Grains of Sand: 25 Years of the Sandman

Grains of Sand 25 Years of The Sandman cover

The Cartoon Art Museum presents a stunning 144-page full-colour soft cover catalogue showcasing over 100 pieces from CAM’s historic exhibition Grains of Sand. Highlights include more than 20 pages from the groundbreaking first issue of Sandman; eight pages from “The Sound of Her Wings,” featuring the first appearance of Death from Sandman #8; full-colour paintings by Yoshitaka Amano, Barron Storey, J.H. Williams III, and series cover artist Dave McKean; beautiful, un-retouched pencil artwork by famed illustrator Michael Zulli; and highlights from Neil Gaiman’s personal collection of Sandman artwork. Grains of Sand also features new text pieces by Sandman co-creators Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg as well as Sandman: Overture artist J.H. Williams III.

  • Cartoon Art Museum, January 2014
  • ISBN 978-1-631173-878-4
  • 9″ x 12″, 144 pages, softcover
  • $40 USD
  • Order online: eBay
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As with all AE format material (Artist’s Editions, Artifact Editions, Gallery Editions, Art Editions, Studio Editions, etc.), this is a collection of classic comic material and I’ll be reviewing the book and not the story. For a complete list of all current and announced editions, with review links, please visit our Index. Also, see What is an Artist’s Edition and our Artist Index. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

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An exhibition catalogue from the Cartoon Art Museum’s 2014 exhibit. A very large collection of original art with a nice variety of artists and mediums. Based on the Collectors’ Acknowledgements page the bulk of the exhibit comes from one collector, Saunter Lee, with Sam Kieth still having most of the art to issue 1. Also included is the full Death: A Winter’s Tale story by Jeffrey Catherine Jones. In the catalogue, it’s spelled Jeffery. Plus some exceptional art from Dave McKean, Charles Vess, Milo Manara, and many others.

The scan quality is excellent, with no visual artifacts or issues. Scans are of the complete artboards. With so many artists represented it’s surprising to see so few margin notes. Blacks show gradients. Blue pencil and correction fluid are visible.

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I enjoyed the book design. The colophon on the inside flap saves some space and the title page works well with the minimal text and watermark image. Art information along the outer edge works very well, with issue, artist, and medium.

The $125 Signed Bookplate Edition has original bookplates (ex-libris) designed and signed by Mike Dringenberg, Sam Kieth, J.H. Williams III, Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. These were glued into the blank boxes on the text pages.

Production is quite good. A medium glossy paper in a perfect bound glued binding. I find the glare from the glossy paper annoying when glare hits the page, but that’s also coming from my need to take pictures for this review.

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It’s hard not to draw parallels between this volume and The Sandman Gallery Edition. Both serve the same audience, at different price points. And while there is a large overlap of art, each features unique pieces.

This catalogue was gifted to me by forum member BrianWells. This is my second exhibition catalogue from the Cartoon Art Museum and I am impressed with their output.