The Sandman: Dream Hunters

Author:  Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: P. Craig Russell

Title: The Sandman: Dream Hunters

Publication: October 5, 2010

Publisher: Vertigo

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy

Pages: 144

Audience: 15 and up

Rating: 5 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover):The world was different in old Japan. In those days, creatures of myth and legend walked upon the earth, swam in the sea, flew through the air. Some were wild and some, at great cost, could be tamed. So it was that a wily fox made a wager to dislodge a humble young monk from his home--and lost her heart in the betting. So it was also that a master of the demons of this world set his own eyes on the monk, seeking to seize the pious man's inner strength for his own. And so it was, the King of All Night's Dreaming would find himself intervening on behalf of a love that was never meant to be.

My thoughts:

If you decide to read any comic for the heck of it- I suggest this one. The story is so beautiful. This graphic novel is just a side story of The Sandman. It is not crucial to the story line or anything and can be read at any time- before, during, or after The Sandman. I read the introductions and afterwords pretty much for any book I read. I believe the author put them there for a reason and so I take time to read them. Most of the time they give me an insight to the frame of mind I need to be in read or a back story, but 9 out of 10 times I read them. The introduction to this graphic novel let's the reader know that this is not the original illustrations for the graphic novel when it was originally released. This copy is a re-released for an anniversary of The Sandman that is illustrated by P. Craig Russell who really wanted to illustrate the story. The original graphic novel was illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. I really really enjoyed this story. In the introduction Neil Gaiman talks about the original one and how he has made up sources that he used for the story. However, people were trying to use the fake sources to find the actual folklore. He apologizes for creating fake sources and for creating such a believable, but false Japanese folklore tale. Dream is not in it much, but he plays a pivotal role in the story. The love story is like a Romeo and Juliet, but in a Japanese setting and is a story about a monk and a fox. It sounds a little weird, but read it and trust me it makes sense. I stayed up really late to finish this graphic novel because I could not put it down, and it needed to be returned the library.