The Sandman Universe series

[Cikomyr2]

So I was at an Indigo bookstore the other day, and I noticed three compilation books for Lucifer stories.

1- the Infernal Comedy
2- the Divine Tragedy
3- the Wild Hunt

I own all the classic sandman books, and a few of the 1989 Lucifer compilation, so I was pleasantly surprised of these new series I never heard about. Summary on the internet say the quality varies, so I don't mind tipping my toes.

However, I also understand that Lucifer is only one of 4 series that were part of the World of Sandman relaunch. And... That's where I just couldn't understand what these series were, what's the order I might read them, etc..

So.. Assuming I already read the original Sandman books. Where should I pick up to try out this new universe? If you had an amazon link so I know what compilation/omnibus to research, it would be even more helpful.


Thanks!! 😁

[Taevyr]

You can generally pick'em up at your local comic book store, or whatever nerdy shop/gaming place happens to be in your town/vicinity. Otherwise, you can always find'em on the internet.

The main four were launched at the same time, without any order they're supposed to be read in. There're some minor crossovers, but if I remember correctly none that require you to have read all four up to a certain point.

Of the relaunch, I'd personally recommend The Dreaming and Lucifer. Lucifer has a bit of a rough start, due to starting in medias res of a situation that you won't fully get until you're 2-3 issues in, but it's an excellent series with good art. Dreaming is brilliant, with utterly beautiful artwork. I'd consider both worthy successors to Lucifer and Sandman, respectively.

The other two are Books of Magic and House of Whispers. The first is a revival of the original series about Timothy hunter, a teenage boy who's destined to become the world's greatest magician, for good or ill; the second is a very sandman-style book focussing on african and african-american mythology and beliefs. They're certainly decent, but I didn't like them quite as much; Hunter was a tad too harry-potter for me, even if I thought it better executed than the potter books themselves; and House of Whispers was good, but not entirely coherent.

In case Vertigo-style Constantine/Hellblazer interests you as well: a fifth Sandman Universe book, John Constantine: Hellblazer, was launched later, as a 12-issue limited which was very well-received, and with good reason in my view. It started off as a "spin-off" from Books of Magic, in a way, but it's hardly noticeable: they just use events from that book to explain/provide an excuse for how Vertigo Constantine ended up in 2020.

Of all these, only The Dreaming has gotten a successor series, which has been rather enjoyable thus far. I've heard rumors that they're considering a successor of the Constantine limited, but that's all they are for now.

Here are the amazon links I've found, though since I don't use amazon myself, dunno if I might've missed something

The Dreaming vol. 1
Lucifer vol. 1
Books of Magic vol. 1
House of Whispers vol. 1
John Constantine: Hellblazer vol. 1

[Eldan]

Well, you had me at Hellblazer. Also adding The Dreaming to my list.

Do I Need to know anything that happend to Constantine in the last, oh, 20 years or so? Because I love the original Hellblazer run, but then Pretty much completely dropped out.

[Taevyr]

Well, you had me at Hellblazer. Also adding The Dreaming to my list.

Do I Need to know anything that happend to Constantine in the last, oh, 20 years or so? Because I love the original Hellblazer run, but then Pretty much completely dropped out.

No, it's more-or-less a successor to the original Vertigo Constantine, with no connection to "standard DC" Constantine-lite. These days, they're practically treated as 2 separate characters.

And aside from it technically being Vertigo Constantine who gets dropped in 2019, it's a fresh slate. There're some characters from the original run that pop up, but it's not quite necessary to know those beforehand. I do feel like I have to mention that there's quite a bit of political commentary in the run, though; Nothing new to Hellblazer, of course, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea. I personally enjoyed it, but taste's a subjective thing.

EDIT: should you need additional motivation to buy it, every copy of the paperbacks that sells increases the chance of it being renewed, which is why I'm always happy to recommend it

[Cikomyr2]

No, it's more-or-less a successor to the original Vertigo Constantine, with no connection to "standard DC" Constantine-lite. These days, they're practically treated as 2 separate characters.

And aside from it technically being Vertigo Constantine who gets dropped in 2019, it's a fresh slate. There're some characters from the original run that pop up, but it's not quite necessary to know those beforehand. I do feel like I have to mention that there's quite a bit of political commentary in the run, though; Nothing new to Hellblazer, of course, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea. I personally enjoyed it, but taste's a subjective thing.

EDIT: should you need additional motivation to buy it, every copy of the paperbacks that sells increases the chance of it being renewed, which is why I'm always happy to recommend it

{Scrubbed}