The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition, Book Four

The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition

by Neil Gaiman, Nancy Collins, Jamie Delano

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed graphic novels of all time, Neil Gaiman’s awardwinning masterpiece The Sandman set the standard for mature, lyrical fantasy in the modern comics era. Illustrated by an exemplary selection of the medium’s most gifted artists, the series is a rich blend of modern and ancient mythology in which contemporary fiction, historical drama, and legend are seamlessly interwoven.

The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition Book Four collects issues #51-69 of the original run of The Sandman, which includes the zero-hour tale "World's End"—at the World's End Tavern, two travelers tell stories like "A Tale of Two Cities". This volume also features Vertigo Jam #1, where the beauty and wonder of Dream's Castle is able to be experienced.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Comic Book, Science Fiction Fantasy

518 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2021

Reviews

[Shuhan Rizwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

The Kindly ones পড়ে মনে হলো আধুনিক মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য পড়লাম।

[Marica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worlds' End ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kindly Ones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

More uneven than other collections. Issues seem to be losing steam. The World’s End series was a total slog. Kindly Ones was more nagging, with better art. But wasn’t satisfying in the same way some other arcs have been, despite how critical it’s supposed to be to the overall story.

[Entintadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

4'5 / 5

AVISO: esta reseña contiene SPOILERS sobre los anteriores volúmenes. Los Eternos son entes con habilidades sobrenaturales, que representan facetas de la vida humana. Tras la traición de Deseo y liberarse de una prisión, Sueño, señor del mundo onírico, reflexionará sobre su existencia.

En este volumen volvemos a tener historias cortas y una gran trama principal que se entrelazan. Una de ellas, la de Orfeo, hijo de Sueño, y de las desventuras que llevan a que odie a su padre. Además se dan pistas de la maldición que pesa sobre el Eterno por su orgullo y soberbia.

La trama central será "Vidas breves", con Sueño acompañando Delirio en la búsqueda de Destrucción. Estos hermanos eran los más desconocidos, ella por su locura, él porque decidió abandonar a sus hermanos.

Delirio es un personaje caótico, dulce e inocente, que no siempre es consciente de lo que le sucede. Nacida como Delicia, es un ejemplo de que los Eternos no son tan inmunes a los cambios. Destrucción es un personaje complejo, reflexivo, que nos muestra otra cara sobre las acciones humanas y lo que implican o no para otros.

Todo ello con pinceladas de cariño, bromas y críticas, como en cualquier familia. Pero también percibimos que no todo puede salir bien. Con miembros de varias mitologías mostrando un mundo más amplio y unos cambios de dibujo y entintado que nos sumerjen más en la historia, la trama se abre a reflexiones sobre la identidad, el futuro y si tenemos una labor que desempeñar en el universo.

Colibrí.

[Sandy]

I really enjoyed this one! It was really cool how many characters came back for this one. It was kinda strange weirdly since it feels like once their story is done they aren’t going to come back. I guess it makes it feel like they have stories outside of just what we see and what we see is very limited. I was also surprised how little they held their punches with this one like damn they weren’t afraid.

I really liked the art style for this one. It was fun how they went with something pretty different. I also couldn’t help but really like Nuala’s character even if the reason I like her ends up causing her to accidentally and unintentionally mess things up. And again, I’m loving Dream’s progress although only the next volume will tell where things go from here considering how this one ended.

[Shreyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition Book Four' by Neil Gaiman.



1) Worlds' End (Issues #51 to #56): 3.25/5.

2) The Kindly Ones (Issues #57 to #69): 4.25/5.




Overall Rating for the Book: 7.5/10.




PS: For a detailed review, check out my reviews for the individual volumes on their respective Goodreads pages.

[jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. this is definitely the best one that ties the whole main story so well, as always i wrote many thoughts along the way:

- various stories of strangers meeting in an inn at the end of the world, they obviously connect back to morpheus but yeah, very interesting.
- oh the jim story with hob was definitely a highlight that was very good.
- a president of good for the USA, who actually made changes for the better and when he died say ofc death and dream took him to his realm?
- talks of necropolis and destruction telling on how the old city of necropolis died for not taking care of the rituals of taking care of the dead ones. as this is for the living to make sense of the end.
- star trek mention!!!!!! they viewed the future of morpheus by watching his funeral in the stars
- daniel hall get behind me IMMEDIATELY!!! every time i see baby dani i just start screaming DANIELLLL like i already lost him.... cause he is so doomed before he was even born
- the path of lyta hall falling for the tricks of the three ladies to avenge daniel, as well we see nuala returning with her brother.
- daniel is being burnt by loki and puck, while the other siblings realized what would happen to dream after killing his son. which is why we saw said funeral.
- lyta is looking for the kind ladies to get help in the revenge plan against morpheus because she believes it was him who took her son (and why wouldn't she as he literally threatened her) while dream continues rebuilding the corinthian in a better way than the original one.
- we see more of how the road to morpheus demise is being constructed, how every loose end of his mistakes or acts affect how he was viewed as the king of dreams. how many people were involved in such a story leading to a new dream
- we see matthew paired up with the new corinthian, kinda a preface of what is to come with the new dream. the last nightmare made by morpheus to find daniel
- lyta going to the kind ladies to ask for revenge, and they told her they can help her as dream did kill his only son
- we see how dream has been handling leaving the dreaming, by speaking to everything in the dreaming from the smallest to the biggest thing and even visiting the waking world to check on certain things. how he is basically arranging himself to part and leave it all easy for the new dream...
- how matthew and the corinthian have a similar experience of not being the first of their kind, how dream will add to that soon!
- desire visiting rose, we see also the corinthian fighting with loki to get daniel. more funerals in the dreaming as it's all starting to fall apart little by little
- dream wants to kill lyta to end the damage in the dreaming, but she is being protected thessaly who calls morpheus "too caring for other people"
- nuala calls on morpheus to get her boom, but that is a mistake as he has left the dreaming...
- morhpheus speaks with daniel concerning the dreaming, he is given an emerald jewel that contains some part of dream. so when dream finally gets to speak with his sister, he is able to let go and daniel will take over as the new dream.

[OmniBen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review)
Well, I never expected this one to get all the way to a 4 whilst enduring the dreary and difficult slog that was the 'Inn at the Worlds Ed' arc. I'm rather sure I even contemplating skipping the entire thing at one point, such was anger and indifference these five issues brought out in me. As competent a storyteller as Gaiman is during his less stellar material, this opening arc epitomised everything I dislike about Gaiman in one bland and boring bundle. Five aimless, apathetic stories, featuring one off characters I couldn't care less about. Overly wordy and directionless, and with endings that failed to rouse anything from me other than my ire, and a sense of relief when it was over. Quite how anyone could consider this opening arc as anything other than mildly average is beyond me and I'll never touch it again on a reread. Not only this, but 'The Kindly Ones' arc, which makes up the rest of this collection started about as engagingly as the previous arc left off. I really was pretty close to chucking it in at this point. The art, which was never the highlight of Sandman, was utterly dreadful. Something I got used to as the story grew on me, but remains a lowlight of what ended up being a pretty good arc, all things considered. A few artists lend a hand now and then, but Marc Hempel's very simplistic style did little to add to the wonder and whimsy Gaiman was weaving towards the end. It was quite something to see all the threads and plotlines he had weaved into the story earlier coming together, and whilst there seemed to be a few plotting issues, it managed to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat, regarding my impressions of the series. There was also a twist right at the end, that if poorly done, will likely spoil the series for me somewhat, but that remains to be seen.
For now, this was a mixed bag to be sure, but a mixed bag Gaiman was able to drag across the line from mediocrity to almost pretty great, given his undoubted talent. That is, when he isn't writing aimless, boring tales I could care less about and don't want or need in this universe. 4/5


OmniBen.

[Werehare · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Whole serie]

Art: a couple of interesting tidbits ("Ramadan", "The kindly ones", some watercolour stuff) floating on top of a dumpster.

Story: milquetoast and running on vibes, just like every other Gaiman work I read so far. A "Disneyland dark ride" of a story, if you will: you are surrounded by artful animatronics of those same old princesses in brand new dresses but actually, you're just being dragged along the tracks to the gift shop (they have chibi toys!!1 No, for real).
There's a couple incidental mentions of the one good idea the guy ever had, i.e. gods being sustained by human worship and all the implications thereof; there's an interesting episode in a diner; and... that's it, that's all I will remember out of 75 fucking issues two days from now. I don't care for any of the (weird) sex stuff, I don't find metatextuality groundbreaking and I certainly don't give a shit about the ton of references or the lectures on the meaning of life, so what else is there that is supposedly worth the ride? "Death is a goth girlie"?
Besides, it relies a bit too much on walls of text and takes minimal advantage of the peculiarities of the comic medium. Too bad.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically a reread, though it's been 20 years.

The best thing about the "Kindly Ones" arc is the evocative art. I kept interrupting the actual reading to study the panels, especially the use of colors and negative space. The Rose Walker sections of the story felt really tedious, but the rest is a slow-moving tragedy that still makes me sad thinking about.

The "World's End" collection of stories are okay, though by that point, I kind of just wanted to get on with the main arc already. I ended up putting the book down for about a month because several of the stories dragged, but I didn't want to skip over them after not reading them for 20 years.

I think this is a weakness in Gaiman's writing. He's capable of amazing, mesmerizing work. He's also capable of meandering stories with characters I don't particularly care about and will never see again. I liked the story that featured Hob Gadling, and the Prez Rickard story is a classic, but the rest of them just kind of drag.

A good collection - it's still Sandman, it's going to be good - but not anywhere near as good as "Season of Mists" or "Brief Lives."

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As wildly imaginitive as ever, deftly marrying fantasy, beauty and horror in a engrossing and perfectly realized fashion.

One slight complaint (altough I am certain I will be alone in voicing it), specifically the fact that "The Kindly Ones", one of the two arcs collected in this volume (one of the best in all the series) features some of the worst artwork this comic book series has ever had.
Marc Hempel's artwork was very dissapointing to look at, especially considering how epic, important, exciting and long the plot was. Really knocked down some of the enjoyment of the arc for me, and the book mostly comprises of his artwork which, well, is not at all to my liking.

On the other hand, the rest of the artists in the volume were amazing, and Gaiman's writing was at his strongest.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bind up book is amazing containing sandman issues 51-69 and the stories of zero hour, world’s end, and a tale of two cities I am so happy I decided to read the sandman comics I absolutely adore the characters, the storyline’s and the artwork is breathtakingly beautiful. I love Neil Gai man’s world of the endless. I adored all the characters I loved dream, death, desire, despair, delirium, destiny. The ending of this book one hell of a surprise with Morpheus death and Daniel the son of Lyta taking over his role becoming the new dream of the endless. I certainly hope Netflix keeps renewing the sandman series I want to see the rest of these amazing stories come to life on the screen. I definitely recommend reading the sandman comics and this large bind up edition is a great collectors item definitely worth reading it was highly entertaining and enjoyable book to read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been rereading Sandman for the first time in probably twenty-five years, and for the most part I've enjoyed it quite a bit - maybe not as much as I did when I was twenty-years-old, but very much nonetheless. Book Four combines two of the original trade paperbacks - "The Kindly Ones" is a tense epic, simmering to a shattering climax, and a fitting finale to an epic series, as it brings together a ton of supporting characters in interesting ways.

That said, I took a star off this book compared to the previous volumes, because honestly, "World's End" was a drag for me. The short stories are a great way to expand Dream's world and influence, but they've been a mixed bag over the course of the series' run - some quite lovely, some grasping -, and "World's End" were the toughest reads of the bunch for me. At least this time around.

[nagatinskaja · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens if the Endless crosses the line?

Dream has problems, Dreamland has problems, the world has problems. Everything is building up to a point that we are eagerly awaiting.

Some stories were better than others, but the integration of previous mini-stories into the big rush of events was perfect.

The art was a bit lacking in this volume, but everything was made up for by the last chapter, which was incredibly good.

🎵Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream,
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen.🎵

4/5 because of the weak beginning and the weaker art.

[Mioree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️

This is, simply put, utterly not for me. If I didn’t have a reading goal I’m struggling to meet I’d have DNFed it.

Thing is, when it’s about Dream and The Endless its good enough to keep me interested despite SO MUCH PROBLEMATIC SHIT. So much. But this whole graphic novel series loves its stories within stories within stories. It’s a drag, to say the least.

I have no idea why this is quite so well regarded as it was/is.

[matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best collection of all. So many threads come together. Terrific stories at the inn at the end of the worlds.
Love the section where Morpheus completes all of his chores for the week - it was a fascinating look at the scale and variety of the Dreaming.
And “the Kindly Ones”— so scary and sad and weirdly hopeful.
Excellent artwork as well.
Just terrific all around

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains:

1) Vol. 8 - Worlds' End (Issues #51 to #56): 3/5.
2) Vol. 9 - The Kindly Ones (Issues #57 to #69): 4.5/5.

----

I cried so fucking much with the last chapter of 'The Kindly Ones' arc, the hell is this?? I can't accept it, like I knew it would happen but still, I hate it. It's 4:45 am so I'll write a proper review later.

[jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Flowers gathered in the morning,
Afternoon they blossom on,
Still are withered by the evening:
You can be me when I'm gone."
- Neil Gaiman, 'The Kindly Ones' in 'The Sandman' no. 69, July 1995

[Aleksiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I disliked Marc Hempel’s drawing style. It lacked enriching details, yet it wasn’t beautifully simplistic. It was too angular, rough like a sketch, like something one draws in a hurry. That made reading the Kindly Ones storyline a pain, which was most of what this part consists of

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a half dozen issues of the original run to go, I get the feeling that Gaiman should have shut this thing down…at least before the shorts that started this volume, and the longer tale that follows. We’ll see how it wraps up…

[Jim Street · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Kindly Ones" was perhaps my favorite storyline with it's many mysteries and sense of threat.

[Lucía Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó que este volumen profundiza en las dinámicas entre los Eternals.

[Danielle Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, it’s beautiful. Periodt.

[Luis Kalaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was soooooooooo good! Neil Gaiman truly did a magnificent job tying all the loose ends he left on the previous books.

[Geoff Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite often I don't really know what's happening, but they're just such lovely places to be.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the four books I've read yet.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the strange stories, side quests, and destinies merge into an inevitably surprising conclusion.

[John Funderburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, per usual. The Kindly Ones doesn't hold my attention as much as some of the other story arcs, but still very good.

[༶ Laura ༶ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kindly Ones ist 🤌🏼

[Yashvijay Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two main storylines in this one, I loved the Inn at the end of the world and the kindly ones is the second best storyline in this series so far-only Season of Mists is better.

Overall, 4.5 stars