More than a “beginning” to the main series of The Sandman, it’s like a stand-alone story, that it gives you some insight about The Endless family (that I have no doubt it will make me to perceive in a different way the next time that I’d read the main series) but hardly to be seen as a “beginning” per se. The Sandman: Overture is an accounting of events in the world of the Sandman mythos that led up to this imprisonment. I hate to use the term "prequel," as that term is tainted by a couple of really bad examples of retroactive storytelling wherein the original (which occurs later, chronologically) is demeaned by the "prequel". Two movies should clearly demonstrate this: Phantom Menace, and The Hobbit. But I digress. On an alien world, an aspect of Dream senses that something is very wrong, and dies in flames. In London 1915, while intending to deal with the troublesome nightmare The Corinthian, Morpheus is alerted to the same wrongness and is summoned to an alien world to investigate. This TPB is the Deluxe Edition, in hardcover format, including an extensive “behind-the-scenes” section and a gallery of sketches.

They are called the Endless : Destiny, Death, Destruction, Delirium (who was once Delight), Despair, Desire, Dream. In this volume not much actually happens, but Dream meets several characters who drift in and out of the whole series, including his father and mother, and sisters and brothers Death, Desire, Delirium (formerly, Delight), Destiny, Despair, Destruction. There're Mortals, Dreams/Nightmares, The Endless and other creatures. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is a work of fantasy, with a deep streak of horror running through it, though in this first volume it mostly just looks like fantasy.

I have to mention the artwork. Literary quality aside, writing aside, plot allegories and symbolism aside, this was simply stunning. By its own it is just extraordinary. The covers are so damn cool. I’m amazed at it. I became lost in it. I probably still am.

Sandman: Overture may go down as one of the best-drawn chapters in Sandman’s already legendary run.” —Newsarama On his journey Dream encounters multiple aspects of himself forcing a bout of severe reflection and mediation, here forms the core group of an innocent girl rescued and Dreams feline countenance for an intensely personnel adventure. We meet the majority of the Endless, The Corinthian with his toothed eyes, Merv Pumpkinhead, Lucien and even the temperamental forces of the old dears, bless them.

Can't forget the story, starts slow but grabs you early doors and you can't get out, you don't want it to end. Seriously Overture is that good. Sandman Overture" is a story of a beginning and of an end. Time plays a circular game, like the worm Ourobouros: We come from Nothing and head toward Nothing. We fill the emptiness with dreams and desires, and they in turn shape the world we live in. Sometimes, oftentimes, the dreams become nightmares. "Overture" is the tale of the events that took place before the first album in the original series : "Preludes and Nocturnes". And for one story to start, another story has to end first ... Time must flow ... Darkness must be banished ... The story itself is quite successful at what it sets out to do. It sets the scene for the first volume of Sandman, and it sheds a bit more light on the Endless family. We meet their parents, who are about as sane as you might expect. And the story is appropriately big, with the fate of the universe at stake, and deceptively intimate, as its the sort of story that largely takes place with a very small group on stage at any given time. Naturally, I loved the way Gaiman wrote it, and I don't think Sandman fans will be at all disappointed. The plot gets going properly as we learn that a star has gone mad and is disrupting the balance of the universe. Furthermore, the reasons for this have to do with Morpheus and the decisions that he did and did not make. Once again the theme of duties and responsibilities take center stage. It also sheds much light on Morpheus’ dogged insistence on doing his duty later in the series. Decisions, consequences, and sacrifices - these ideas drive the characters of this big-canvas morality play. At that time, my only dilemma was whether to read it in hardcopy or digital. There are plenty of purists who would insist that comics must be read in physical form as originally intended. But having discovered Comixology, I learned that comics could be enjoyed anytime and anyplace on an iPad or iPhone, whether on lunch break or even while clothing shopping with the family (it saved my sanity many times over), with the ability to focus on each panel separately using Guided View. In the end, convenience won out.

But I have to be honest with you: visually, I preferred volume 11. They are both gorgeous but that one had more chapters I not only loved but actually adored. This, in turn, had more story (the other was just 7 short ones giving us a closer look at the Endless after all). Do you know that feeling you get when you listen to your favourite album or piece of music and you’re just wiped out? You sit there. You think. You imagine. You dream. It’s cathartic. It’s purifying and cleansing; it’s almost liberating. Do you know what I mean? This piece of profoundness; this thing of beautiful art was that and more.

Success!

Morpheus must undertake a pressing journey to save reality and the ending of the tale is where the Sandman series starts. More than that I shall not say since this one is a must read for anyone who appreciates the brilliant talents displayed in this book. There are about four hundred billion cells in the human brain - all it takes is for one to misfire and start a reaction where a cancer forms and kills the human. There are about four hundred billion galaxies in the universe - one star has gone mad and the madness is spreading like cancer. The whole of creation is at stake. It’s up to Morpheus the Dream King to save the universe.