The Sandman

An epic, surreal, slightly macabre, beautiful and thought-provoking series

by Neil Gaiman (and assorted artists)

Rating: Adult

Genre / themes: gods, mythology, alternate reality, psychology,

Art level: Variable. Distinctive characters, but a lot of people don't like the art. Very dark tones for most books, even though they are usually in colour.

Star Rating: 4.5/5


Number of Books: Was released in single comics, then twelve collected graphic novels. Four huge ultimate editions available, and a smaller Death one.

Other notes: Neil Gaiman is one of the Gods of writing :D

My Review
Gaiman's Sandman series was a long-running comic which opens up a clever, dark, often satirical world that is full of short stories of sad or ordinary or miraculous people, and is connected by the great deeds and brief appearances of the Endless - Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Destruction, Destiny and Delirium.

 Sometimes the stories are tragic, or horrible, they focus on people's lives as they live and die, write books, touch magic, have sex, retreat from society. Sometimes the stories are utterly mundane, sometimes the characters save the world. Sometimes they're metaphorical - the famous writer who keeps a muse trapped in the attic, the woman who suffers a debilitating disease and retreats from society (but is actually turned into metamorphic warrior by the sungod Ra).

...and I just found this awfully fun dissertation on DeviantART looking at The Kindly Ones in the Sandman books.

The Sandman series is HUGE - the complete comics collection was recently released as the Absolute Sandman books - four enormous volumes bigger than my cat, and another for Death's miniseries. But it's also available in twelve 'normal' sized graphic novels, and a 'collected dustcovers' book. It was originally published - for years - in single comics, which can still be found on eBay.

The Absolute Sandman editions

Order the Sandman books from The Book Depository and get FREE shipping!

The Absolute Death volume is high quality and focuses only on Death herself - but it's also pretty short. It's only worth it if you can afford it, as there isn't enough exclusive content to make it worth buying for that alone. That said, the format is very nice, so if you can afford it, it's better quality than other options.

(Also, the price has dropped a lot on Amazon - it started out at $100!)

Lady Snowblood

The manga that inspired the films of Kill Bill

Written by Kazuo Koike

Lady Snowblood Volume 1 (v. 1)

Rating: Very definitely adult. Violence and sex.

Genre / themes: Vengeance, historical Japan, assassin.

Art level: Manga, high quality, scenes and flow seem cinematically scripted by the author. Black and white.

Star Rating: 4.5/5

Number of Books: Four. Completed.

Other notes: Inspired a (not so good) film of the same name, which
led to Kill Bill. Kazuo Koike also wrote Lone Wolf and Cub.


Lady Snowblood: Amazon Blurb
From the pen of Kazuo Koike, of Lone Wolf and Cub fame, comes Lady Snowblood, the manga that eventually would become an inspiration for director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill blockbuster films. A story of pure vengeance, Lady Snowblood tells the tale of a daughter born of a singular purpose, to avenge the death of her family at the hands of a gang of thugs, a purpose woven into her soul from the time of her gestation. Beautifully drafted and full of bloody, sexy action, Lady Snowblood lives up to its title and reputation.

My Review
Lady Snowblood is the only manga I ever truly loved (although I also recommend Doll),  and fits neatly into four volumes. The story of an assassin for hire, hunting down the people who destroyed her mother's life, Lady Snowblood is the story Kill Bill was (tentatively) based on, very evident in the design of the covers. Lady Snowblood was also the name of an earlier film adaptation.

A brilliantly drawn black-and-white manga full of blood and nudity, Lady Snowblood has both plot and character development, and I thoroughly approve of the artwork. it is not for younger readers nor for the faint of heart. Her trade is, after all, assassination, and being an attractive young woman, she often uses nudity as a distraction.

The stories skip along, mostly detailing each job - destroying a yakuza gangs that a museum can be built, exposing a blackmailing pornographic photographer, assassinations, lovers, traveling around. It actually takes some rereading to realise how subtly the stories are often connected, and which are simple 'jobs' and which are actually the pursuit of her vengeance. It is both well written and historically accurate - set in the 1890s of Japan, and the growth of Yuki ('Snow') as a person adds an extra layer of depth to the story.

The black and white style is simplistic and effective, and very graceful - in most cases, it helps reduces the impact of the violence, as the blood is not red, and the flesh is plain white.

The third book, Retribution, is a bit cruder than the rest (in case you prefer to avoid more explicit stories) and less serious - she hunts down a famous (and famously eccentric) writer and persuades him to publish her story in order to flush out her remaining targets - but the art is beautiful still. Or, as an Amazon reviewer puts it "Compensation for their dumbing down a fairly smart series comes in Kamimura's artwork, more cinematic than ever, full of marvelous viewing angles, perspectival effects, and purely visual storytelling; Koike presumably scripted these wordless aspects, too. So, hats off again, gentlemen."

If you think this is up your street, I thoroughly recommend it.

The four books of the Lady Snowblood manga

The Fascinating Madame Tussaud

The Fascinating Madame Tussaud:
Expresso Collection by Rene Follet

A historical and biographical graphic novel of a real life person by Rene Follet

Rating: Young adult-adult

Genre / themes: History, French Revolution, Madame Tussaud

Art level: Very good - beautiful art by Rene Follet

Star Rating: 4/5

Number of Books: One

Other notes: The best parts are the art and the history lesson. The storytelling itself is less impressive (limited by translation and possibly by the facts)


Amazon Blurb
Paris, 1793. Marie Crossholz manages the wax museum set up by her father. In exchange for bribes, some executioners allow her to mould the faces of guillotined aristocrats. . . After the French Revolution, Marie Crossholz becomes Mrs. Tussaud. Disappointed by her marriage, she leaves for London with the ambition to create a wax museum there. New struggles and other tumultuous adventures await her. . . Thirty years later, in 1835, she inaugurates the famous Tussaud Museum of Baker Street in London, which today continues to grow with new celebrities and attracts millions of visitors! Publish Post

My Review
This historical graphic novel tells the story of Madame Tussaud's life; it starts in France where she makes wax likenesses of heads, during the Revolution, after which she flees to England and finally establishes her famous waxworks. The story is interesting, historically, but stays true to the original story (which isn't always the best possible plot!). It was originally written in French and it's possibly that it reads better in its original language. The artwork needs no translation, however - it is incredible - expressive, lovely to look at, and perfectly suited.

The story starts off exciting - the young Madame Tussaud tries to keep together the family business in Paris, making wax heads of executed nobles during the Revolution, but then intrigue rears its head and she is forced to flee to England. Here the story meanders somewhat, as Madame Tussaud travels around in a caravan, and grows older, showing off her wax likenesses. However, chance and fortune gives her the chance to open her own display and establish her famous Wax Museum.

I love this for the art, and that's why I'd buy it, if I get the chance.