#sandman reference

As printed in The Annotated Sandman 4 (2015)

As promised, @tickldpnk8 and @ambiently-80s-gay with food for thought and possible additions/corrections for yours. Managed to do this very quickly before running out again, so sorry for the bad photos. It’s all perfectly readable though if you zoom in.

A few thoughts: Overture is largely missing from this one, too, but the events are hinted at, and it’s much more complete than anything else out there, plus it’s official.

You still need to take a few things with a grain of salt though (like the Little Endless ;)).

Killalla is mentioned as “millions of years ago”, but that’s not to be understood as only a few millions. It’s more likely 3 to 4 billion years ago since Sol (our sun) was very young in The Heart of a Star, and our Sun is 4.5 billion years old. So I’d put that closer to 4 billion years.

As we can see here, the first vortex is presumed to have happened after Killalla, not before. What aeons exactly mean in this context, we’ll never know. If it happened before or after Alianora is hard to tell. My hunch is before, but that’s really just a hunch.

Alianora was after Killalla, not before. Delirium is still well and truly Delight in The Heart of a Star, but she can’t help Morpheus when the Old Gods take over the Dreaming because she is changing. Plus, there’s already bad blood between Desire and Dream.

Despair is killed after Delight has changed to Delirium, the date given here is 100,000 BC. This was already visible at Despair’s funeral btw, because it was Delirium attending, not Delight.

There are many, many other really good dates in here, from Calliope/Orpheus to historical events, to Morpheus’ death, which was in January 1994 🥺

In light of recent allegations, I strongly suggest you only get any of the below second-hand instead of buying new.

I wrote about this a while back, but I thought these videos are actually really great to see the differences and give a really good and comprehensive overview.

What’s missing above are the new Netflix-stickered books (content-wise, the Helm edition is actually a leather-bound version of them). They are softcovers and also cover the whole arc (including Endless Nights, Dream Hunters and Overture, but not Death). You can check what they look like here (there are meanwhile six books, not four, this video was made before the last two came out):

The above softcovers are currently probably the most cost-effective way to collect the whole run, closely followed by the collected TPBs and the Deluxe. Of course there’s always the option to get them as ebooks as well (either individual issues or the volumes) if you prefer to read online. I got the new Netflix-stickered books as online copies to have when travelling, or for referencing panels on here. Amazon sometimes has an offer for them—I got all six for the equivalent of under $30, so it’s worth keeping your eyes open.

I started with the individual floppies pretty much when they came out, then got the TPBs and eventually got the Deluxe because I wanted to stop handling the first editions so much/prevent them from falling apart. I personally really recommend the Deluxe (it’s 7 volumes if you also get Deluxe Overture and Death, only 5 if you stick with the main run) because they are a good compromise between the advantages of a full HC collection that still isn’t too uncomfortable to read at the same time. I also have the Annotated versions for reference, but they aren’t good for reading because they are massive and heavy. They’re also completely b/w.

And if you want to go completely over the top and just stare at the art like me 🙈, you can also get the Gallery Editions:

I'd love to have actual physical copies, too, it's just easier to read on my phone.

Hey, here’s a guide to what’s available for everyone interested (it’s fairly up to date bar the new Netflix paperbacks that now have all 6 books published, not just 4/5 as mentioned in the article).

The best way to read them online is probably if you get one of the many editions available for Kindle/e-readers. There are the new, Netflix stickered paperbacks I mentioned (books 1-6, Overture is in book 6) that are also available online. In my opinion, those are currently the best way to collect the whole run plus all the additional volumes/storylines like Dream Hunters and Overture online. I have the whole run as first edition floppies and TPBs and then bought the Deluxe hardcovers to prevent handling the first editions too much. I bought the six online volumes (because they’re great for on the go or referencing on here) when Amazon had an offer on and got all of them for a total of £20 (roundabout $25), but they are more expensive at the moment (one book is between $15 and $20 right now, so that’s obviously a lot more expensive). Might be worth keeping your eyes open if they put a deal on again at some point.

Then you get Overture in collections like the Deluxe or the 30th anniversary edition for Kindle, too. Or all individual comics (there are 6 issues for Overture, but you get the whole run #1-75 as individual issues via Comixology).

If it has to be free, you’ll need to try your local library (some might have an online copy, but DC is arsey about online versions of their stuff via Libby etc, so I’m not sure if you’d have much luck. DC Infinite have them all, but you’d need to pay for it obvs).

You get pirated copies on fishy sites if you do a Google search. If that’s a path you want to go down is up to you.

You can already pre-order

Honestly, this makes me so happy because my first edition is slowly but surely starting to look a bit worse for wear (yes, I let my kid read it, that’s what books are for, but my heart also cries a bit). Maybe I can save it from complete death (🙈) that way…

Available from June 2024

Most people probably already know this, but in case you didn’t:

You can get all six of the newer, Netflix-release related books of The Sandman via Amazon/Comixology digitally. And right now, the price is particularly good, and I don’t think you’ll be able to complete the collection much cheaper if you actually want to own it.

I am always one for getting hardcovers, preferably via your local book- or comics store, and I’m probably the worst collector of Sandman-related stuff on the planet. But I also know that the price for the complete collection is prohibitive for many.

And even if you already have hard copies: Having them digitally is just great for reading them on the go (or as reference for metas 😜). I had books 1 to 4 for a while and just bought books 5 and 6 (I’d somewhat forgotten about them because they don’t contain the main arc, but I recently got annoyed because I needed a reference and had to take photos).

Book 1 is currently £1.99/$2.50, books 2 to 6 are all £2.99/$3.75 each.

What’s in them?

So books 1 to 4 will give you #1-75 and book 5 and 6 will give you Endless Nights, Dream Hunters and Overture respectively. Plus a few extras in all of them I haven’t mentioned here, but they are in the images.

Spent the Xmas holidays binge watching great British sewing bee, and realised that I could make my own clothes. It’s so hard to get comfy clothes that fit properly when you are a larger sized woman. First, I’m going to make Curtains for my new double glazing windows, and then I am going to start making clothes!curtains for my new double glazing windows, and then I am going to start making clothes!

This is a Brother A150 and Its FABULOUS to use

I LOVED the part when Galadriel tells Dream of the Endless "fuck it, let's go to hell" and they go to hell to recover Dream's hat beating Lucifer in a rap battle.

Now, for real, watch something more worthy of your time like a good Scooby Doo movie