The Sandman: Overture Deluxe Edition HC Review

By Jesse Schedeen

When Morpheus made his original appearance in the very first issue of Sandman, writer Neil Gaiman alluded to some fantastical conflict that left the Lord of Dreams weakened and vulnerable. The series never shed light on what that conflict entailed, only that it left him unable to prevent himself from being imprisoned for the better part of a century. With The Sandman: Overture, Gaiman elected to finally peel back the curtain and explore the events leading up to the original series. But far more than being a mere prequel, Overture establishes itself as some of Gaiman’s finest work with this seminal fantasy saga.

The trouble with prequels is that they often serve little purpose beyond filling in the blanks and taking characters from Point A to Point B. This is by no means the case with Overture. This series is by far the most ambitious of Gaiman’s various Sandman continuations. Rather than the short vignettes of Endless Nights or the quiet, mournful tale of unlikely lovers in The Dream Hunters, Overture spans the multiverse and pits Morpheus against a challenge as massive and all-encompassing as anything seen in the original series.

Scope is all fine and well, but it doesn’t matter if the story has no heart or emotion to it. Luckily, Overture has those elements in spades. One of the more interesting elements of the series is that Morpheus is confronted with numerous alternate incarnations of himself pulled from every corner of reality. This forces the stoic character into a bout of self-reflection and examination as, for quite possibly the first time in his immeasurable lifespan, he’s forced to acknowledge how others see him. The small group that forms the core of the story – Morpheus, a feline aspect of Dream, and an innocent girl – help offset the massive scope by making the conflict seem personal and immediate. Through it all, Gaiman’s impeccable dialogue and narration give the story the feeling of being a lost fairy tale. He doesn’t miss a beat from the old days.

Along the way, Gaiman draws in many familiar faces from the original series. Most of the other Endless appear in one form or another, along with characters like The Corinthian, Merv Pumpkinhead, Lucien and a handful of others Morpheus encountered over the course of his journeys. While it’s nice simply to touch base with these characters again after so long, these revisited elements aren’t merely used as fan service. Overture winds up complementing and even enhancing the original series in significant ways by the end. Enough so that, despite this being a prequel in terms of chronology, Overture is really best read as an epilogue to the rest of Gaiman’s Sandman work. If you’re looking to dive into the franchise for the first time, you’re better off reading the main series in one of its many collected forms.

Gaiman’s writing is comfortably familiar and refined. Overture’s biggest departure from the norm is in featuring JH Williams III on art. Given Williams’ relentless desire to push the boundaries of his art and toy with different styles, it’s tough to imagine an artist better suited to Sandman. Short of classic Sandman cover artist Dave McKean, no one is so adept at channeling the vibe of Gaiman’s writing and creating a dreamlike feel for a story about a being empowered by dreams.

The sheer variety in Williams’ approach to the page never ceases to amaze. Some pages are like lush, intricately detailed collages. Others take a more sparing approach, relying as much on negative space as anything else to convey the story. Williams’ character designs also impress, particularly early on when Morpheus is confronted with his many alternate selves. Each aspect of Dream is rendered as a unique character. Every element, from the costume design to the line weight to the use of color and font (kudos to colorist Dave Stewart and  letterer Todd Klein as well) conveys the idea that each character hails from a fundamentally different level of the multiverse. Williams and his artistic partners show a imagination and a storytelling range that perfectly meshes with Gaiman’s own voice.

Obviously, Overture is a book any self-respecting Sandman fan needs to read. The question is whether this Deluxe Edition hardcover is the ideal way to consume the story. Until DC chooses to reprint this mini-series in their Absolute Edition format (and given how comprehensive they’ve been with the Absolute Sandman volumes in the past, it really is just a question of when), this hardcover will do the trick. Regardless of format, there’s something to be said for simply having all six issues collected in one place. As a mini-series, Overture suffered from the sporadic release schedule. While the original plan was for the series to be released bimonthly over the course of a year, it wound up taking two years to wrap up. This is a story that ultimately reads better as a single piece rather than a serialized tale. That’s especially true since the first issue offers a fairly slow start that doesn’t quite make the scope and direction of the conflict clear.

In general, I don’t know that DC’s “Deluxe Edition” format quite lives up to the name. Between the glued binding and the paper stock that isn’t quite thick enough, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to physical quality. But there’s no denying that the series looks better in the format than it did as a monthly comic. The larger page trim allows Williams’ art to shine that much more. The digital comic may have the edge when it comes to showcasing Stewart’s colors in all their pristine glory, but there’s no substitute for seeing William’s intricately rendered art on an even bigger canvas.

This hardcover includes quite a respectable slate of supplemental features. That, combined with the better presentation quality, should be more than enough to entice readers who already own the individual issues. Several dozen pages are devoted to exploring the development process. Williams, Stewart and Klein all give interviews where they offer insight into their creative process and the choices that were made in bringing Gaiman’s scripts to life. This material is very interesting and educational, and it offers glimpses of how the artwork evolved from its rough early stages to final printed form. The book also includes the requisite cover gallery and various sketches and concept designs from Williams. The only real disappointment is that Gaiman’s own contribution is fairly minimal. He provides a foreword and a couple brief interviews, but nothing anywhere near as in-depth as what the artists offer. There aren’t even any script excerpts. While DC initially indicated the book would include that sort of material, the closest it actually offers is a series of short notes Gaiman wrote to the creative team alongside each script. The lack of Gaiman-focused material is a little disappointing, but it’s probably best to save some back-matter for the next fancy re-release.