Tradio #49 - The Sandman: Fables & Reflections

Welcome back The Summer of Sandman here at Tradio!  This week, we hit the half way point with The Sandman: Fables & Reflections by Neil Gaiman and art by a huge cast of artists including Kent Williams, Shawn McManus, Bryan Talbot, Jill Thompson, and P. Craig Russell and published under Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.

Fables & Reflections is another collection of one and done stories that unlike the past collection like this, is full of great stories.  We get to see more insight into Dream's family and get to meet his son and learn what all he gone through for being part of the Endless family.  Each story uses a different artist to differentiate it from the next and we finally get to meet the wayward Endless brother, Destruction.  The final story, illustrated by P. Craig Russell is a tale of a king with everything who makes a request of Dream where the consequences may not be what he exactly bargained for.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories.  The art has it's ups and downs but the work by both Shawn McManus and P. Craig Russell are very much my favorite.  Overall, the Russell story is the most imaginative of the lot, though each one has it's own merits.  What we learn of Dream's son is awesome and sad at the same time and really helps add depth to character of Morpheus.  A great collection and a great midpoint for the series as a whole.