There are two that are collections of short stories (Dream Country and I can't remmeber the name of the other one), and they're good, but not strictly necessary. And A Game of You is also kind of tangential to the main arc (some people really like that one -- it's never been one of my favorites).
Everything else is absolutely essential.
Amazon tends to bundle two books together and offer them at a slight savings. Bastards.
Yeah, but I'm into supporting my local comic book store, considering the store just opened and they guy is really cool.
The second collection, A Doll's House, has the stories that really knocked my socks off and made me a Sandman fan. Season of Mists is also very good.
If you come across a deal on the whole thing in a box set or something (or even the existence of such a set, doesn't have to be much of a deal), I would love to know about it! I read someone else's
Sandman
so i don't own any, but I must have them. Memory, for one thing, is fading.
Dream Country
contains my personal favorite Sandman - "Dream of a Thousand Cats". Plus the one he won a Nebula (?memfault) for, the Shakespeare one.
Plus the one he won a Nebula (?memfault) for, the Shakespeare one.
He won the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story with this issue, #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It was the only time a monthly comic has ever won the award; they changed the rules shortly afterwards to make sure it couldn't happen again.
In
Buffy
comic news, issue #55 was in the stores today, containing a one-shot story about Dawn and Hoopy the Bear, still set in the time just before the series started. I picked it up, but haven't read it yet.
Also,
Fray
#8 was solicited for June 18, so it looks like we'll finally get the ending soon. (Fray #7 should be out on April 23).
Hoopy the Bear?! Yeah, that sounds promising...
Eh. I'd rather see her with Homey the Clown. He could whack her with his sack full of doorknobs, and then there'd be an excuse for her behavior during the series.