The Sandman: Book Six

The Sandman (DC Black Label)

by Neil Gaiman, Craig P. Russell (Illustrator), J.H. Williams III (Illustrator)

Neil Gaiman’s award-winning masterpiece The Sandman continues here, filled with the art from the medium’s most gifted talent.

Collecting The Sandman Universe #1, The Overature #1-6, and The The Dream Hunters #1-4— The Sandman Book Six is a can't miss addition for any Sandman fan!

The Overture tells the story from the birth of a galaxy to the moment that Morpheus is captured, featuring cameo appearances by fan-favorite characters such as The Corinthian, Merv Pumpkinhead and, of course, the Dream King’s Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.

The Dream Hunters follows a humble young monk and a magical, shape-changing fox find themselves romantically drawn together. As their love blooms, the fox learns of a devilish plot by a group of demons and a Japanese emperor to steal the monk's life. With the aid of Morpheus, the fox must use all of her cunning and creative thinking to foil this evil scheme and save the man that she loves.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Dc Comics

360 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2023

Reviews

[Mirelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t believe it’s over😭 I need a Delirium series tho pleeeaaasee

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down.

The stories individually on their own were good. I enjoyed taking a peek into Morpheus's mindset prior to the start of the series, as well as getting a tease of what's to come for the future in terms of the Sandman Universe as a whole. I also still enjoyed the Dream Hunters side story, but while I appreciate the the new art, Having read it so close to the original printing of the story did feel like a bit of a retread of ground we already covered.

So from an art perspective, each of these stories are well written and enjoyable, but from a purchasing perspective, I'm not sure if this particular volume is worth the buy unless you're a completionist who wants to have the whole collection.

[Declan O'Keeffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already did a review of Overture on its own book page, cause I felt like it deserved it.

Dream hunters was fine, nice story, good art but that's about it. Didn't do much else to progress the story forward.

Overture was stunning! Modern Sandman gallore

Universe #1 was pretty great. I tried reading it ages ago but obviously had no real context having never finished the original comics, it was so much better this time round having a better understanding of the world and the stakes. Way more excited to read more of the universe stuff having only ever read Locke and Key: Hell and gone back when I was obsessed with L&K. Getting more into the Sandman Universe stuff feels like a long time coming full circle moment.

[Jessica Patzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dream Hunters: I mostly skimmed this adaptation. I enjoyed the art, but not as much as that which accompanied the original. The story is still quite awesome.

The Sandman: Overture: Aaahhh! Victorian Death! She looks amazing. Truly, the art in “Overture” is amazing. I love it so much. So, so much to look at, too. Gonna have to go back and just peruse some of the pages just to see what I missed the first time.

The story is fantastic. I was riveted at every moment. Definitely an epic “beginning” to The Sandman.

The Sandman Universe: Eh, twas interesting. Not interesting enough to throw me down that rabbit-hole, but interesting. Nice art, too.

[Jason Holtzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read Overture, so I've not yet read book 5. However, book 5 only contains some one-shots and the prose edition of The Dream Hunters, which is collected here in its comic adaptation. The Dream Hunters adaptation was very good! I thought the story was unique and engaging, and I do look forward to reading the prose.

With that in mind, Overture was ok. I was hoping it would clear up some haziness I had with the ending of Sandman, but it did not. Past that it was a pretty classic story of good vs. evil with amazing artwork, so it was interesting.

[Bruno Franco Netto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This last book (6 out of 6) in the new modern DC Black Sandman edition is a pretty remarkable compilation of the three Sandman stories before the relaunching of the franchise - The Dream Hunters (comics adaptation); Overture; and issue 1 of the Sandman Universe. I particularly enjoyed the comics version of the Dream Hunters, perhaps even more than the original prose version. It is a beautiful, simple and lyrical tale - a love story between a Monk and a Fox in feudal Japan, in the world of the Sandman.

[S.R. Sereda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts with a comic version of the short story included in book five and I feel it would have been better if these were a little farther apart so it wasn't like reading the same story twice in a row.

Otherwise, the stories included are interesting, and the artwork is incredible. The ending is definitely a cliffhanger, and I'll be waiting for Book 7.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prequel story is somewhat interesting, but I think the art does most of the heavy lifting.

[Daniel Lanzillotta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down… the Overture collection on its own would have done the trick.