How To Read The Sandman/Hellblazer/Vertigo Universe If You Just Want To Love It, 2: Seasons Of Mist

I'm currently reading through as much as I can of the Sandman/Swamp Thing/Hellblazer/Books Of Magic/Dreaming portion of The DC Vertigo universe in preparation for the upcoming Sandman/Locke & Key crossover (Issue #0 comes out today!). You shouldn't have to do that. There's a lot of it. Like pretty much every ongoing comic series that lasts more than a couple of years, the quality varies wildly. So I've put together a reading list/order if you want to read Just The Best of these titles. I don't care for which stories are the most Historically Important, like the first appearances of so and so, or The Absolute Beginning of this universe. I care about what's fun to read, and what art is just bonkerstown great.

Most to all of these books should be in print and available from a local comic book store. And if they do dip temporarily out of print, I'm fairly confident they'll return quickly with new cover art and probably a heftier price point. Hope you enjoy!

Season Two:
​Seasons Of Mist

1. Sandman: Dream Country
(Neil Gaiman, William Shakespeare, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Dave Mckean)
Available at your local shop or via Bookshop.org

We begin with four unrelated stories. No common theme, no recurring characters (aside from Morpheus, who is in the first three stories), not much of a connection to any of the previous volumes. But, of course these are building blocks for later on in the story. The Shakespeare story won a World Fantasy Award. There's also a story about cats, which is super popular, because it's a story about cats.


2. Sandman: Seasons Of Mist
(Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner)
Available at your local shop or via Bookshop.org


This is my favorite Sandman volume from a story perspective. I think it's visually disappointing compared to the other volumes, but the story, which sets the stage for the Lucifer series, and really sets Morpheus's long-game story in motion, is excellent. You could read this volume independently of any of the rest of Sandman, and Absolutely Love It.


3. Hellblazer: Fear And Loathing
(Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon)
If you can't get it locally, check Ebay for the most affordable versions.

From my favorite Sandman story, to my favorite Hellblazer. This is a more conversation-focused Hellblazer than much of Delano's run. But it's probably the best Garth Ennis has ever written, with the possible exception of his Battlefields series. He nails every character and their motivation, and makes you care more about John Constantine's exploits in this volume than in any of the previous ones.


4. Hellblazer: Damnation's Flame
(Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon, William Simpson, Pete Snejbjerg)
Check out your local shop or Ebay.

Ennis's temporary farewell to all things Hellblazer, he gives every character from his run a curtain call, and gives us a weird pop culture history lesson via Papa Midnite during another of Constantine's treks through The United States.


5. Sandman: A Game Of You
(Neil Gaiman, Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot)
Readily available at your local shop or buy it from Bookshop.org

Barbie from "A Doll's House" takes center stage, as we are placed solidly in the middle of one person's connection to The Dreaming. The story also contains one of the best and most compassionate use of a trans character, with an understanding of that person's relationship to the non-binary that I've seen in comics. This came out, originally, in 1991.


6. Sandman: Fables & Reflections  
(Neil Gaiman, Bryan Talbot, Shawn Mcmanus, P Craig Russell, Jill Thompson, John Watkiss, Duncan Eagleson, Stan Woch, Kent Williams)
Readily available at your local shop or buy it from Bookshop.org

Another volume of short stories. These, even less connected than in "Dream Country". Apart from a spread of stories about emperors, each of the stories is more concerned with specific character traits that will come back to haunt Morpheus, rather than specific storybeats that progress the plot. We do get to see a focused telling of Orpheus's journey, and also check in with Johanna Constantine, who is somehow related to John.


7. Books Of Magic: Summonings
(John Ray  Rieber, Peter Gross, Pete Snjejberg, Gary Amaro, Dick Giardano)
can currently be found on Thriftbooks, after that EBay might be the way to go

Neil Gaiman created the Books Of Magic series about a young boy wizard who happens to look a lot like Harry Potter, and who has a message bearing owl, but who doesn't get to go to fancy wizard school. Instead, when he hits puberty, John Constantine and a bunch of DC Magic characters show up and are awful to him. It's not my favorite Neil Gaiman story. John Ray Rieber continued the universe, and his books aren't my favorite Vertigo titles, either. This is the second of Rieber's volumes and it involves young Tim Hunter (aka pre-Harry Potter Harry Potter) trying to figure out his parentage. That whole plot didn't interest me. What I liked about this, is that Hunter is almost a villain in his own story here, as several female characters, including a very well-conceived and thoughtfully written succubus do their best to help Tim, and any time he deviates from their help, his life gets worse. It's the most feminist succubus story I've ever read, as she comes off much more empathetic than the story's technical protagonist.

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8. Sandman: Brief Lives
(Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson)
Readily available at your local shop or buy it from Bookshop.org

One of Morpheus's siblings, Destruction, has been mostly absent from the Sandman series. In this volume, the youngest Endless, Delirium, gets Morpheus to agree to help her track their missing brother down.  The story has a great Season Finale, and sets us up for the final stretch of Gaiman's Sandman.