So lovely to come back to these comics, including Brief Lives, which is one of my favourite arcs, and Ramadan, which is one of my favourite single issues, and of course it looks totally spectacular at this size.

I really should be rating these by their original volumes instead of by these four monster compilations. Oh well . . .

LOVED "Brief Lives" and "World's End." I want to spend my days looking up all of the myths and fairy tales this series covers, but I suppose that would take a lifetime. It's refreshing to feel so inspired, though. P. Craig Russell's artwork for "Ramadan" is by far some of the best in the series so far. I'll be kind of sad to finish this collection. It's been a wonderful ride.

Another flawless addition to the Sandman universe. I absolutely adored getting to see more about the Endless family in this one:

I love Destruction so much and it pains me that he’s not a more regularly occurring character, but I’m happy we finally learned what was up with him and why he left.

It was also fun (and heartbreaking) to get the Sandman version of the Tale of Orpheus, and to get a resolution to Orpheus’s arc.

Seeing Morpheus and Delirium’s relationship explored and improve was also unexpectedly delightful. All the Endless have such typical sibling relationships despite not being human.

But now I’m left with the burning question of what happened to Despair? If they’re endless, then how was she destroyed and replaced?

Some stories were more memorable than others (I enjoyed the middle part the most this time, the last part was a bit text-heavy). Still a beautiful thing to look at, such clever panelling, the imagination really runs wild.

If nothing else, maybe the story of Baghdad is a must-read.

Maybe not quite as good as volume 2, but still pretty good in its own right. Can't wait for volume 4.

I've had these books for a very long time. I became a fan of Gaiman's through is prose writing at first, and so there was a complex melange of feelings about why I didn't just tear through Sandman right away. Maybe I was worried it wouldn't live up to its reputation. Maybe I was slightly intimidated by the heft of the book itself. Maybe a few other things besides. But I finally did start reading. And then, I put Volume 3 off because I wanted to make it last. I wanted to delay the experiencing of these stories for the first time. Gaiman is one of those rare creators whose stuff just really resonates with me, and this was no different.

See full video review for more thoughts about that magic of connection with books like this: