Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN on Netflix (TBD) 7 7

[TeddieMercede]

Enjoy the show a lot, didn't think they could adapt Sandman as well as they have. With that said I wonder how much it will appeal to people not familiar with the original books, my guess is that it will not to a large degree especially with the slower pacing in the earlier eps. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by TeddieMercede

[Bird]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:54 PM, Lpgk said:

True it's not a straight adaptation, but many of the key scenes, the dialogue is lifted right from the comics. I guess they feel they couldn't improve on perfection. 

(my post was a line delirium says to destiny..."there are things not written in your book, you would do well to remember that" or some such)

[Microchip]

On 8/8/2022 at 10:54 AM, Lpgk said:

True it's not a straight adaptation, but many of the key scenes, the dialogue is lifted right from the comics. I guess they feel they couldn't improve on perfection. 

There was a lot of material Neil wrote for the comic's, not included in the comics.   He gave that material to the team putting the show together.

[Jayman]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:18 PM, Gregd said:

On 8/6/2022 at 11:22 PM, jsilverjanet said:

I love episode 6

My favorite episode 

Nearly cheered when I heard “Death is a Mugs game!”

[Lpgk]

On 8/7/2022 at 6:19 PM, Bird said:

(my post was a line delirium says to destiny..."there are things not written in your book, you would do well to remember that" or some such)

My bad, i thought you were just being flippant. LOL

[Transplant]

Let me join the chorus.  I'm through Ep7.  I do think Ep1-2 are a little of a slow burn, even for a diehard like myself, but still fantastic. Ep6 is just beautiful in so many ways.  

For those through Ep3:

Spoiler

It is confusing at first whether Johanna is a gender swap or the Johanna Morpheus meets hundreds of years ago.  This is especially true as they intersperse allusions to Astra's story as part of Johanna's history.  Then, the character who actually summoned the demon is called John by Johanna.  Maybe just nods to fans, but I'm a little slow sometimes.  Clearly, Johanna has the pouch and the effects on Rachel are the same as the book.  I know Gaiman weighed in on it, and with the other stuff, it's clear she's a different person.  I have zero problems with that, although I do like Matt Ryan's TV series take on Hellblazer.  

As I said, Ep6 is amazing, truly.  I fanboy'ed out the hardest for that one.  Knowing that show hasn't even been greenlit for a S2, I am really mixed about burning through the next few episodes.  Knowing Netflix' economically motivated propensity to kill shows after a S2 anyway, I am nervous about any longterm prospects anyway.  BUT, it is THE #1 show in like 90 Netflix worldwide markets.  And I can't be happier about it. 

[Axelrod]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:46 PM, TeddieMercede said:

Enjoy the show a lot, didn't think they could adapt Sandman as well as they have. With that said I wonder how much it will appeal to people not familiar with the original books, my guess is that it will not to a large degree especially with the slower pacing in the earlier eps. 

I agree in the sense that, if one wasn't familiar with the source material, one might have a very, very different experience of the show.  It's super hard for me to judge.

As someone who knows it (or, at least, this part of it, I haven't read it all) it seems a tremendous adaptation.  I can imagine someone who didn't know it being bored/confused at times.  In the battle between "service the fans" and "service the general audience," this show might be tilted towards the fans.

[Bosco685]

Quote

In an interview with Variety, Gaiman was asked about potential spinoffs for The Sandman. The two characters Gaiman immediately mentioned was Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman). Gaiman did not confirm any spinoffs were in development but did say they could use the Death comics as a basis and would love to see Johanna battling various demons. Gaiman said:

 

"We also have the 'Death' books. It might be great to go off and do one of those as a sideline, in addition to which, anybody who has seen 'Sandman' Episode 3 has sidled over to us at some point or other in the last six months and said, 'Do you think there’s any possibility that we could do a Johanna Constantine show with Jenna Coleman?' And, oh my God, she’s a star and you just want to see her going through battling demons and destroying other people’s lives. So that’s in there, too. We can keep going on this for a long time to come."

 

[mcduckz]

As with most here, I've thoroughly enjoyed the series.  There have been a few changes made to the details but none that I think change the underlying narrative.  Clearly some changes had to be made to fit things to tv streaming format and to avoid overlap with the wider DC universe.  Not sure how they would have handled a Martian Manhunter or other crossovers.

It's a toss up for me whether my favorite episode is 6 or 10.  Episode 6 is so cathartic and well played after experiencing Episode 5 and Hob Gadling is one of my favorite characters from the comic books.  But, I expected Ep6 to be good.  It did not let down.  Episode 10, I was not expecting to be so good.  The end parts with Fiddler's Green, Rose, and Unity truly made me a bit teary eyed.  

I cannot wait to see Season of Mists, A Game of You, and The Kindly Ones make it to the screen now.  Hopefully, Netflix will do the smart thing and renew for a few more seasons.  If the train wreck American Gods became could muster 3 seasons, surely something done well like this can make it the distance of the entire original comic book run. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Jayman]

Would love to see how they would handle a story like “A Dream of Thousand Cats”, or if they would even try…

Edited August 8, 2022 by Jayman

[kimik]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:01 PM, Axelrod said:

On 8/7/2022 at 7:46 PM, TeddieMercede said:

Enjoy the show a lot, didn't think they could adapt Sandman as well as they have. With that said I wonder how much it will appeal to people not familiar with the original books, my guess is that it will not to a large degree especially with the slower pacing in the earlier eps. 

I agree in the sense that, if one wasn't familiar with the source material, one might have a very, very different experience of the show.  It's super hard for me to judge.

As someone who knows it (or, at least, this part of it, I haven't read it all) it seems a tremendous adaptation.  I can imagine someone who didn't know it being bored/confused at times.  In the battle between "service the fans" and "service the general audience," this show might be tilted towards the fans.

As a fan, I say screw the general audience. They can go out and buy the trades to fill in the blanks. 

And give me 5-7 more seasons of this. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by kimik

[Bosco685]

Quote

The Sandman star John Cameron Mitchell once considered pursuing another popular Vertigo Comics series, The Invisibles, and would still like to write a series adapting the comic. Mitchell plays Hal, the drag queen who owns the house where Rose Walker stays in the first season of Netflix's The Sandman. The show is hardly Mitchell's first brush with Neil Gaiman's work, having directed the 2018 film How to Talk to Girls at Parties, based on one of Gaiman's short stories. But it turns out Mitchell's love of comics isn't exclusive to Gaiman's work on The Sandman.

 

ComicBook.com spoke to Mitchell ahead of the series premiere and he shared his appreciation for the work of Gaiman and his peers, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.

 

"It's interesting because the major adult comic series, the seminal ones, were [The Sandman], Watchmen, and The Invisibles," Mitchell says. "They came out mostly in the '90s, little of 2000s sometimes, or late '80s, and they revolutionized comics, and they, of course, spawned a thousand other titles who were inspired by them. Neil went on to become his own Joseph Campbell in a way. He took all of these myths and made narratives out of all of them. He didn't come from, let's say, from a George Martin point of view where sometimes it feels like the hardware is more important than the software, if you know what I mean. Neil was always interested in the myth as it related to someone very human and modern myths, whereas George Martin is a bit more like Beowulf. You don't go into their psyche too hard, right? You just have revenge and you have eeehh, and that's not exactly my thing."

 

[1Cool]

We were about to finish episode 4 last night and the power went out during a big storm.  I don't know who won the back and forth battle but my money is on dream!  I'm hoping we can get up to episode 6 tonight since I hear it's good.  

[Bosco685]

This scene was like something straight out of the comic books

The simplest little nod to the material, and it confirmed they were trying to convey The Endless are something other than human.

[davidpg]

I read the book since it came out.  I still have my 3 copies of number 1, along with the whole run I bought as they hit the stands...I also had counciled many clients at my comic shop back then to pick up copies and read the series.  I watched the first two episodes and wasn't blown away.  It was good, not bad, though I felt it was somewhat plastic.  I fell asleep during the 3rd episode (was a ROUGH weekend ;) ), and will rewatch and continue for sure.  The comments I skimmed through here while avoiding spoilers make me sure I'll enjoy the overall show.  Let's see what happens! 

[jsilverjanet]

On 8/8/2022 at 5:53 PM, Jayman said:

Would love to see how they would handle a story like “A Dream of Thousand Cats”, or if they would even try…

he mentioned before that they wanted to do it

[jsilverjanet]

On 8/8/2022 at 2:19 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

one thing that i found interesting about the show and the reactions is how Death kinda took a back seat to Morpheus on the show in the way audiences are reacting to it

I remember when I was reading the comic, once Death appeared she was a hit, couldn't get enough of her.

[TupennyConan]

I read the run about 10 years ago in a set of trades I purchased on the Boards [& recently sold on the Boards]. One standout feature was the Dave McKean covers. Has the show made any effort to capture those terrific covers in its art direction? 

I'm going to give it a try based on this thread's reactions to it.  

[Bosco685]

On 8/9/2022 at 2:04 PM, TupennyConan said:

I read the run about 10 years ago in a set of trades I purchased on the Boards [& recently sold on the Boards]. One standout feature was the Dave McKean covers. Has the show made any effort to capture those terrific covers in its art direction? 

I'm going to give it a try based on this thread's reactions to it.  

I had posted something about this a few weeks back. But with all the show discussion (a great thing), it got buried.

Even that the show creators accounted for.

[jsilverjanet]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:46 PM, Bosco685 said:

I had posted something about this a few weeks back. But with all the show discussion (a great thing), it got buried.

Even that the show creators accounted for.

my only complaint is some of the music in the show credits seemed off