The Sandman: Volume V (1993)

A Game of You (1993)

Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrators: Shawn McManus / Colleen Doran / Bryan Talbot | Page Count: 189 

"We will all die, and the land will die, and the world will die, and the Cuckoo will reign in bleak dominion over all."

Volume V of X in the Sandman saga. For the folks that feel Gaiman too often sacrificed character development so that he could focus on fantastical and whimsical situations, this one is for you; it'll prove that he once did characterisation as well as the best of them in comics.

It picks up the story of someone last seen in Volume II: The Doll's House (1991) and treats readers to the details of how her life has changed since then. Lives may begin and end in Sandman, but the stories go on.

All the characters are beautifully crafted; each has a perfect part to play in the tale within a tale - and out of it, becoming a critique of the genre as a whole.

It's a fairy story that both utilises and cleverly parodies the whimsical aspect of fairy stories: the childish locales, the unrealistic aspirations of its protagonists, the mythical creatures, and the seemingly impossible journey that the hero undertakes, etc. It's Wonderland; it's Narnia; it's Middle Earth; it's Oz; and it's the part of every one of us that hides the things we hope and fear.

It also jocundly makes use of, and exposes the absurdity of, the deus ex machina that the comics medium uses much too often. It's flat-out magnificent. And it introduces a new character who'll return much later and bring great change to the Dream King.

The book collects together Sandman issues 32 - 37.