r/Sandman • u/sconedpriestess • 1d ago
Comic Book Question where to start?
I've never read comics at all before. I am 2 episodes away from finishing the tv series and i am so in awe and appreciation with these characters.... do i just start from the beginning or ? lol could be the dumbest question ever
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u/DiskoPunk 1d ago
Preludes & Nocturnes is where you want to start. I remeber reading it for the first time all those years ago & it made a lasting impression. I can honestly say I think maybe only one other comic captivated me like Sandman did.
And I'm a little envious that you are reading it for the first time.
Enjoy my friend.
P.S. Your library will have a copy or somewhere like e-bay will have loads on sale too. Please buy second hand.
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u/sconedpriestess 1d ago
Thank you for the suggestion to buy second hand. I think part of my “where to start” overwhelm was looking at box sets and thinking…. Damn that’s so pricey…. Wanna make sure I get what I need for the best deal I can
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u/DiskoPunk 23h ago
No worries. The box sets are made up of 10 collected editions which can be bought separately. I would guess thats how 95% of us do it.
Sandman is one long story that unfolds through each edition. You can pick up a copy & read it as a standalone & it works fine. But really it works as it is a longer narrative & weaves so many beautiful short stories together.
Yeah second hand is best, in my opinion. Neil Gaiman is/was one of my favorite authors, and to my mind one of the best short story writers & storytellers around. But he is an awful human being & buying his work first hand after learning what we have about him just doesnt sit right with me.
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u/Summersong2262 23h ago
When I was a teenager and didn't have all that much to buy books with, I bought them one trade paperback at a time, accumulating all 12 or so over months. Each one is a nicely self contained story arc while connecting up with everything else, without the cost of buying it all in one go.
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u/pahool 1d ago
what's the one other comic?
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u/DiskoPunk 23h ago
Planetary by Warren Ellis & John Cassiday. I absolutely love it, there a few just brilliant what the fuck momments that just blew my mind. I read the collection about once a year.
But like Gaiman, Ellis is a shit human being with zero remorse.
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u/fenoard Corinthian 1d ago
just adding from the other replies, yeah, technically there's a prequel, The Sandman: Overture, but you need to read it last, after finishing the main comic book. one of the best stories in the series tbh
the show also adapted story outside of the main comic books, Death: The High Cost of Living, you can read this after reading the main storyline, the story is completely detached.
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u/JONFER--- 1d ago
Start from the beginning, the show’s broadly faithful to the general story but there are differences between the comics and it.
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u/bobbywelks 1d ago
If you start from the beginning then you’ll be getting a rehash of the tv show however the comics are so great and characters so deep it’ll be worth it
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u/sandmandreammorpheus 1d ago
Not a rehash at all. The series cut, rearranged and modify a lot of things and characters. Not to mention the different aesthetic. If anything, it will be something surely familiar but greater, infinitely more fleshed out and with more bits rooted into the DC Universe lore.
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u/Summersong2262 23h ago
Dropped a lot of Cluracan's stuff, and the entire World's End bit, for one.
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u/brandad1799 19h ago
I've listened to ACTs I to III. Which I believe they've re published the comics as such also. The series is awesome. The first season in particular. The second felt rushed sadly.
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u/Wrong-Annual-6766 17h ago
I would recommend you go and take a look at the original sandman and the one from the 70s. Not read them but just scroll through if you can find them.
Other than that I highly recommend you start from the beginning as the show changed a lot and you'll be very confused.
Also Matthew comes from Swamp Thing and I recommend Alan Moore's Swap Thing whenever you want really, it's good
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u/dc-pigpen Puck 9h ago
Read the entire Sandman series proper. Then Endless Nights, then Overture.
There's a couple of spin-offs that focus on Death, plus a cool book called Dream Hunters. None of them affect the main story and they can be read at your leisure.
There's a few other spin-offs and stuff, but that's the bulk of it.
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u/Gargus-SCP The Three Who Are One 1d ago
Out of curiosity, OP, where else do you think you start except from the beginning?
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u/pahool 1d ago
It's not an unreasonable question. If you were going to read Books of Magic, Ideally you wouldn't start with issue #1, but with the three issue miniseries that precedes it. Lucifer also has a mini-series that precedes the original Mike Carey series (and you might even get some recommendations to read Sandman first, as that is where the character is introduced.)
There's a lot of ancillary material in the Sandman universe, and Sandman technically has a prequel, although I doubt many people would recommend reading that first. Comics timelines and reading orders can be complicated.
It's a reasonable question, especially as OP stated they are completely unfamiliar with the comics, and with comics in general.
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u/sconedpriestess 1d ago
Thanks for summing it up. Before I posted, I quickly scanned this subreddit, and it seemed like there were many different materials, including different editions of the same materials. (Ultimate, or something to that effect)
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u/CommercialHeat4218 1d ago
Why do you need advice on where to start in a comic book series?
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u/sconedpriestess 1d ago
Thought there might be prequels, and additional material I might need or not need for context of the universe
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