comic, The Sandman tells the story of Dream/Morpheus, the titular Sandman. The series stars Tom Sturridge as the title character, with Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, and Patton Oswalt in supporting roles.

References

  1. ↑ Betancourt, David (29 September 2015). "First look: As 'Sandman: Overture' plays its last, Gaiman is eager to share the end of a Dream" . Retrieved 13 March 2018– via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. ↑ "Comics Book Review: The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III. DC/Vertigo, (224) ISBN 978-1-4012-4896-3".
  3. ↑ "'The Sandman: Overture' is a fan's dream come true". Christian Science Monitor. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Barnett, David (30 October 2013). "Neil Gaiman's Sandman rises again". the Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Schedeen, Jesse (6 November 2015). "The Sandman: Overture Deluxe Edition HC Review" . Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Cavna, Michael (22 August 2016). "Hugo Awards for science fiction: Netflix's 'Jessica Jones,' Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman: Overture' win big" . Retrieved 13 March 2018– via www.washingtonpost.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.