​​Netflix’s The Sandman review: A great ad for the Sandman comics

The streaming television era has made TV a hungry beast. To be satisfied for one weekend, it must be constantly fed whole series, seasons and cinematic universes at once. It is essential to get subscribers, as there are just so many stories to share. Fueled by this business-oriented need to reduce art to chum — or content, as it’s called now — adaptations of beloved works in other media have been made at a dizzying rate of late, as projects that previously languished in development hell have suddenly found all hurdles removed from their path.

The Sandman — the acclaimed 1989-1996 comic book series created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg — was one of those projects. Largely unfilmable due to the serial nature of the project and the surreal visuals that were so lovingly rendered by many artists, Dream was never made into a film despite numerous efforts since the 1990s. Decades later, The Sandman Gaiman, alongside David S. Goyer, finally made it real as a Netflix series.Batman Begins) and Allan Heinberg (The O.C. Among other things. Two questions arise immediately from its arrival: Was the need to produce content grist cynical enough that it was brought here? And will it prove those who hold the comic, a singular work of the medium, as “unadaptable” correct?

Good news: It was possible. Netflix’s The SandmanThis is the most accurate TV adaptation of the comic book. It is Peter Jacksonian in its faithfulness to the original source material while making necessary adjustments for the TV format. Comic readers may find those compromises difficult to overlook in a show that’s otherwise an enjoyable revisitation of a favorite comic. For those coming to the show fresh, they’ll find a strange and listless series that moves with odd rhythms and eschews traditional conflict. It’s a story that takes time to make a case for itself, but enthralling if you stay awhile.

Image by Netflix

This story starts with astonishing abruptness. Roderick Burgess is a wealth amateur occultist. He (Charles Dances) gathers together the items with negative vibes to carry out a ritual that will bring him immortality. One of the many instances where The Sandman assumes familiarity with its story, Roderick’s scheme is only detailed in passing: He hopes to imprison the personification of Death and force them to do his bidding. Instead he captures Death’s brother, Dream (Tom Sturridge), the king of dreams known by many names — including the Sandman — and imprisons him, hoping that he can wear Dream down into giving him what he wants.

After nearly a century of imprisonment, with Burgess’ son taking over as his warden when Roderick dies, Dream escapes during a moment of carelessness, and The Sandman The season takes shape. As Dream rebuilds his life, the first half of Season 1 is a glimpse into the rest of the world. Dream assembles the relics that give him his power. The SandmanThis shows the viewers how broad the show is. There’s London past and present, the world of the Dreaming where all manner of fantastical and nightmarish beings reside, and even a trip to hell itself to meet Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie). In the second half, the viewers meet Rose Walker (Kyo Ras), a young woman who could inadvertently ruin everything Dream is trying to rebuild.

The Sandman is a remarkably faithful adaptation, which means the show shares its source material’s weaknesses: Namely, its opening arc does not make the best case for the story the viewer is embarking on. It is refreshing to see a fantasy show that doesn’t feel like it has to justify itself all the time. The Sandman does explain itself, it’s in a blunt matter at odds with the contemplative nature of story, and it feels all the more dissonant. Much like the comics it’s based on, it’s not immediately apparent What is the reason?You will soon be introduced to these characters. There are so manyHow they are integrated into the larger scheme of things. Surprised? It isThis is an ambitious scheme, but its realization will depend on Netflix’s inexorable greenlighting of future seasons.

Image by Netflix

To the uninitiated, the revered status of the comic may make many of the series’ adaptation choices unintentionally funny. Dream, for example, is portrayed in the comic as a ghostly man with stars for eyes, an ethereal presence that can’t really be portrayed on screen without extensive makeup and perhaps some computer animation. In the show, he’s just a guy; Tom Sturridge is remarkably committed to BelieveHe is the embodiment of the character you see on the page. But in reality he is just a brooding, pouty Englishman — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you learn (not a spoiler) that he is but one of the Endless, with older and younger siblings that also personify abstractions like Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) or Desire (Mason Alexander Park).

These little details may be overlooked by viewers. Patton Oswalt’s performance as a talking Raven named Matthew. Boyd Holbrook’s recurring role as the Corinthian, an escaped nightmare eluding and working against Dream, is also strangely pitched, effusive with charming menace but somewhat aimless on screen.

Ultimately, The SandmanThis is a very effective and enticing advertisement for comic books. It sounds faintly praiseworthy, but it may just be what you want. The reason why the SandmanThe reason comics have become so popular is because they are a safe place for queer characters to show up in a way that’s not common at the time. It was a work of alternative art published alongside the heteronormative corpus of DC Comics, growing in estimation until its counterculture leanings effectively became the culture — an ambition that was always there, as SandmanIt would become a tale about them. AllStories, from Shakespeare to Greek mythology to super hero comics. After all, dreams are the basis of stories.

Image by Netflix

Netflix’s The SandmanIt can’t be. It is not the greatest Netflix version, but it does have its advantages. still a Netflix adaptation — a project This must hew to the limitations and aspirations of the platform, to create a bingeable experience with potential to become a monster hit. All of the ways this might compromise the original work is already present in this series — visually, tonally, and structurally. Netflix’s The Sandman, as faithful as it may be, is still an adaptation with the roughest edges smoothed off, a dark fantasy that’s never that Dark, A Fable That explains Just a Very littleToo much.

That’s the trouble with trying to bring dreams to life. The reason they stay with you isn’t the parts you see clearly, but the images that linger just out of reach, so real yet impossible to describe, a vapor no one but you knew was there.

The Sandman’s first season is now streaming on Netflix.