The Sandman: Overture #2 (Vertigo)

writer: Neil Gaiman
artist: J.H. Williams III

via Nothing But Comics

I came very late to Neil Gaiman's Sandman, but I became as much a fan as anyone has.  That being said, and also that I'm very happy that they've once again come together, I'm not sure what I think of Overture after two issues.  The above image is part of my dilemma.  

Gaiman so far has been setting the stage, and that's about it.  This is not one of those complaints that has anything to do with delays.  I'm not so starved for entertainment that I must hang all of my attention on a single story.  That being said, I'm pretty sure the schedule was always more elongated than usual.  Now it seems it's a little longer still.  Whatever.

No, this is more a matter of how much time Gaiman is spending talking about Dream rather than tossing him into another story.  My limited experience of Sandman to date is that it's less to do with the central character and more his tangential role in a whole tapestry of stories.  With Overture, Gaiman seems to have reversed that.  I get the sense that the whole reason he's even working on this project is because like a lot of writers at later stages in their careers (although considering Gaiman is only 53, this is kind of ridiculous to be saying, I know) and years removed from their most famous projects, they either try to distance themselves from said project or try and do whatever they can to remind everyone of what made them so special to begin with.

So on that score it makes sense for Overture to be more about Dream than feature him.  This is a chance to revisit the character and everything else around him, to celebrate, and so that's a little of what's going on here.  This second issue doesn't do a ton more than the first one.  The multiple versions of Dream do a lot of talking with each other.  In theory this is right up my alley.  I like cerebral material, people talking about things rather merely doing things.  But as far as my expectations go, I kind of what, I guess (and I just realized what I was thinking as I was writing this sentence, and how it suddenly sounds kind of stupid) what Gaiman has done before.

And I guess, that's an important thing to realize.  Maybe Overture is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.  I'm still a neophyte as a fan.  I'm not lost, really, but maybe because I still haven't actually read the whole of the original material, I wanted something that evoked it more than I should have.  I was probably being a little ridiculous.  

Ha.

So I guess I'll relax a little.  The next issue is scheduled for release at the end of next month.  Sometimes it bears reminding in a monthly format that it's not always as easy as it can seem to appreciate what a finite story is accomplishing from issue to issue.

In the meantime, have another look at that art!  All praise to J.H. Williams III!