Whether you’re looking to snazz up your collection or perhaps purchase it for the first time, DC has just announced a slipcase edition of all ten volumes of Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN. Moreover, it’s great to know that Gaiman himself is excited about this release, posting to his tumblr:

I’m thrilled. You have no idea how long I’ve been asking DC to do one of these. (Er, about 16 years.)

If you’re eager to get your hands on this, Amazon has it available for pre-order for $179.

27 COMMENTS

  1. I’m reminded of Mark Evanier’s comment years ago to the effect that the entire home-entertainment technology industry seemed devoted to the task of making him buy a new copy of GOLDFINGER every 3 years.

    I note that I bought the first 4 volumes of ABSOLUTE SANDMAN for only $250, new, several years ago. So this doesn’t seem like a particularly impressive repackaging–and it doesn’t even include the ENDLESS NIGHTS, DREAM HUNTERS, and other material that formed volume 5 of the ABSOLUTE series.

  2. I want this. But in hardcover.

    Preferably slightly-oversized hardcover. I have the Absolutes, which are lovely, but lovely as they are, books that need Bible stands are not my first choice for casual reading.

    Still, this is a nice-looking set, even if it’s not actually aimed at me or Kevin.

  3. This cow has been milked so much that its udder looks like Plastic Man’s over-used stretch socks.

  4. Actually, for famous works like this I really applaud the decision to try something new with re-issues.

    Sandman was, and is, huge. Let’s face it, it will likely still be in print decades from now. So if they are going to have to re-print it every few years anyways, I think it is great that they try new formats. Hard covers one time and slipcases the next. Sometimes packed with extras and sometimes basic editions.

  5. I was expecting hardcovers. If you are a casual reader, the individual trades are already out. There is no middle ground between the trades and the expensive and unwieldly
    Absolutes. A missed opportunity.

  6. I bought the original slipcases back during Sandman month. One with the graphic novels, one empty for the monthly issues.

    I own the five Absolutes, the original trades and hardcovers (starting with Seasons of Mist). I’m not buying anymore reprintings, except for the annotations (and the three Showcase volumes yet to come). And there’s no rush for those, since I read most of that online years ago. (I still have the striped line printer printouts from before the World Wide Web.)

    It’s nice, and makes a great gift.

    Here’s hoping DC will do the same with the other Vertigo backlist. Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Transmetropolitan, Preacher, Swamp Thing, DMZ…

    They could even do gift sets for the DCU. Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Best of Batman, No Man’s Land, Knightfall, The Death and Return of Superman (including ALL of the pages, unlike the abridged hardcover omnibus of a few years ago). They could even do new sets, like collecting all of the DC One Million stories along with the main storyline.

  7. As a longtime reader of the title, I share the frustration of some here. I bought every issue from 14 on as they came out. I also bought every TPB, which I sold to help finance the Absolutes. I haven’t yet picked up the first Annotated, which I think could be quite useful for research, and fun to read in its own right.
    But seeing this great material repackaged yet again is a little frustrating to me.
    I have to remind myself of a couple things.
    First, nobody made me buy any of it.
    Second, there are still people discovering it, as I’m reminded when I assign certain chapters in Comic History class. So this has its uses.
    Just because it’s not for me this time around doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist. I do agree with Kevin that it should have a volume incorporating the Absolute Vol. 5 material, and possibly one of the Death stuff, to be comprehensive.

  8. I have the absolutes editions so I don’t see the point of getting this (for myself).

    For those that still haven’t read the series, this would be great.

  9. On the other hand, if DC released these as hardcovers, they’d undoubtedly be the same crappy “paperback glued into a cardboard cover” that they’ve been using for the “Deluxe” [sic] editions of Fables (and all of their sub-Absolute hardcovers, AFAIK), so, no great loss, to my mind.

  10. I am waiting for the upcoming Before Sandman series that thankfully doesn’t have that Gaiman guy messing up the stories.

  11. Mentioned in the original announcement also was that for those who’ve been buying the re-issue softcovers as they’ve come out, they will offer a slipcase with just volume 10 eventually.

  12. I’d love to see these in a hardcover Omnibus format where each release contains two volumes. That seems to be a good size that’s worked well for EX MACHINA and PREACHER.

  13. @Charles Skaggs

    They already published the Absolute Editions, which contain roughly 2 volumes worth of stories in them. Re-publishing them in a slightly smaller HC format wouldn’t make sense.

  14. Anybody have any specifics on the new volumes?
    I know its a whiney fanboy thing to say, but Sandman on nice, glossy paper continues to just feel wrong.

  15. I realize the real reason for the constant reprinting of this title, but really, what other version is left to do? Printing out each colour separation on a separate page?

  16. Oops, my bad. In my Victoria Day haze, I mistook this for yet another reprinting of Watchmen. Sandman, you say?

  17. It would be nice if DC offered the slipcover by itself for people who already have the books. LikenOni did with Scott Pilgrim.

  18. Jacob Goddard: These are the softcover reprints that’ve been coming out for the past couple of years. They’re using the coloring from the Absolute Editions and have a new cover design, but are otherwise identical to the old ones. We’re just finally getting to the point where the last volume is being published, so they’re offering up a slipcase as well. (And that’s why there’ll be a slipcase + The Wake offering as well, for people who’ve been buying the reissues since the first ones in Fall 2010.)

  19. Is it weird that the rough, tactile newsprint and muddy colors of the original is a huge part of the experience for me?

  20. Personally, I second the notion about the absolute and omnibus formats being awkward to handle at best. They are beautiful as coffee table editions, but I’d much rather have trades to read. I bought the first three trades in a slipcover edition years ago and have enjoyed reading and seeing it on my bookcase.
    As for Death, I see that DC has this listing:
    Now in DC’s acclaimed deluxe format, this new hardcover collects all things Death, including DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING #1-3, DEATH: THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE #1-3, plus extras including “Death Talks about Life” AIDS pamphlet, stories from VERTIGO: WINTER’S EDGE #2 and THE SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS, the short story “The Wheel” from the 9-11 tribute book, SANDMAN #8 and #20, and art from the DEATH GALLERY!
    Written by:
    Neil Gaiman
    Art by:
    Chris Bachalo
    Mark Buckingham
    Mark Pennington
    Mike Dringenberg
    Malcolm Jones, III
    Colleen Doran
    Dave McKean
    Jeffrey Catherine Jones
    Cover by:
    Dave McKean
    Color/B&W:
    Color
    Page Count:
    320
    U.S. Price:
    29.99
    On Sale Date:
    Oct 3 2012
    Binding:
    Hardcover

    And ditto on the second annotated volume:
    THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN VOL. 2 collects issues #21-39 of Neil Gaiman’s THE SANDMAN, with annotations by Leslie Klinger (The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Annotated Dracula) to all the historical and literary references contained in the series. This edition includes the now legendary SEASON OF MISTS storyline, as well as A GAME OF YOU.
    Written by:
    Leslie S Klinger
    Neil Gaiman
    Art by:
    Kelley Jones
    Mike Dringenberg
    Malcolm Jones, III
    Matt Wagner
    Dick Giordano
    George Pratt
    P. Craig Russell
    Shawn McManus
    Colleen Doran
    Bryan Talbot
    George Pratt
    Stan Woch
    Cover by:
    Dave McKean
    Color/B&W:
    Color
    Page Count:
    520
    U.S. Price:
    49.99
    On Sale Date:
    Oct 24 2012
    Binding:
    Slipcased Hardcover

  21. To this day I regret dropping Sandman with issue #6, but at the time that Dr. Destiny storyline icked me out SO much, I dropped the title immediately after reading that story. AND… missed the first appearance of Death by two issues. Kick! Ah well!

  22. >> To this day I regret dropping Sandman with issue #6, but at the time that Dr. Destiny storyline icked me out SO much, I dropped the title immediately after reading that story.>>

    Actually, I did the same thing. And didn’t try it again until comps of the DOLL’S HOUSE TPB and the “Calliope” issue arrived at Marvel (on, I think, the same day).

    Glad I gave it another chance!

  23. Niel wrote on his blog that if you purchased the trades or absolutes you can just get the slip cover and “wake” the only new trade paperback in this release. He specifically said that you have no obligation to buy something you’ve already bought. I like Gaimen’s novels, but as I was a small child in the eighties and didn’t develop an appreciation for comics until high school I have only a passing familiarity with this series and look forward to reading all of it for the first time.

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