Issue Description

You’re cordially invited to a convention unlike any other. Where murder and chaos are praised and the depraved urges of psychos are openly celebrated. At this convention of serial killers, the only admission is your life. Hopefully accidental attendee Rose Walker can make it out alive.This story is set in a hotel where a group of people are coming together from all over the globe. It's the first ever annual serial killer convention. The story begins by showing us a number of "The collectors" coming off a boat, we see them come together in the hotel that has been booked for the convention as they begin to communicate.

Meanwhile waiting for news about her missing brother is Rose Walker, one of the main protagonists of the dolls house series. Unaware of her situation she goes about her business as usual and frets constantly about the lack of information on her brothers whereabouts.

We see the event organiser known only as "Mister Nimrod" searching for a guest of "honor", a killer known as "The Family Man" who is supposed to be making an appearance as well as giving a speech. We also see various conversations between "collectors" with a number of killer puns in each section.

With the convention going on in the hotel Rose trys to stay in her room but finds it unbearable, we see her go next door seeking comfort from her friend known as Gilbert, who will later be revealed as a missing dream creature "Fiddlers Green." He tells her the original story of Red Riding Hood, with the intention of calming her nerves, but in fact the grotesque nature of the story shakes her even more.

We rejoin the convention with the arrival of The Corinthian, origionally a nightmare created by Dream he has become a renound serial killer. He has also brought a guest, Roses missing younger brother tied up in the boot of his car. He checks in and to Mister Nimrods excitement agrees to appear as the guest of honor in place of the still missing Family Man. We see Mister Nimrod prepair to go on stage and see a glimpse of his real psyche, he introduces The Corinthian and the crowd goes wild.

Next we see a conversation between two "collectors" one identifies himself as The Bogeyman and converse with several others including The Doctor, we see a panel with him stood over a grotesque sewing machine, the whole room bathed in red light.

Meanwhile Rose and Gilbert are using the elevator as Gilbert convinces Rose that some fresh air would be good for them both. Outside the lift Corinthian and The Doctor are disgussing The Bogey man, Corinthian states that he must be a fake as the real deal died years ago, and that something must be done. The two enter the lift with Rose and Gilbert and both party's go quiet, Gilbert hides his face from Corinthian as they go down together. The collectors leave and gilbert and rose make it outside. Gilbet gives rose a name on paper and says to call the name should trouble arise, he then leaves her.

Corinthian invites "The Bogeyman" up to his room, and ambushes him revealing that they know his true identity, he tries to argue but is beaten badly and driven out to a nearby wooded area, there The Doctor, Mister Nimrod and Corinthian "take it in turns" until his is dead. Back at the hotel Funland a pedophile killer spots Rose and begins to stalk her, we read into some more of the collectors stories throughout the hotel before rejoining Rose back up in Gilbert's room, she finds he is still missing. Onc again we rejoin Funland talking to another killer and learn his story, until Funland leaves suddenly. Back in Roses room she hears a knock at the door and a voice claiming her room service has arrived, upon opening the door she finds Funland who beats her to the floor, she calls the name on the paper "Morpheus" and Dream arrives to save her, he puts them both into a deep sleep and walks in the main convention room.

Here he confronts Corinthian who is giving a speech, Corinthian stabs into Dreams hand with a knife but to no avail. Dream undoes the Corinthian and then turns to the "collectors" and undoes their own dream. The dream in which they are righteous, he makes them see who they really are and one by one they leave.

Out in the car park Gilbert appears carrying an unconscious Jed Walker, Roses missing brother and presents him to Rose.

The Sandman (1989)

Publisher

Vertigo

Volume Description

House Ad

The award-winning Sandman follows the return of Dream, the personification of hopes and dreams, to his domain after being trapped and held prisoner for 70 years and his quest to regain the powers he once possessed. It also follows his family, known as the Endless.

The concept of The Sandman emerged from Neil Gaiman's idea to revive Jack Kirby's 1970's Sandman series after his Black Orchid mini series at DC Editor Karen Berger suggested he keep the Sandman name but create the rest of the series entirely from scratch. Using ideas he had of a character that lived in dreams, Gaiman created the character of Morpheus, a literal take on the folklore concept of the Sandman and a personification of dreaming itself. With this, Gaiman revived several dormant DC horror and mystery characters and populated his world of The Dreaming with them. The series soon evolved beyond its DC Universe horror origins and became one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy comic series of all time, regularly outselling its superhero counterparts toward its end and introducing comics to whole new audiences outside of the comics mainstream. The collected editions have been reprinted numerous times and remain best sellers for DC/Vertigo.

The series was originally a DC book, but was one of the original titles moved onto the new Vertigo label with issue #47. Gaiman ended the series at 75 issues, but the run also included The Sandman Special (1991).

Spin-Offs

The series proved so popular that numerous spin-off titles were written, both by Gaiman and those that emerged after Gaiman's initial series ended. They include:

The Dead Boy Detectives (Original Graphic Novel)Dead Boy Detectives (Ongoing Series)Death: The Time of Your Life (Mini-Series)Death: The High Cost of Living (Mini-Series)Death: At Death's Door (Original Graphic Novel)Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook (Original Graphic Novel)Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold (Mini-Series)The Dreaming (Ongoing Series) The Dreaming Special (One Shot)The Girl Who Would Be Death (Mini-Series)God Save the Queen (Original Graphic Novel)House of Mystery (Ongoing Series) House of Mystery Halloween Annual (Annual)Mythos: The Final Tour (mini-series)Little Endless Storybook (Original Graphic Novel)Lucifer (Ongoing Series)Sandman: Book of Dreams (Prose Anthology)The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Illustrated Novella)The Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Mini-Series)The Sandman: Endless Nights (Original Graphic Novel)Sandman Midnight Theater (One-Shot )The Sandman: Overture (Prequel Mini-Series)The Sandman Presents: Bast (Mini-Series)The Corinthian: Death in Venice (Mini-Series)The Dead Boy Detectives (Mini-Series)Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams but Were Afraid to Ask (One-Shot)The Furies (Original Graphic Novel)Lucifer (Mini-Series)Love Street (Mini-Series)Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of DREAM (One-Shot)Petrefax (Mini-Series)The Thessaliad (Mini-Series)Thessaly: Witch for Hire (Mini-Series)WitchCraft (Mini-Series)WitchCraft: La Terreur (Mini-Series)

*ongoing series are in bold

Trade Paperbacks/Hardcovers

The entirety of the Sandman series collected, albeit out of chronological order, in both soft and hardcover formats. The most recent printings have had their interior art recolored. (This recoloring originally premiered in the Absolute Editions years earlier and was approved by Gaiman.)

Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (#01-08)Vol. 2: The Doll's House (#09-16)Vol. 3: Dream Country (#17-20)Vol. 4: Season of Mists (#21-28)Vol. 5: A Game of You (#32-37)Vol. 6: Fables & Reflections (#29-31, 38-40, 50, Sandman Special #1, and "Fear of Falling" from Vertigo Preview #1)Vol. 7: Brief Lives (#41-49)Vol. 8: World's End (#51-56)Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones (#57-69 and "The Castle" from Vertigo Jam #1)Vol. 10: The Wake (#70-75)Absolute Editions

Oversized hardcover re-releases that re-colored and collected the entire series chronologically for the first time. Comes packaged in a special slipcase.

Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 (#01-20)Absolute Sandman Vol. 2 (#21-39)Absolute Sandman Vol. 3 (#40-56, Sandman Special #1 and "Fear of Falling" from Vertigo Preview #1)Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 (#57-75 and "The Castle" from Vertigo Jam #1)Absolute Sandman Vol. 5 (The Sandman: Endless Nights, The Sandman: Dream Hunters (Illustrated Novella), The Sandman: Dream Hunters (Comic Adaptation), Sandman Midnight Theatre)Annotated Editions

The original series collected and accompanied by page-by-page annotations by Leslie S. Klinger.

The Annotated Sandman Vol. 1 (#01-20)The Annotated Sandman Vol. 2 (#21-39)The Annotated Sandman Vol. 3 (#40-56, Sandman Special #1 and "How They Met Themselves" from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3)Omnibuses

Massive oversized collections of the original series.

Vol. 1 (#1-37 and The Sandman Special #1Vol. 2 (#38-75 and stories from Vertigo Jam #1 and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3

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