Sandman: The Dream Hunters - Neil Gaiman, Yoshitaka Amano
Dream Hunters was actually written for the 10th anniversary of the Sandman strip, after the series was over and done. It's based on an old Japanese folk tale, which Gaiman said had striking similarities to his own Sandman universe; in fact, I was surprised to learn that several of the events and characters (including the King of All Night's Dreaming) were in the original tale and weren't created by Gaiman himself. Amano's drawings and paintings are wonderful. Since he doesn't do comic books, this story is written in prose, with Amano's illustrations accompanying the text. There are full-color paintings as well as drawings that are much sketchier. The tale is of a fox, a monk, and a man of great power; and of fear, death, and sacrifice. Not one that you'd probably want to read to your children as a bedtime story, but a wonderful book for adult readers.
Fed to jonathan's brain | February 23, 2003
