Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

The Sandman Overture #3The Sandman: Overture #3
Vertigo Comics (DC)
Gaiman & Williams III

This comic book is an experience. Equal parts eloquently written and beautifully drawn, the comic book shines on every single front. The only pieces that might not fit is that the gaps between issues may require some extra brain power to recall the prior two issues and I’m not sure a completely new reader can simply jump into this book. Sure, they can appreciate the words, construction and the pretty pages but will they catch the deeper story? Whatever your tastes, I can’t imagine too many comic book readers, of any background, not finding something special in this book. I urge everyone to pick this up.

The artwork is the component of this comic that hits the reader first. The page layouts require thought to navigate through and tell their style of story. For example, the use of the triangle shape on a couple of the pages seems like such a small detail but seem to provide such an experience unto their own. The pencils are so heavily detailed that you can see cracks on the faces of characters and find tiny gems tossed into each panel. The coloring of the book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The color range is so wide that the comic almost has a photo realism to it that just doesn’t seem possible. Even the black space has shades of black that are mind blowing. On every level of visual presentation, this comic is at the top of its craft.

As for the story, everyone knows that Gaiman is a poet and his comics are constructed in a way makes you think about nearly each sentence. However, the content within this issue is extremely vast. We get an amazing story about Dream’s past and a lover of his that brings in a quite a bit of unexpected history from previous Sandman works. We also get introduced to several new characters that all seem to bring something different to the table and round out the book to be more than just about Dream and his motivation.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe comic doesn’t appear to have much movement towards the pending war and the mad star but it is easy to miss nuggets within an issue as dense as this. The issue seems to be more about character definition than plot, which makes the comic book have more feeling as you read along.

The only minor criticism with the content is I was not a fan of the mentioning of Green Lantern in the book. I recognize that Sandman does occur within the DC Universe but their mention took me immediately out of the moment and it was unnecessary in my opinion. I am not looking forward to seeing any Green Lantern in this comic book at all.

Sandman is a wonderful read. It’s the kind of comic that you gaze at the artwork from front to back and then go back and read the contents and get a full read both ways. The book represents what’s best about the comic book medium. Classic stuff.

5 out of 5 Geek Goggles