The Sandman: Volume X (1996)

The Wake (1996)

Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrators: Michael Zulli / Charles Vess / Bryan Talbot / John Ridgway | Page Count: 185

"Even in this half-assed medieval Milton Keynes there's got to be somewhere a man can get a pint of beer."

Volume X of X in the Sandman saga is a quiet, reflective piece wherein Gaiman says goodbye to the enduring characters that he created and the stories that he felt fit to tell; it's a bitter-sweet reading experience.

Like I said previously, I feel that Volume IX: The Kindly Ones (1996) is the true end to the series, and The Wake is merely an epilogue. However, it's notable for giving us the second thing that a man in a tavern promised the Dream King twenty years previous; the first was way back in Volume III: Dream Country (1991). Yes, that guy; and the gift given is perfect in every way.

The book is split into two distinct parts: a three issue farewell that wraps up the Endless story, and three stand-alone works that serve to tie up loose ends of some of the more long-lived secondary characters. The sense of loss and of inevitable new beginnings permeates every aspect of the work.

It also manages to be a celebration of the long tradition of spoken word storytelling and of the comic book format. As such, it seems less immediate than what came before.

Reading it can be comparable to wanting to stay home when you know you have someplace important to go; you go because you know you must, but part of you remains in the safe home environment - a part of you that you can't define but can invariably feel.

That might sound like I'm talking out of my ass (you should hear me whistle), but if you've walked with Morpheus, and love the art of storytelling, you'll maybe understand what I mean. Oh, and folks who didn't already love Matthew may feel obliged to change their opinion.

The book collects together Sandman issues 70 – 75.