D McI

I've been a Sandman fan for years and really loved this show. I felt the characters were well-cast, especially Dream, though I was a bit surprised by the switch in gender and race of some of the characters. But then, I had known them in their graphic novel rendition and have learned through the years that what is shown on the printed page, or the image formed as I read is not always the same as the one depicted on screen. I felt the actor playing dream did a good job of showing Dream's own evolution and development, long overdue, based on comments made by various members of his Dreaming staff. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is, as someone who literally stayed up hours past her normal bedtime reading the Sandman tales collected into graphic novels, I felt there was way too much use of cussing throughout the dialog. While the stories in the graphic novels were as shocking, horrifying, gruesome, and often depicted the worst as well as the best of humanity as shown in the Netflix series, the characters didn't litter their conversations with so much invective. What I loved most about the Sandman graphic novel series, which was hinted at versus covered in detail in the Netflix series, was the collection of stories in each graphic novel, some of which directly involved Morpheus, and others which did not. For example, Morpheus' encounter with his former wife imprisoned in Hell, has a full back story --"Arabian Nights"-- in the graphic novel, that was reduced into a few brief comments in the show. Gaiman is a master at weaving mythology, theology, folktales, fairy tales, legends and real-life horror and crime stories ripped from the headlines both historically and from modern annals as well as historically known people into his tales and Sandman collections. If you are well-read, and/or even paid attention in grade school, you may well recognize the influence of and re-telling of mythology, stories drawn from various religious sources, legends, fairy tales, etc., throughout the Sandman series. If not, hopefully this show will inspire you to actually expand your literary horizons and start reading more, or at least read the Sandman series. I'm looking forward to the next Season.