This is another collection of short stories, connected by a common theme. They, like Fables and Reflections, are not necessary to the overarching plot of the Sandman universe. These are the stories of the guests of the World’s End Inn. It is a place which exists outside, or perhaps between, time and space. Each of the inn’s guests has been caught in a storm, and wait out their time until the storm passes telling stories to entertain each other. Many of the characters are familiar favorites from earlier volumes, and some are new characters.
I particularly liked story of Mister Gaheris in which he is caught in the dream of a city. I also liked the last story in the volume about the caretakers of the Necropolis, literally the city of the dead. The vision that the travelers share at the end of the book is a wonderful foreshadowing of events in the last two volumes. The imagery that Gaiman conjures and the artists translate to page is wonderful.
Sandman, vol. 8: World’s End
ISBN: 9781563891717
By Neil Gaiman
Art by Michael Allred, Gary Amaro, Mark Buckingham, Dick Giordano, Tony Harris, Steve Leialoha, Vince Locke, Shea Anton Pensa, Alec Stevens, Bryan Talbot, John Watkiss, Michael Zulli
DC Comics/Vertigo 1995
