Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'd like to start my review by pointing out I'll be reviewing the edition itself not the story. Sandman is a wonderful work of fiction and widely considered to be one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, if you haven't read it you likely just haven't been able to convince yourself it's worth the $100+ price tag (it is by the way). The point is, you shouldn't be asking yourself whether you should get Sandman, you should be asking yourself should I get this printing or one of the 10 that came before it. Many would consider DC's absolute editions to be the pinnacle of collected editions, for my part I've always found them a bit too cumbersome and more than a bit too pricey. This Sandman Omnibus is much more in line with Marvel Omnibuses (which is to say it's nearly identical), you get a sturdy hardcover filled with approximately 1000 pages of material for roughly the same price tag as a single absolute that holds half the material. The main difference between this and Marvel's omnibuses is that this addition does not come with a dust jacket, but instead the hardcover itself has been turned into a work of art. The binding is stripped in a way that resembles an old textbooks, the cover is stamped with silver and black in just the right amount of flourish, and even the ends of the pages are dipped black (in a manner all too clearly meant to imitate a bible). Presentation wise its the first graphic novel I've purchased since the Dark Tower Omnibus that looks like a genuine work of art without even breaking it open. When you do get around to breaking it open you'll notice the book uses the recolored pages found in the absolute editions (or most recent paperbacks), this might be a drawback for some but having read both editions I found the recoloring to be a plus. The binding, which appears to be a combination of glued and sown, lays flat enough you don't lose chunks of the story even on two page spreads. The one addition I found to be something of an annoyance is the added issue number on the bottom left corner. This doesn't appear on all pages, it's done in a manner similar to adding a page number (just two or three times an issue) but its enough text to be distracting, at the very least they could have just put #1 instead of "The Sandman #1" each time. There's really not much in terms of extras, enough pages in biographies to draw a little of your time but nothing else. That being said this is really, in my mind, the best edition of Sandman released so far. I wouldn't go so far as to turn your absolutes in and make a repurchase since there's really not much new here, but if you're interested in picking Sandman up for the first time or replacing your deteriorating first editions this omnibus offers tremendous value considering the price. **Note as of this review Amazon is not displaying the correct title image for this book. Amazon shows an image of Morpheus on a white background, while the book itself is more of a cherry brown color with text reading Neil Gaiman the Sandman Omnibus Volume I instead of any prominent image.