For those who are interested in such things, Mark has begun reading Sandman.

Where is the Buffista watches Mark Reads commentary for this? Because I don't think I'll have time to wade through his stuff, but I really want to know about his reactions to things. (Has he gotten to issue 8 yet?)

Just last week, a friend loaned me his Sandman TPBs (I think there are 10?) because (shameful confession) I've never read them.

They're wonderful. They probably are still, collectively, my favorite work by Neil Gaiman. When the Vertigo-specific ComicXology app for the iPad launched, they were running a sale on Sandman for 99 cents an issue. I was very sad I didn't have the spare budget to buy them ALL, because picking my absolute favorites was difficult. (Well, picking my favorites after "The Sound Of Her Wings", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Three Septembers and a January", because those were the automatic purchases.)

Where is the Buffista watches Mark Reads commentary for this?

Well...this is it, right here.

(Has he gotten to issue 8 yet?)

He's on volume 2 now, and he's loving it, but he's only posted about the first two issues so far.

But I did have this text conversation with him earlier:

Me: How much did "24 Hours" fuck you up?

Mark: FUCKED UP. WHAT THE FUCK.

Me: Six years and that's still one of the most disturbing things I've read. Almost dreading the re-read.

Mark: Dude my whole review is about how much it just unsettled my eternal soul.

So that should be fun!

Just last week, a friend loaned me his Sandman TPBs (I think there are 10?) because (shameful confession) I've never read them.

That is brilliant timing! Yes, read along with us! I'm looking forward to loving the series even more this time around.

Oh, also, Mark is doing prediction posts for each volume, so that should be extremely entertaining.

Six years and that's still one of the most disturbing things I've read.

Gah. Should I read it? I mean, I guess I should, but -- will it traumatize me?

It's probably one of the most disturbing things in the whole series. It's generally acknowledged that the series really finds its footing at the end of the first "book", which is "The Sound of Her Wings."

So...I don't think it's traumatizing, but you could skim it.

"24 Hours" is disturbing, but I wouldn't say traumatizing.

Ooooh, just wait until he gets to the serial killer convention in "A Doll's House"!

You know, now that I think about it—and maybe I will come to a different conclusion after I read it again—that issue may be a Michael Haneke film as done by Neil Gaiman.

I love that part so much, Jilli! And of course THE CORINTHIAN.

I'm kind of envious of the people who are reading The Sandman for the first time, because now there are the collections. You can wallow in a story arc, instead of these tiny nibbles of an issue, and then having to wait for the next month.

I should check my carefully-stored box of issues because I know I'm missing a few, and The Sandman is pretty much the only series I care about owning the complete run. (I know some of my issues were "lost" by former housemates. Grrr.)

Maybe I should wear my sterling silver key to Hell tomorrow. (I bet you thought I was going to say "ankh". No, I wear one of those every day.)

Ha, that IS what I thought you were going to say.

I've told you of how I got lured into reading The Sandman, right? One of my friends brought his newly-purchased copy of issue 8 and waved it at me, demanding to know why I was in it. Yes, I wore an ankh necklace and swirly eyeliner every day back then.

Hee! Someone on Mark Reads posted about how she got into it because she was adopted by the Goths at college, even though she didn't really consider herself a Goth. But she wanted to fit in, so she ran with it, even pretending to be familiar with Sandman. The next year she went to a Neil Gaiman signing with a bunch of Goths, bought some books, fell in love with his writing, and then finally read Sandman for real.