New Sandman Book and Signing

Neil Gaiman writes "It occurred to me that the /. folk might be interested in the new Sandman book that's coming out - the first new Sandman work in about 4 years. It's an 136 page hardback -- and it celebrates The Sandman 10th anniversary. The art's by Yoshitaka Amano, and the story, set in ancient Japan, tells of a fox spirit and a monk, and their encounter with the King of All Night's Dreaming. (It's illustrated prose, not a comic.) We'll be doing a signing for the book next Friday, the 29th of October, at the Virgin Megastore Union Square, New York. It starts at 7:00pm, but get there early. We'll also do a signing November 20th at DreamHaven books in Minneapolis - and they will also be taking phone or internet orders for signed copies. It's $29.95 ($20.97 through Amazon). " I've got my order in. And I'd just like to state for the record that Good Omens is one of the funniest books ever written.

my wife and I met because of Sandman

It was the summer of 1993, and she and I and her friend Jenne were all subscribed to this Sandman fanzine called "Dream Lovers", published by this guy who called himself "Fluffy". Jenne and I became pen-pals, and one week she invited me both and my future wife Janet to stay with her for a week in Onenonta, NY, halfway between where I lived (Rochester) and where Janet lived (Long Island).

Janet and I fell in love that week, and two years later were married. It's been four wonderful years.

Anyway, thanks Neil, for writing such a great comic book, and for playing your part in the chance or fated sequence of events that led to my marriage. I look forward to reading your new book.

Are there any other former "Dream Lovers" subscribers out reading Slashdot?
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Mononoke Hime!

If you like what you see in "The Dream Hunters", then I recommend you checkout "Princess Mononoke"("Mononoke Hime") coming out this fall. Neil Gaiman wrote the English screenplay and did an excellent job of helping bring alive the English version of the film.

It is also interesting to note that Good Omens [imdb.com] is listed in Gaiman's writer filmography. It maybe nothing, but wouldn't it be neat if "Good Omens" was made into a movie? :-)

On anohter Neal Gaiman note

This completely unrelated to his book, but another recently related Gaimon project is he english dub of the Japanese animated file Princess Mononoke. It features the voices of Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Billy Bob Thorton and others. I was lucky enough to see a screening (with Gaiman in atendance no less) and the film was wonderful. Definitely worth checking out if you have the chance.

If you find that you like the art in this ...

Check out http://www.amanosworld.com/
Someone else mentioned Yoshitaka Amano, the artist working with Gaiman, but I thought I'd mention the URL. The site has some examples of his art, and an online store where you can buy a book that I'm impatiently waiting right now. Once I get a copy of the new Gaiman, the two books can sit next to each other on my shelf in all their shiny Amano glory. Woo.
Slightly off-topic I know, but whatever.

Awright...

I've read a lot of Gaiman's stuff -- Good Omens, Neverwhere, etc. His short stories are usually really good (the one about the cat fighting the devil each night was converted into the best campfire story in my mental collection).

But nothing touches Sandman and his other work with graphic novels. Rich storytelling, terrific dialog, great characters, etc. "A Dolls House" and "48 Hours" rank among the most-rereadable works in my library, followed up closely by Books of Magic (the first series -- the ones Neil wrote, not the later issues which just got a bit odd).

So: What was your favorite Sandman issue?

"An Epilogue: Sunday Morning", the one which takes place just after the Wake in which Hob Gadling, who was always one of my favorite characters, deals with the death of Morpheus. Of all the loose ends, I was glad he was the one that got some special attention.

(note: Ramadan was a close second due to the amazing story and art, but you can only have one favorite)

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