The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes: Difference between revisions

*The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes*
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes
	Cover of The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (1991), trade paperback collected editionArt by Dave McKean.
Publisher	DC Comics
Publication date	January - August 1989
Genre	Dark fantasy; Mythology;
Title(s)	The Sandman #1-8
Main character(s)	Dream
ISBN	ISBN 1-56389-011-9
Creative team
Writer(s)	Neil Gaiman
Artist(s)	Sam Kieth; Mike Dringenberg; Malcolm Jones III
Letterer(s)	Todd Klein
Colorist(s)	Robbie Busch

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Preludes & Nocturnes is the first trade paperback collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics. It collects issues #1-8. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III, colored by Robbie Busch and lettered by Todd Klein.

The first seven issues of this collection comprise the "More Than Rubies" storyline. The eighth issue, "The Sound of Her Wings", is a self-contained story that serves as an epilogue to the More Than Rubies plot. It was first issued in paperback in 1991, and later in hardback in 1995.

The next volume in the series is The Doll's House.

Synopsis

Dream and Gregory the Gargoyle, from *Sandman* #2, "Imperfect Hosts", pencilled by Sam Kieth

In 1916, Dream is captured and encased in a glass globe in a failed attempt by a fictional Edwardian magician (very much in the vein of Aleister Crowley) named Roderick Burgess to bind Death and attain immortality. Dream bides his time for decades until Burgess dies. Afterwards, his son Alexander becomes Dream’s new captor. Finally, in 1988, Alex inadvertently weakens the containment spell when the wheel of his wheelchair crosses over the circle drawn around Dream allowing him to reach into the dreams of his guards who fall asleep in his presence, allowing Dream to use the sand from their dream to his benefit. When the guards awake and break the seal Dream was in, he is then able to escape. Dream punishes Alex by cursing him to experience an unending series of nightmares. Morpheus (an alternative name for Dream) weakened after his captivity, is forced to make the journey to his realm via the dreamscape. He is found by Gregory, a gargoyle belonging to Cain and Abel (comics), who nurse Dream back to health. Dream then makes his way to his home and is shocked to see it has fallen into ruin, derelict and abandoned in his absence. Lucien, the librarian, fills Dream in on the goings-on since his incarceration.

The rest of the story concerns Dream's quest to recover his totems of power, which were dispersed following his capture: a pouch of sand, a helm and a ruby. The pouch is being kept by a former girlfriend of John Constantine's (Constantine is a character from Alan Moore's series, Swamp Thing and the Vertigo (DC Comics) Hellblazer). Once that is recovered, Dream travels to hell, where he is guided by the demon Etrigan past a cage of torture, where he meets an old face of someone he loves but has not yet forgiven for their past sins. Upon meeting Lucifer (an enmity that will have major repercussions later in the series), a sharp dressed man in all white but deep dark black wings and whose shadow reveals a huge beast, Dream discusses that one of the demons in Hell has his Helm, a gas-mask looking helmet that the demon Choronzon is currently in possession of, and offers to give it back to him if he accepts a challenge. Not strong enough to fight yet, Dream accepts a different kind of challenge, the traditional game of metamorphoses. Dream defeats the demon by taking the form of Hope, which cannot be killed, in the game, but as Dream leaves Hell, Lucifer promises to his hosts that one day, he will destroy Dream. Lastly, the ruby is in the possession of John Dee, a.k.a. Doctor Destiny, a supervillain from the Justice League of America series. Dee escapes from Arkham Asylum before going to a diner, where he disorts reality for those inside, using them as toys until they all ultimately murder each other or commit suicide. Dream arrives and attempts to take the ruby, only to lose consciousness as the last of his strength is consumed upon touching the ruby. Dee has warped and corrupted the ruby, using it to commit acts of violence and depravity. When Dream regains consciousness, he is still very weak when attacked by Dee. The fight nearly tears apart Dream - Morpheus puts up a brave fight but is losing. However, thinking that it will kill Dream, Dee shatters the ruby, inadvertently releasing the power that Dream had stored in the ruby. Restored to his full power, Dream towers over Dee and ponders his fate while coming to the realization that his sigils of office did nothing but consume his power. Considering Dee at least partially responsible for his triumph, Dream shows mercy and merely returns Dee to Arkham Asylum.

The collection ends with "The Sound of Her Wings", an epilogue to the first story-arc. This issue introduces a character who has become one of the series' most popular and prominent personalities: Dream's older sister Death. She is depicted as an attractive, down-to-earth young goth girl, very unlike the traditional personification of death, and spends the issue talking Dream out of his brief depression.

Issues Collected

Issue	Title	Writer	Penciller	Inker	Colorist	Letterer	Ast Editor	Editor
1	Sleep of the Just	Neil Gaiman	Sam Kieth	Mike Dringenberg	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
2	Imperfect Hosts	Neil Gaiman	Sam Kieth	Mike Dringenberg	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
3	Dream a Little Dream of Me	Neil Gaiman	Sam Kieth	Mike Dringenberg	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
4	A Hope in Hell	Neil Gaiman	Sam Kieth	Mike Dringenberg	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
5	Passengers	Neil Gaiman	Sam Kieth	Malcolm Jones III	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
6	24 Hours	Neil Gaiman	Mike Dringenberg	Malcolm Jones III w/ special thanks to Don Carola	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
7	Sound and Fury	Neil Gaiman	Mike Dringenberg	Malcolm Jones III	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger
8	The Sound of Her Wings	Neil Gaiman	Mike Dringenberg	Malcolm Jones III	Robbie Busch	Todd Klein	Art Young	Karen Berger

References

Bender, Hy (1999), The Sandman Companion, New York: Vertigo DC Comics, ISBN 1563896443

External links

Preludes and Nocturnes - Entire issue available for free download at DC Comics
The Annotated Sandman

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 [[Image:Sandmankieth.png|thumb|left|[[Dream (DC Comics)|Dream]] and Gregory the Gargoyle, from ''[[The Sandman (DC Comics/Vertigo)|Sandman]]'' #2, "Imperfect Hosts", pencilled by [[Sam Kieth]]]]
-In 1916, [[Dream (DC Comics)|Dream]] is captured and encased in a glass globe in a failed attempt by a fictional [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] [[magic (paranormal)|magician]] (very much in the vein of [[Aleister Crowley]]) named [[Characters of The Sandman#Roderick Burgess|Roderick Burgess]] to bind [[Death (DC Comics)|Death]] and attain immortality. Dream bides his time for decades until Burgess dies. Afterwards, his son [[Characters of The Sandman#Alex Burgess|Alexander]] becomes Dream’s new captor. Finally, in 1988, Alex inadvertently weakens the containment spell when the wheel of his wheelchair crosses over the circle drawn around Dream allowing him to reach into the dreams of his guards who fall asleep in his presence, allowing Dream to use the sand from their dream to his benefit. When the guards awake and break the seal Dream was in, he is then able to escape. Dream punishes Alex by cursing him to experience an unending series of [[nightmare]]s. Morpheus (an alternative name for Dream) weakened after his captivity, is forced to make the journey to his realm via the dreamscape.
+In 1916, [[Dream (DC Comics)|Dream]] is captured and encased in a glass globe in a failed attempt by a fictional [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] [[magic (paranormal)|magician]] (very much in the vein of [[Aleister Crowley]]) named [[Characters of The Sandman#Roderick Burgess|Roderick Burgess]] to bind [[Death (DC Comics)|Death]] and attain immortality. Dream bides his time for decades until Burgess dies. Afterwards, his son [[Characters of The Sandman#Alex Burgess|Alexander]] becomes Dream’s new captor. Finally, in 1988, Alex inadvertently weakens the containment spell when the wheel of his wheelchair crosses over the circle drawn around Dream allowing him to reach into the dreams of his guards who fall asleep in his presence, allowing Dream to use the sand from their dream to his benefit. When the guards awake and break the seal Dream was in, he is then able to escape. Dream punishes Alex by cursing him to experience an unending series of [[nightmare]]s. Morpheus (an alternative name for Dream) weakened after his captivity, is forced to make the journey to his realm via the dreamscape. He is found by Gregory, a gargoyle belonging to [[Cain and Abel (comics)]], who nurse Dream back to health. Dream then makes his way to his home and is shocked to see it has fallen into ruin, derelict and abandoned in his absence. Lucien, the librarian, fills Dream in on the goings-on since his incarceration.
-The rest of the story concerns Dream's [[quest]] to recover his totems of power, which were dispersed following his capture: a [[pouch]] of [[sand]], a [[helm]] and a [[ruby]].  The pouch is being kept by a former girlfriend of [[John Constantine]]'s (Constantine is a character from [[Alan Moore]]'s series, ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' and the [[Vertigo (DC Comics)]] [[Hellblazer]]).  Once that is recovered, Dream travels to [[hell]],  where he is guided by the demon [[Etrigan]] past a cage of torture, where he meets an old face of someone he loves but has not yet forgiven for their past sins. Upon meeting [[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]] (an enmity that will have major repercussions later in the series), a sharp dressed man in all white but deep dark black wings and whose shadow reveals a huge beast, Dream discusses that one of the demons in Hell has his Helm, a gas-mask looking helmet that the demon Choronzon is currently in possession of, and offers to give it back to him if he accepts a challenge. Not strong enough to fight yet, Dream accepts a different kind of challenge, the traditional game of metamorphoses. Dream defeats the demon by taking the form of Hope, which cannot be killed, in the game, but as Dream leaves Hell, Lucifer promises to his hosts that one day, he will destroy Dream.  Lastly, the ruby is in the possession of John Dee, a.k.a. [[Doctor Destiny]], a [[supervillain]] from the ''[[Justice League|Justice League of America]]'' series.  Dee has warped and corrupted the ruby and when Morpheus touches it, it drains his strength and he passes out. When Dream comes to consciousness, he is still very weak when attacked by Dee. The fight nearly tears apart Dream - Morpheus puts up a brave fight but is losing. However, thinking that it will kill Dream, Dee shatters the ruby, inadvertently releasing the power that Dream had stored in the ruby and restoring Dream to his full power.
+The rest of the story concerns Dream's [[quest]] to recover his totems of power, which were dispersed following his capture: a [[pouch]] of [[sand]], a [[helm]] and a [[ruby]].  The pouch is being kept by a former girlfriend of [[John Constantine]]'s (Constantine is a character from [[Alan Moore]]'s series, ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' and the [[Vertigo (DC Comics)]] [[Hellblazer]]).  Once that is recovered, Dream travels to [[hell]],  where he is guided by the demon [[Etrigan]] past a cage of torture, where he meets an old face of someone he loves but has not yet forgiven for their past sins. Upon meeting [[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]] (an enmity that will have major repercussions later in the series), a sharp dressed man in all white but deep dark black wings and whose shadow reveals a huge beast, Dream discusses that one of the demons in Hell has his Helm, a gas-mask looking helmet that the demon Choronzon is currently in possession of, and offers to give it back to him if he accepts a challenge. Not strong enough to fight yet, Dream accepts a different kind of challenge, the traditional game of metamorphoses. Dream defeats the demon by taking the form of Hope, which cannot be killed, in the game, but as Dream leaves Hell, Lucifer promises to his hosts that one day, he will destroy Dream.  Lastly, the ruby is in the possession of John Dee, a.k.a. [[Doctor Destiny]], a [[supervillain]] from the ''[[Justice League|Justice League of America]]'' series. Dee escapes from Arkham Asylum before going to a diner, where he disorts reality for those inside, using them as toys until they all ultimately murder each other or commit suicide. Dream arrives and attempts to take the ruby, only to lose consciousness as the last of his strength is consumed upon touching the ruby. Dee has warped and corrupted the ruby, using it to commit acts of violence and depravity. When Dream regains consciousness, he is still very weak when attacked by Dee. The fight nearly tears apart Dream - Morpheus puts up a brave fight but is losing. However, thinking that it will kill Dream, Dee shatters the ruby, inadvertently releasing the power that Dream had stored in the ruby.  Restored to his full power, Dream towers over Dee and ponders his fate while coming to the realization that his sigils of office did nothing but consume his power.  Considering Dee at least partially responsible for his triumph, Dream shows mercy and merely returns Dee to Arkham Asylum.
 The collection ends with "The Sound of Her Wings", an epilogue to the first story-arc. This issue introduces a character who has become one of the series' most popular and prominent personalities: Dream's older sister [[Death (DC Comics)|Death]]. She is depicted as an attractive, down-to-earth young [[Goth subculture|goth]] girl, very unlike the traditional [[Death (personification)|personification of death]], and spends the issue talking Dream out of his brief depression.