The Sandman # 75 page 22 by Talbot and Vess
Artists: Charles Vess (Penciller) , Bryan Talbot (Penciller) , Charles Vess (Inker) , Todd Klein (Letterer) , Neil Gaiman (Writer)
38 Comments - 7,699 Views - 13 Likes
Additional Images:
Printed Page
Artwork Details
|
Description"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep"When I was in college and a humble English major, I did a research paper entitled "Shakespeare in the Comics." It mainly involved me tracking down old Classics Comics/Illustrated, their equivalent and some odd issues of some of the old mystery books and apply literary and pop culture criticism techniques to their content. These comics had their charms and their faults, one of which was an over reverence that, despite all the fighting and murders and passions abounding in Shakespeare's glorious texts, often made for rather static comic storytelling and art. Then, one bright sunny day, I read Sandman no. 19, the brilliant "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The story re-imagined the first performance of the play by Lord Chamberlain's Men before a unique audience. Aside from that, however, it was a meditation on ambition, craft, art and the prices we pay for immortality. Further, it was a revelation to me as both a comic and Shakespearean drama. For years afterward, I often mentioned it as my favorite single issue of any comic. As the years went by, however, two other issues from Sandman, gave it competition, "Ramadan" in issue no. 50 and "The Tempest" from the very last issue, no. 75. In the latter, a companion piece to issue 19, an older Shakespeare, now fully aware of the costs of his dream and nearing the end of his life, works on his final play, a work directly commissioned by Morpheus himself. Cleverly, Shakespeare's life seems to mirror Prospero's, the main character of the Tempest, and, while only small snippets of the play are seen (and there is a wonderful sequence where Will reads a scene to his toughest critic, his wife, Anne), the story has echoes of the play throughout. Years later, after I started getting into art collecting, I made a dream list of the kind of pages I would love to attain. At the top of that list was a page with Shakespeare and Morpheus. As luck would have it, a collector and dealer had managed to acquire several pages from issue 75 and put them up for auction on eBay. I entered them all, but, soon to be a father and planning to build a house, I was reluctant to bid more than a certain set amount that I deemed sensible and, one by one, I lost to higher bidders. Finally, this page came up for auction, the best yet, and I knew that I had to have it. I doubled what I deemed sensible. Even then, another bidder joined the competition and overtook my bid. I, however, caught a fever, and once again upped my bid and a competition began. My rival, who, though he had overtaken me again, had a negative rating on his bidding history and the dealer canceled his bids. Once again, I was the high bidder. I suffered through the last minutes of the auction, sweating, while still holding on to the top bid. A last second bidder sniped away, matching my maximum bid, but with no time to snipe again, I was the declared winner of the auction. I actually jumped up out of my seat, hands raised in victory, and scratched my knuckles on the ceiling of our apartment! Knuckles now bleeding and stinging, my adrenaline and heart pumping away, I danced a jig while laughing giddily. That, as far as my participation in a comic art auction goes, remains the happiest moment I ever experienced. Ha! Needless to say, this page is probably the last artwork I will ever part with. I love Vess and Talbot's artwork as much as the story itself, and I think my page is one of the few in my collection that I could honestly say is one of the best of its kind. I am lucky to have it. PS* I was happy to provide the scan of this page that appeared in the "The Sandman Gallery Edition." Social/Sharing |
About the Owner
|
 |
Contact the OwnerUse can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
|
Comments on this Artwork
You must be logged in to make comments.
Sebastien Roy
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 3/16/2007
Very, very significant page Timothy -- Love seeing it here on CAF!
Jonathan H 
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 4/17/2007
Man -- this is one heck of a great page -- congrats!!
Benno Rothschild
Member Since 2003
1 - Posted on 7/27/2008
quite a beautiful page. Charles does such nice work and Sandman was a natural for his talents.
J L
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 8/27/2008
Hi Tmothy!!!! Great page. The collaborative talents of Vess and Talbot in this issue/page is spectacular!!!! Also, I have to say that I always enjoy reading your comments on other people's galleries. You're very well spoken and your comments are insightful too!!!!
MIKE SHARPE
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 1/20/2009
Wow! Absouletly amazing page! Congrats on owning a page from the final issue of Sandman.
Suat Tong Ng
Member Since 2009
1 - Posted on 6/2/2009
Beautiful page from one of the best issues of Sandman. The dialogue here is as interesting as the artwork.
Ian Senior
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 11/6/2009
Cool - I'm sure I owned this page once... a long time ago! Did you buy it from me? Would have been on ebay quite a few years ago (when it didn't make the reserve and was sold to the high bidder!).
C .
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 2/3/2011
Any page of this series is a treasure but this have one of the best drawing that i see, congrats.
Adam Ianbarry
Member Since 2010
1 - Posted on 4/24/2011
Such a wonderful, memorable page..... Gorgeous art..... Love it!!!
Horacio Alvarez
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 6/4/2011
I look forward to having a page of this magnificent series Congratulations Tomyˇˇˇˇˇ
Edmond Yanga
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 7/1/2011
Gorgeous Piece,,DREAMING of having a Page from This Series for a Loooong Time!
Dan P
Member Since 2009
1 - Posted on 4/11/2012
A Shakespeare page? How appropriate. This is the collection it belongs in!
John Sisson
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 12/20/2012
That page is fantastic but the story of how you got it is even better! There is nothing like owning something you never thought would be yours. Thought you might like this other literary page "The Library of Dream". It has all the books mentioned in Sandman. http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=767602&GSub=59755
Timothy Guerrero
Member Since 2009
1 - Posted on 12/20/2012
Love your description! I always wait until the last seconds in order not to give anyone else time to think about raising their bids also limiting my bid amount in order not to go crazy!
Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator
1 - Posted on 12/20/2012
I know I've viewed this piece several times; I can believe I never left a comment on it. I came to Sandman very late and started reading it through the giant multi-volume hard cover set. I can tell you that I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better page. There are lots of great ones, but this one resonates so well with Morpheus and his interaction with the "real" world. Good get!
Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 1/27/2013
Great description of the win and capturing the rapture of being the guy that prevails by a thread. Too many times it goes the other way:)
Shannon Weathers
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 1/12/2014
Excellent page and great acquisition story!
Marvelman Excelsior
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 1/25/2014
Marvellous story behind the marvellous story - this page has clearly found it's home:) Quite right that you are it's custodian, sir. I have to say, this issue, alongside it's companion piece #19, was always the definitive Sandman story for me. You make me want to track it down again:)
Marvelman Excelsior
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 1/25/2014
As an aside, I do like the fact that you fought rather an heroic battle for the piece too:) The bard would have been proud - Dream himself? Aloof, amused, perchance secretly respectful...
Rabid Ferret
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 2/26/2018
What a wonderful page this is! Vess' B&W work can be breathtaking.
Marvelman Excelsior
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 4/8/2021
Coming back to this page is like revisiting an old friend after many years have passed. Time melts away, and I'm in awe of the sheer, subtle craft and resonance of this sequence, of this story.
Absolute grail.
Jordan Joanou
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 6/7/2021
Truly a wonderful work of art. Color me jealous.
Mark Levy
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 12/30/2021
Stunning page - just look at the creative team all firing on all cyclinders here, wow!
Mike Rice
Member Since 2003
1 - Posted on 1/14/2022
What a wonderful story to go along with an equally wonderful page. It's always great when a collector is able to find their Dream piece. Congrats on yours.
Bill J
Member Since 2009
1 - Posted on 3/24/2022
Phenomenal page! It is so literary and yet comprehendible. I am reminded, in a good way, of "Shakespeare in Love," written by the playwright Tom Stoppard. Smart writing, beautifully crafted, masterfully executed. Kudos.
Heidjer Staecker
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 7/6/2022
Wonderful page and story. I have a similar "relationship" with my Sandman grail.
James Dornoff
Member Since 2019
1 - Posted on 8/11/2022
Such a great page from an amazing series, we really love what Vess was doing all over this series. Huge congrats!
Latest Updates
All |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Auctions ADVERTISEMENT
 |
Auctions
| Mike Vosburg Justice League Quarterly #14 Crimson |
Auctions
 |
FRANK FRAZETTA DEATH DEALER IV OIL PAINTING |
Auctions
 |
Curt Swan - Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #105 Cover |
Hakes Auctions
 |
STAR WARS WEEKLY #20 COMIC BOOK COVER ORIGINAL ART BY TONY DeZUNIGA. |
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel.. FREE!
Felix Comic Art
0 Accepting Commissions
Commission an Artist
For Sale Updates
Classified Updates |
|
Rene Dorenbos9/6/2025 5:20:00 AM |
|
Monty B9/5/2025 3:53:00 PM |
|
Saxa Luna Galianan9/5/2025 1:01:00 PM |
|
Will Gabri-El9/5/2025 12:25:00 PM |
|
Michele M9/5/2025 12:05:00 PM |
|
Keith Veronese9/5/2025 11:09:00 AM |
|
Dealer Updates |
|
Coollines Artwork9/5/2025 9:24:00 PM |
|
Koch Comic Art9/5/2025 7:54:00 PM |
|
Anthony's Comicbook Art9/5/2025 6:43:00 PM |
|
Will's Comic Art Page9/5/2025 12:25:00 PM |
|
Essential Sequential9/5/2025 12:15:00 PM |
|
Achetez de l'Art9/5/2025 12:15:00 PM |
|
|
Become a Premium CAF Gallery Owner & you'll be supporting CAF and also gain access to many services and features not available to standard members.
|