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The Dreaming (1996-2001) #1-8
The Dreaming: Beyond the Shore of Night
Beyond the shores of Night, there lies the Kingdom of The Sandman...
a vast, unmapped realm of dreams where you can find ancient myths and modern nightmares, as well as the landscape of a thousand fables and some very personal hells.
Come take a tour of the Dreaming in this collection of three stories: Meet a runaway gargoyle who is much more than she appears; then take an unexpected detour in the woods in 1950 and find yourself all too awake in the strange world of the 1990's; and finish with an excursion to the House of Mystery, where a long-lost relative has just dropped by for dinner.
This is the Dreaming, and here there be dragons, and gargoyles, and the answer to that eternal question: Now, what could that bizarre dream have meant?
a vast, unmapped realm of dreams where you can find ancient myths and modern nightmares, as well as the landscape of a thousand fables and some very personal hells.
Come take a tour of the Dreaming in this collection of three stories: Meet a runaway gargoyle who is much more than she appears; then take an unexpected detour in the woods in 1950 and find yourself all too awake in the strange world of the 1990's; and finish with an excursion to the House of Mystery, where a long-lost relative has just dropped by for dinner.
This is the Dreaming, and here there be dragons, and gargoyles, and the answer to that eternal question: Now, what could that bizarre dream have meant?
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Terry LaBan
116 books32 followersTerry LaBan decided to be a cartoonist at the age of 6. He grew up to draw political cartoons and illustrations, create alternative comics series for Fantagraphics Books and Dark Horse comics, and write for DC Vertigo and Disney Egmont, where he spent 14 years writing Donald Duck comics.
From 2001 to 2015, Terry and his wife Patty created the daily comic strip “Edge City”, which was syndicated by King Features. Terry has two kids and two cats, and lives just outside Philadelphia. Mendel the Mess-Up, his first middle grade graphic novel, will be published in December of 2024.
From 2001 to 2015, Terry and his wife Patty created the daily comic strip “Edge City”, which was syndicated by King Features. Terry has two kids and two cats, and lives just outside Philadelphia. Mendel the Mess-Up, his first middle grade graphic novel, will be published in December of 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 9, 2014
For whatever reason, while The Sandman (1989-1996) has stayed perpetually in print, this sequel series has not, and most of it remains uncollected. This volume contains the first eight issues, and the second contains issues 15-19 and 22-25. The remaining 44 issues and one special can be obtained only in single issue format, although they are generally not very expensive. This volume contains three stories, "The Goldie Factor" (3 issues) by Terry LaBan, "The Lost Boy" (4 issues) by Peter Hogan, and "His Brother's Keeper (1 issue), by Alisa Kwitney.
The first story reminds me a lot of Bill Willingham's Fables, only a bit deeper and less flippant (I enjoy Fables, but find it often predictable and insubstantial, with The Good Prince being the first volume to reach any level of profundity). While conceptually, The Dreaming is created by Neil Gaiman, its characters are much older. Cain and Gregory debuted in House of Mystery #175 (July/August 1968), Abel debuted in DC Special #4 (July-September 1969), Destiny in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (July/August 1972), Eve in Secrets of Sinister House #6 (August-September 1972), Lucien in Weird Mystery Tales #18 (May 1975), and Mad Hettie in Hellblazer #9 (September 1988). Lady Johanna Constantine, in spite of her apparent relationship to John Constantine, had appeared only in The Sandman up to this point. While the differences between the older representation of Eve as a hag witch were somewhat explained in the early issues of The Sandman by Dream's absence, I don't know if The Dreaming ever addressed the apparent murder of Lucien in Secrets of Haunted House #44, since I have yet to read beyond the contents of this volume.
One point that both the older DC "mystery" books and The Sandman would dance around was the relationship of Cain, Abel, and Eve to their Biblical counterpoints, Destiny at one point expressly denying it in a letter column (which were hosted by the characters in those days). Both "The Goldie Factor" and "His Brother's Keeper" are very explicit that they are the same characters. The serpent of Eden is a limbless man called Tempto, who lures a dissatisfied Goldie (born in The Sandman #2) to undo the the Fall. Over the course of the story, Cain finds a statue of himself that proves that he is the biblical Cain, something that he was not sure of himself. The story explains Goldie's origin and the function of the golden gargoyles. In never really seems to reach Gaiman's level, but remains, for me, a notch or two above Willingham.
The next story, "The Lost One" is longer and a bit more trenchant. Cain and Abel's roles are much smaller, and the story is focused on architect Brian Salmon, who has been displaced from the 1950s by an encounter with beautiful (and nude) Faire Folk and Mad Hettie, and the investigation of his case by Professor Muriel Jenkins, who became friends with Mad Hettie through her as a study subject, although her notes always disappear. Its connection to the history of the United States in a subplot featuring Destiny and Mad Hettie is deliberately ambiguous. I loved the moment when Mad Hettie paid for a plane ticket from London to Washington with leaves using a potato as a passport. The mystery around Mad Hettie is, to Hogan's credit, never really cleared up, in spite of learning more about her powers and responsibilities. While the ending of the story is romantic and predictable, the way the story was written would not allow it to be thwarted and would have made for an unsatisfactory ending if it had been.
In spite of having taken up only one issue, Alisa Kwitney's "His Brother's Keeper" packs the most wallop. I wasn't a bit surprised yesterday when I found issue #8 absent from a dollar bin full of issues of the series. This issue introduces Seth to the DC mythos, and is beautifully illustrated by Michael Zulli. (Peter Snejberg's art in "The Goldie Factor" is reminiscent of Mark Buckingham's in Fables and Steve Parkhouse's work in "The Lost Boy" is close to Vertigo "house style," if such a thing exists.) This story not only introduces a new family conflict in the dysfunctional relationship between Cain, Abel, and Eve with which DC has dealt since 1972 (up to this point, Adam has appeared only in flashback and in an alternate reality briefly created in "The Goldie Factor"), but explains the real reason why Abel murdered Cain. Without letting in any spoilers, it deals with women that are not mentioned in the Bible because the Bible writers saw women as less than people, often mentioning "sisters" and "daughters," but leaving their names unrecorded. Kwitney's story feels like one of DC's old "mystery" comics done profoundly well and with the frame story thoroughly integrated into what the storytellers are telling. The best comparisons to this issue are Swamp Thing #33 by Alan Moore and The Sandman #40 by Neil Gaiman, to which this stands in triumvirate.
Had the entire volume been as good as "His Brother's Keeper", I would have given it the full five stars, but being only 1/8 of this book's content, it doesn't pull it up from the overall 4 I would otherwise give it. Extremely worthwhile reading for fans of The Sandman or DC's "mystery" comics of the 1960s and 1970s. While I doubt that most readers would approach this expecting to find it par or better than Gaiman, as I did not, they may find this return excursion to the Dreaming most worthwhile, and with an immensely satisfying conclusion.
The first story reminds me a lot of Bill Willingham's Fables, only a bit deeper and less flippant (I enjoy Fables, but find it often predictable and insubstantial, with The Good Prince being the first volume to reach any level of profundity). While conceptually, The Dreaming is created by Neil Gaiman, its characters are much older. Cain and Gregory debuted in House of Mystery #175 (July/August 1968), Abel debuted in DC Special #4 (July-September 1969), Destiny in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (July/August 1972), Eve in Secrets of Sinister House #6 (August-September 1972), Lucien in Weird Mystery Tales #18 (May 1975), and Mad Hettie in Hellblazer #9 (September 1988). Lady Johanna Constantine, in spite of her apparent relationship to John Constantine, had appeared only in The Sandman up to this point. While the differences between the older representation of Eve as a hag witch were somewhat explained in the early issues of The Sandman by Dream's absence, I don't know if The Dreaming ever addressed the apparent murder of Lucien in Secrets of Haunted House #44, since I have yet to read beyond the contents of this volume.
One point that both the older DC "mystery" books and The Sandman would dance around was the relationship of Cain, Abel, and Eve to their Biblical counterpoints, Destiny at one point expressly denying it in a letter column (which were hosted by the characters in those days). Both "The Goldie Factor" and "His Brother's Keeper" are very explicit that they are the same characters. The serpent of Eden is a limbless man called Tempto, who lures a dissatisfied Goldie (born in The Sandman #2) to undo the the Fall. Over the course of the story, Cain finds a statue of himself that proves that he is the biblical Cain, something that he was not sure of himself. The story explains Goldie's origin and the function of the golden gargoyles. In never really seems to reach Gaiman's level, but remains, for me, a notch or two above Willingham.
The next story, "The Lost One" is longer and a bit more trenchant. Cain and Abel's roles are much smaller, and the story is focused on architect Brian Salmon, who has been displaced from the 1950s by an encounter with beautiful (and nude) Faire Folk and Mad Hettie, and the investigation of his case by Professor Muriel Jenkins, who became friends with Mad Hettie through her as a study subject, although her notes always disappear. Its connection to the history of the United States in a subplot featuring Destiny and Mad Hettie is deliberately ambiguous. I loved the moment when Mad Hettie paid for a plane ticket from London to Washington with leaves using a potato as a passport. The mystery around Mad Hettie is, to Hogan's credit, never really cleared up, in spite of learning more about her powers and responsibilities. While the ending of the story is romantic and predictable, the way the story was written would not allow it to be thwarted and would have made for an unsatisfactory ending if it had been.
In spite of having taken up only one issue, Alisa Kwitney's "His Brother's Keeper" packs the most wallop. I wasn't a bit surprised yesterday when I found issue #8 absent from a dollar bin full of issues of the series. This issue introduces Seth to the DC mythos, and is beautifully illustrated by Michael Zulli. (Peter Snejberg's art in "The Goldie Factor" is reminiscent of Mark Buckingham's in Fables and Steve Parkhouse's work in "The Lost Boy" is close to Vertigo "house style," if such a thing exists.) This story not only introduces a new family conflict in the dysfunctional relationship between Cain, Abel, and Eve with which DC has dealt since 1972 (up to this point, Adam has appeared only in flashback and in an alternate reality briefly created in "The Goldie Factor"), but explains the real reason why Abel murdered Cain. Without letting in any spoilers, it deals with women that are not mentioned in the Bible because the Bible writers saw women as less than people, often mentioning "sisters" and "daughters," but leaving their names unrecorded. Kwitney's story feels like one of DC's old "mystery" comics done profoundly well and with the frame story thoroughly integrated into what the storytellers are telling. The best comparisons to this issue are Swamp Thing #33 by Alan Moore and The Sandman #40 by Neil Gaiman, to which this stands in triumvirate.
Had the entire volume been as good as "His Brother's Keeper", I would have given it the full five stars, but being only 1/8 of this book's content, it doesn't pull it up from the overall 4 I would otherwise give it. Extremely worthwhile reading for fans of The Sandman or DC's "mystery" comics of the 1960s and 1970s. While I doubt that most readers would approach this expecting to find it par or better than Gaiman, as I did not, they may find this return excursion to the Dreaming most worthwhile, and with an immensely satisfying conclusion.
May 30, 2008
This is the first book in the Dreaming series, which uses "minor" characters from the Sandman universe like Cain and Abel, Goldie, Matthew and Nuala. Stories are set in both the Dream universe and in the real world, so to speak. I really enjoyed this series and was sorry to see it end - the art was always great, especially the covers by Dave McKean. But the series did last for a while, so if you missed out, you've got some great art and fantasy to enjoy.
February 13, 2019
I think this is essentially anything I’d hope for as a spin off of The Sandman series.
Everything feels tonally in touch with the original series.
It just has fun telling stories in a vast landscape of the Dreaming, and I really enjoyed it!
Everything feels tonally in touch with the original series.
It just has fun telling stories in a vast landscape of the Dreaming, and I really enjoyed it!
August 31, 2014
I only found out that these spin-offs from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series existed recently and I'm still confused as to why there are only two volumes collecting just 16 of the 60 issues of the series. From reading this book, which collects issues 1-8, split into three stories, the quality of both the stories and art is definitely high enough for me to want to read the rest of it. Who do I badger to get them on the case?
Of the three stories in this volume, I think the second one is my favourite, even though it's the one least connected to the Dreaming. The first volume tells the story of Goldie, the golden gargoyle who lives with Cain and Abel and the third is also a Cain and Abel story, with an unwanted relative coming to visit them. While Cain and Abel can be fun characters, Cain's bad habit of repeatedly killing his brother can get a bit wearing. The second story, The Lost Boy, tells the story of Brian Salmon, an architect living in the 1950s, who has an encounter with fairies and finds himself pushed forward in time, via the Dreaming, to the 1990s. Here, he has to try and survive the bizarre world he comes to and try and get home. There is also a cameo from Johanna Constantine and the main plot driver is Mad Hettie, both of whom appeared in Sandman.
There's a lot of scope to tell stories set in the Dreaming, and I'd love to read them all. I hope that Titan or DC or whoever can do so, rethinks the lack of collected volumes of this series.
Of the three stories in this volume, I think the second one is my favourite, even though it's the one least connected to the Dreaming. The first volume tells the story of Goldie, the golden gargoyle who lives with Cain and Abel and the third is also a Cain and Abel story, with an unwanted relative coming to visit them. While Cain and Abel can be fun characters, Cain's bad habit of repeatedly killing his brother can get a bit wearing. The second story, The Lost Boy, tells the story of Brian Salmon, an architect living in the 1950s, who has an encounter with fairies and finds himself pushed forward in time, via the Dreaming, to the 1990s. Here, he has to try and survive the bizarre world he comes to and try and get home. There is also a cameo from Johanna Constantine and the main plot driver is Mad Hettie, both of whom appeared in Sandman.
There's a lot of scope to tell stories set in the Dreaming, and I'd love to read them all. I hope that Titan or DC or whoever can do so, rethinks the lack of collected volumes of this series.
June 11, 2017
Woo, more comics in the land of the Dreaming! These ones focus on secondary characters, but I will take what I can get.
This first collection has three stories. The first is about Goldie, the baby gargoyle that lives with Abel. He runs away because of Cain's cruelty and runs into a rather nasty fellow. Readers get to find out the secret history of the golden gargoyles and learn a bit more about the first brothers and Eve. Not quite Gaiman level writing, but an interesting story nevertheless!
The longest narrative is about Mad Hettie, the fair folk, and a poor lost soul that ended up accidentally travelling through time. The story of the time traveller is quite engaging, but there's a bunch of weird stuff going on with Hattie that doesn't pay off. Maybe it became relevant later in the series?
Finally, there's one last story about Cain and Abel's brother who wants to know about why Cain killed Abel. It involves forgotten sisters and dreamer house guests and is an incoherent mess. It could have been interesting had it either been reframed or given additional issues to explore its content.
All in all, not a bad companion to the Sandman series!
This first collection has three stories. The first is about Goldie, the baby gargoyle that lives with Abel. He runs away because of Cain's cruelty and runs into a rather nasty fellow. Readers get to find out the secret history of the golden gargoyles and learn a bit more about the first brothers and Eve. Not quite Gaiman level writing, but an interesting story nevertheless!
The longest narrative is about Mad Hettie, the fair folk, and a poor lost soul that ended up accidentally travelling through time. The story of the time traveller is quite engaging, but there's a bunch of weird stuff going on with Hattie that doesn't pay off. Maybe it became relevant later in the series?
Finally, there's one last story about Cain and Abel's brother who wants to know about why Cain killed Abel. It involves forgotten sisters and dreamer house guests and is an incoherent mess. It could have been interesting had it either been reframed or given additional issues to explore its content.
All in all, not a bad companion to the Sandman series!
February 19, 2023
LA ENSOÑACIÓN ha resultado uno de mis tomos favoritos del universo SANDMAN.
Tres historias que forman parte del universo creado por NEIL GAIMAN, pero que funcionan perfectamente de forma aislada.
Historias fascinantes, llenas de secretos y misterios sin explorar que te dejarán reflexionando sobre todo lo que creías saber sobre los temas que se abordan.
Dragones, gárgolas, el jardín del Edén, Adán y Eva, Abel y Caín, Seth, Constantine... Ésto y más podrás encontrar en las páginas de LA ENSOÑACIÓN.
Tres historias que se quedarán por mucho tiempo en mi memoria.
Tres historias que forman parte del universo creado por NEIL GAIMAN, pero que funcionan perfectamente de forma aislada.
Historias fascinantes, llenas de secretos y misterios sin explorar que te dejarán reflexionando sobre todo lo que creías saber sobre los temas que se abordan.
Dragones, gárgolas, el jardín del Edén, Adán y Eva, Abel y Caín, Seth, Constantine... Ésto y más podrás encontrar en las páginas de LA ENSOÑACIÓN.
Tres historias que se quedarán por mucho tiempo en mi memoria.
May 28, 2023
Sandman goes so hard, maybe favourite series all time. Idek how to describe other than just metal. like it is legitimately just cool as fuck. Story lines are all wacky and fun and I love the little one offs, art is so freaking cool. like idek what other word to use.
Also just realised because I'm putting these in retroactively as I am with lots of things I've read and want to add, I'm just gonna copy this review for the whole series lmao
Also just realised because I'm putting these in retroactively as I am with lots of things I've read and want to add, I'm just gonna copy this review for the whole series lmao
April 12, 2017
Pretty good, though Cain and Abel get on my nerves. I suppose they are meant to be annoying, but at this point, I wouldn't read another book with them as the main characters. Still, revisiting the Dreaming after the initial Sandman series was nice.
March 1, 2026
I found this comic on my shelf still in its plastic, I don't even remember when I bought it to be honest, but I figured it was about time to read it
“The Goldie Factor” 4 Stars
“The Lost Boy” 4 stars
“His Brother's Keeper ” 2 stars
“The Goldie Factor” 4 Stars
“The Lost Boy” 4 stars
“His Brother's Keeper ” 2 stars
December 9, 2020
I read this back when it was first published in single issues (and I've got them boxed up somewhere ... it's amazing the things you lose over the years) and I absolutely fell in love with Goldie. Eve, Cain, and Abel were fascinating too.
April 28, 2018
Stories exploring the cast of the dreaming
April 6, 2022
I enjoy the world of Sandman a lot. There are so many characters and tangents you can go down. This set of 2 stories shows the different strands quite well.
The first one is Cain and Abel and Eve and Original Sin. It was good enough. I like Cain and Abel stories pretty much but can get tired of them as well as they are usually just lots of casual violence. This story wasn't a lot better but the search for Goldie was fun in the characters they ran across.
Mad Hettie is a lot of fun and this was a great short story.
The first one is Cain and Abel and Eve and Original Sin. It was good enough. I like Cain and Abel stories pretty much but can get tired of them as well as they are usually just lots of casual violence. This story wasn't a lot better but the search for Goldie was fun in the characters they ran across.
Mad Hettie is a lot of fun and this was a great short story.
December 16, 2023
I’ve been wanting to read this for years, and I think that this is one of those instances that something just happens at the right time.
It was occasionally annoying to read Cain and Hettie’s dialogue.
Neil Gaiman is listed as the consultant. I’m not sure how much input he gave, but I feel that they got the emotional weather and characters right.
I rather enjoyed the characters of Eve, Abel, Cain and Tempto whom I though was somewhat of a clever twist.
Oh the Fair Folk and Shakespeare references made me smile.
It was occasionally annoying to read Cain and Hettie’s dialogue.
Neil Gaiman is listed as the consultant. I’m not sure how much input he gave, but I feel that they got the emotional weather and characters right.
I rather enjoyed the characters of Eve, Abel, Cain and Tempto whom I though was somewhat of a clever twist.
Oh the Fair Folk and Shakespeare references made me smile.
August 8, 2018
REally enjoyable collection of stories featuring fringe characters from the Sandman Universe. Very tempted to track down the rest of the series.
August 19, 2022
1-3, The Goldie Factor, ☆☆☆
4-7, The Lost Boy, ☆☆☆
8, His Brother’s Keeper, ☆☆☆
4-7, The Lost Boy, ☆☆☆
8, His Brother’s Keeper, ☆☆☆
October 2, 2025
Todo en la licencia de The Sanman es interesante, y esto es más que entretenido.
May 22, 2009
I liked the Goldie story best (cause Goldie... so cute!) - I liked the others too, but nothing here jumped out at me as WHOA! I think it's a little (or a lot!) because, coming after Sandman, it's really hard for one book of stories to live up to the level of depth Sandman was able to build over seven years. It's unfair to expect it to, anyway.
So I really did enjoy reading this, but it hasn't quite grabbed me yet. I'm excited to read the next collection "Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory", not least because of Caitlin Kiernan's involvement. I wish there were more than two volumes available - I'd love to be able to read more of the stories and individual issues appear to be hard to come by.
So I really did enjoy reading this, but it hasn't quite grabbed me yet. I'm excited to read the next collection "Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory", not least because of Caitlin Kiernan's involvement. I wish there were more than two volumes available - I'd love to be able to read more of the stories and individual issues appear to be hard to come by.
August 19, 2008
I loved learning more about Cain, Abel, and Eve in The Dreaming. The overall plot kept my interest, too, about the nature of time. Really fun to read!
June 2, 2013
thia was not my faavorite. I really liked the Goldie bit, but the rest of it was kind of lack-luster for me :(
February 12, 2016
3 and 1/2
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews