Sandman: The Dream Hunters.. the comic?

[The Xenos]

I read this solicit a bit back and I just got my hands on the newest Previews catalog which as a preview. I got one thing to say.
WHY?!
I just don't get it. Dream Hunters was a wonderful illustrated prose novel. Why is DC trying to milk it again? It's weird, too, because I really love P. Craig Russell's art. Yet I am having trouble thinking about rereading the wonderful story again in this new format. It's really really bizarre feeling.

It just feels like DC milking a story and its characters. I know, I know. I'm complaining about the same company making a living off Superman and Batman for almost 3/4 of a century. I shouldn't be so surprised. I just thought Vertigo might be a little better than this.

Blah. I'd rather see some new work from Russel or new work from Gaiman. Why is there any need for this retread? Geez. It's bad enough we have cinemas flooded with movie remakes. Now we have a ten year old illustrated novel being remade as a four issue comic series.

Oh and just perfectly fitting the cheapness of it, it comes with a special alternate cover if your store orders 25 damn issues. Really? Hell, even if I was going to buy this book, I'd buy the trade so it matches the nice volume of the original one. Ugh. I can't help but feel that this time of reuse of story and product and the whole alternate cover thing is something just killing the whole industry.

Am I mad or does this leave a slightly bad taste in anyone else's mouth?

[dancj]

Considering I read the comic version of Neverwhere which is an adaptation of a novel which is an adaptation of a TV series then I can't complain too much.

It does give me a dilemma though. Generally I don't read prose books (except when I'm on holiday) and I haven't read Dream Hunters yet, so now I've got to choose which version to read...

[carabas]

Why?!I asked exactly the same question with P. Craig Russel's adaption of Coralie.

[The Xenos]

It's funny, it's like watching the American remake of The Ring or The Grudge after seeing and loving the Japanese original. Okay, not the best example, but it's odd to see a remake.

Ha. Yeah. Neverwhere came to mind. Though at least the novel and movie are more different mediums. Like the comic and movie versions of The Fountain. Yet a comic and prose are both print. I think it's a waste. Personally I never bothered reading the Neverwhere comic because it was just an adaption of the novel and TV show. I don't get this trend of comic book adaptations. At least do a spinoff or side story. Why the hell would I want to read the story again in a comic format if I already read the novel.

Of course the bigger issue in my mind is who made this choice? Was it Russel, Gaiman, or someone at DC that just wanted to crank out another Sandman comic? Geez. Can't they just release a new version of the great illustrated prose novel, get even more people reading that classic, instead of remaking the damn thing?

[matt levin]

Now, see, I come to this WITHOUT having read the prose story, and I am very excited to see the comic series. I'm a Russell fan from waaaayayyy back, and of course Gaiman's work's been a staple of my collection as well.

So, with only that as background, I'm hoping this'll be a terrific series..!

Matt

[morganagrom]

Worse - apparently PCR was told to alter his original vision for the adaptation so it would fit into serialized pamphlets. Sounds like its better to tradewait this one.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080819-PCRussell.html

"PCR: I'm almost finished with Gaiman's The Dream Hunters. (There’s) 123 pages in the four-issue adaptation. I originally designed it as a 120-page single book, but soon after the powers that be declared they wanted it to run as a series first.

Luckily, the breaks came at just the right moments in the stories and with the addition of “splash” pages it came out ok. The extra splash pages will be dropped from the collection and probably run in the back with sketchbook material."

[stealthwise]

Considering I read the comic version of Neverwhere which is an adaptation of a novel which is an adaptation of a TV series then I can't complain too much.


Seriously? I read it too and I'm complaining a ton still, as it was bloody terrible, from the muddy, unimaginative art to the terribly-missing-the-point writing that "adapted" the storyline. Richard Mayhew is not a down-on-his-luck pussy.

[The Xenos]

Is a simple adpation of a story already told in another medium really what comics needs more of? I really don't think so. Occasionally there might be a good one, but there seems to be a flood of totally unessesary books. At the very least, if you're doing a media tie in, do some side story.

Plus, blech, that DC / AOL Time Warner forced Russell to cram it into four issues instead of a full book makes me want to stay away from it even more. At least I'm definatley skipping the issues and telling my shop that off the bat. I'm not for getting rid of floppies, but insisting on them with projects like this where a full graphic novel works better is one of the things killing the format.

[dancj]

Why the hell would I want to read the story again in a comic format if I already read the novel.
It's probably for people who didn't read the novel - and don't want to.

And Stealthwise - "unimaginative art"? That's the first time I've seen Glenn Fabry's art described that way.

[stealthwise]

It's probably for people who didn't read the novel - and don't want to.

And Stealthwise - "unimaginative art"? That's the first time I've seen Glenn Fabry's art described that way.

It deserves it in the case of this mini, as the character designs are atrocious, particularly for the villains and the monster, and there doesn't seem to be any flow to the work at all; some panels just lie on the page, flatter than the cruddy scripting job that Carey did. I think that Neverwhere might be the property that holds the distinction of both my favourite (the book) and least favourite (the comic) adaptation from another medium.

[The Xenos]

Well, I'm definitely not picking up the issue and I'm in no rush to get it collected. I am interested in getting the P Craig Russel Arabian Nights Dream shirt also in this Previews. Plus I have a small statue of that version of the character in front of my external hard drive, which I happened to name Morpheus after the statue. (I know. Nerd.)

[Kelson]

Luckily, the breaks came at just the right moments in the stories and with the addition of “splash” pages it came out ok. The extra splash pages will be dropped from the collection and probably run in the back with sketchbook material."

Wow -- they made him add some splash pages. That's absolutely diabolical.

[Stony]

Honestly, I don't have a problem with this.
It's P. Craig Russell...

The man could draw a Geoff Johns book and I'd still buy it