This volume collects that first 8 issues of The Sandman comic.  The story begins in 1916 in England, where an occultist group performs a ritual to summon and trap Death, one of The Endless.  Something goes wrong and they end up with Dream (aka Morpheus) instead.  Afraid of what may happen if they let him go, they confiscate his clothing and personal effects and keep him locked up in a magical prison for scores of years.

With Morpheus unable to perform his sacred duties as the master of dreams, the world is plagued with strange effects.  A “sleeping sickness” sweeps the globe; people fall into states of catatonia; “zombie”-ism affects others.  Over time, the occultist group splinters; the artifacts collected from Dream are scattered and lost.  The captors become lazy, and careless.

Eventually, Morpheus is able to escape, and goes on a quest to regain control of his domain and to recover his lost items.  Along the way, Gaiman manages to tie in a half-dozen or more DC characters in what is a superb feat of comic book writing.  In fact, the writing is so strong that it is able to support a book that is sorely lacking in one of the two requirements that make a graphic novel – that is, “graphics” and “a novel.”

I am sad to say that the art in The Sandman, Vol 1. is not very good.  If you naively pick up a copy of this book, thumb through it, and decide to give it a skip, I couldn’t really blame you.  If you tend to favour the art side of the graphic novel, as my friend Tim does, you might find this book almost unreadable, as my friend Tim does.  It makes sense, I suppose; this was one of Gaiman’s first kicks at the can for DC, so maybe they didn’t feel like throwing the best effort at it.  Maybe the deadlines were tight.  I don’t know.  I just know that the artwork certainly doesn’t help the series at all.

(I suppose that this isn’t entirely true.  The inside art is bad, yes.  But the cover art, by Dave McKean, are a real joy.)

I cannot recommend this book enough.  If you love a well written story, then it deserves a place in your library.  But if you NEED your graphic novels to be closely balanced between the “graphic” and the “novel,” you might want to borrow a copy first.

Hypothetically related posts:

1. The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House
2. The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country
3. Welcome To Tranquility, Vol. 1