Reviews
he was right, i didnt understand the one about delirium…
Stories about all of the Endless! Some were good, some not so much.
This was excellent. I loved being reunited with Dream, Despair's chapter was intense. Loved.
The Sandman: Endless Nights is a companion novel to the central series, released as part of the 10th anniversary of the Vertigo Imprint. It features seven stories, each one dealing with a different member of the Endless, illustrated by giants in the comics field. The first story deals with Death. On an island by Venice is a pocket of time that she is being denied access to. A mortal helps her break into this space, and the extended lifetimes that the people within had stolen are ended. It's a strange, haunting narrative, quite fitting for Death. It is told mostly from the perspective of the young soldier that finds himself so enthralled by Death. Next up is Desire and one of my favourite stories in the collection. This is a tale about a woman who wanted a man in her village so much that she sought out Desire to help her obtain the man's love. It's about how to manipulate desire, but the emptiness that can occur when you get what you want. It's also stunningly illustrated by Milo Manara. Dream takes the lead in the next story about love and loss. This one takes us back to some of the early days of the universe, to a conference of suns and stars. It's a wonderful introduction to how Dream started down his path of destruction, how Desire likes to muck everything up, and there's a whole heap of DC easter eggs if you know what you are looking for! Despair's story is less of a story and more a series of vignettes. It's powerfully distressing, showcasing the core of Despair frightfully well. I would have liked to learn more about her as a character, but this odd, depressing set of moments was excellent. Following Despair is another experimental comic. This time we've delving into Delirium's world. There is a story to this chapter of the book. Something has caused Delirium to retreat into herself, and Dream and Barnabas find five people who are deep within Delirium's influence to pull her out of herself. It's an odd, colourful, confusing entry that makes perfect sense given we're in Delirium's tattered mind. It's also one of the only stories to occur after the conclusion of the series so readers get to see the new Dream momentarily, and ponder at what is happening to Delirium as she changes. Destruction comes back in the aftermath of Delirium's illness to take care of her. They hang out on an island where archeologists are uncovering artifacts from the future. But nothing around Destruction tends to last very long, even though he has given up his mantle, and the excavation doesn't last long. It's probably one of the weirder stories in the collection. The art is so comic-like compared to the rest, and the narrative doesn't give us a lot of new information about Destruction or the world. But it is still enjoyable! Finally, we end with Destiny. The story is... less a story and more a mediation on his purpose and fate. What really stands out about this one are the illustrations by Frank Quitely. He uses a lot of negative space and the pages are just gorgeous. So that's Endless Nights! I love almost every story, and I think it does a good job of giving readers a glimpse back into a world we all loved. Plus the art is SO MUCH BETTER than the original series. A great addition to The Sandman canon :)
I'm always reading in and around The Sandman universe and it never ceases to bring me joy or fill me with wonder. All of the stories, each focused on one of The Endless siblings, is wonderfully weird - especially the one that deals with Despair. My favourite is Destiny's story even though it's the shortest and not much I didn't know about him is revealed. He's just a cool guy.
