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Sandman Mystery Theatre (collected editions)
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason
The Vertigo classic is back — with a vengeance. Wartime photojournalist Kieran Marshall must take on the mantle of Wesley Dodds' alter ego, The Sandman, to save his own life. But will donning the mask cost him his soul?
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2007
About the author
John Ney Rieber
308 books24 followersJohn Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer. He has written for the comics The Books of Magic, Captain America, G.I. Joe and Tomb Raider.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 6, 2026
Perfect stories about this Golden Age Character. Very recommended
June 15, 2020
While this doesn't have the serial intrigue of the original Sandman Mystery Theatre series, Sleep of Reason does apply the concept of dark dreaming to modern warfare with stimulating results.
What if a child of Middle Eastern bloodshed slept so long that he saw the true face of war? What if it takes a dream to wake up a callous man to the real life horror surrounding him? Nightmares play many roles in this tale, as many as the unconscious mind can interpret.
While this is not the send-off I was hoping for Wesley Dodds (brief and doomed to failure), it certainly is a great character study of Kieran Marshall, troubled battlefield photojournalist, as well as the spookily erudite Alia and her mute violent brother Omar. Masad is an interesting villain too, once his origins are fully explained.
Rieber writes about war with thoughtful diligence and Nguyen accompanies this with viciously dynamic artwork. Sleep of Reason may not be in quite the same vein as Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre run, but it's still a worthy read. I recommend it to completionist fans of the series or those with an interest in graphic novels depicting warfare on the ground level.
What if a child of Middle Eastern bloodshed slept so long that he saw the true face of war? What if it takes a dream to wake up a callous man to the real life horror surrounding him? Nightmares play many roles in this tale, as many as the unconscious mind can interpret.
While this is not the send-off I was hoping for Wesley Dodds (brief and doomed to failure), it certainly is a great character study of Kieran Marshall, troubled battlefield photojournalist, as well as the spookily erudite Alia and her mute violent brother Omar. Masad is an interesting villain too, once his origins are fully explained.
Rieber writes about war with thoughtful diligence and Nguyen accompanies this with viciously dynamic artwork. Sleep of Reason may not be in quite the same vein as Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre run, but it's still a worthy read. I recommend it to completionist fans of the series or those with an interest in graphic novels depicting warfare on the ground level.
April 8, 2024
2.5 stars
A (mostly) post-9/11 tale with Wesley Dodds's mantle being passed onto war photographer Kieran Marshall in the 'theatre of war' that is the Middle East, namely Afghanistan, at least to start with. The story actually starts in 1997 with an aged Dodds and the love of his life Dian, being caught up in a kidnapping by an Amir called Masad; expecting that Wesley will pay a ransom of $5m for Dian's return. She has terminal cancer, but he resolves that she should die in his arms, not those of her captors and so for one last time Wesley dons the mantle of the Sandman - this sets in motion a chain of events that will create Masad as a distorted mirror image of the Sandman, only seeking war and destruction, whilst Kieran struggles to carry his new responsibility, still refusing to kill...
This is somewhat muddled and whilst Eric Nguyen's artwork depicts the world here convincingly, there are times when the character is far too superhero-like; climbing up walls like Spider-Man for instance and being able to direct the work of the sleeping gas by some sort of kinetic will alone. And the whole plot by Masad himself, to sow terror and fear through guns and bombs, is all too 'real' (especially in light of what's going on in Gaza right now) the reach of his 'conspiracy' is not very believable.
A (mostly) post-9/11 tale with Wesley Dodds's mantle being passed onto war photographer Kieran Marshall in the 'theatre of war' that is the Middle East, namely Afghanistan, at least to start with. The story actually starts in 1997 with an aged Dodds and the love of his life Dian, being caught up in a kidnapping by an Amir called Masad; expecting that Wesley will pay a ransom of $5m for Dian's return. She has terminal cancer, but he resolves that she should die in his arms, not those of her captors and so for one last time Wesley dons the mantle of the Sandman - this sets in motion a chain of events that will create Masad as a distorted mirror image of the Sandman, only seeking war and destruction, whilst Kieran struggles to carry his new responsibility, still refusing to kill...
This is somewhat muddled and whilst Eric Nguyen's artwork depicts the world here convincingly, there are times when the character is far too superhero-like; climbing up walls like Spider-Man for instance and being able to direct the work of the sleeping gas by some sort of kinetic will alone. And the whole plot by Masad himself, to sow terror and fear through guns and bombs, is all too 'real' (especially in light of what's going on in Gaza right now) the reach of his 'conspiracy' is not very believable.
February 27, 2025
In 1997 Afghanistan the aged Wesley Dodds begins his final adventure as the Sandman, triggering Kieran Marshall to begin having terrible nightmares. A decade later, whilst working as a battlefield photographer in Afghanistan, Marshall discovers Dodds' paraphenalia and steps on the path of becoming the new Sandman.
I've not read the main 'Sandman Mystery Theatre' series, so I don't know how this reboot (ish) compares but I found it to be an interesting, albeit not hugely engaging, read. I liked the idea that the mantle of Sandman doesn't necessarily come with heroic tendencies and that Marshall and Dodds have very different approaches to the role.
For me the biggest downside to this book is just how of-its-time it is. It couldn't be more 'Post-9/11' if it tried, particularly with the hunt for a terrorist leader in Afghanistan, and I don't feel like that vibe has aged particularly well.
Perhaps, in decades to come, these stories which snapshot America still reeling from the World Trade Center attacks (albeit reeling in the direction of whichever country has some oil) will have a more interesting significance in a historical sense, but for now it just feels a bit tired.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
I've not read the main 'Sandman Mystery Theatre' series, so I don't know how this reboot (ish) compares but I found it to be an interesting, albeit not hugely engaging, read. I liked the idea that the mantle of Sandman doesn't necessarily come with heroic tendencies and that Marshall and Dodds have very different approaches to the role.
For me the biggest downside to this book is just how of-its-time it is. It couldn't be more 'Post-9/11' if it tried, particularly with the hunt for a terrorist leader in Afghanistan, and I don't feel like that vibe has aged particularly well.
Perhaps, in decades to come, these stories which snapshot America still reeling from the World Trade Center attacks (albeit reeling in the direction of whichever country has some oil) will have a more interesting significance in a historical sense, but for now it just feels a bit tired.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
July 30, 2017
Ilgem sitt. Sandman Mystery Theatre tegelastega (vanad Wesley ja Dian) kuskil 1997 aasta Afganistanis toimuv jura, nii segane et ma ei saanud halligi aru. Niipalju sain, et sisu oli kogu ses juras umbes 10 lehekülje jagu, see aga oli paraku laiali määritud standard TPB paksuse peale. Joonistus oli ka selline, et eriti aru ei saanud, kes nüüd parajasti fookuses on, kõik tegelased olid ühte nägu ja määrdunud pruuni-halli värvi, nii et nende vahel vahet tegemine oli sama lihtne nagu näiteks kanakarjast erinevate kanade eristamine.
Kohutav jura, vältige kui võite!
Kohutav jura, vältige kui võite!
July 5, 2024
After 7 trades/ 44 extremely satisfying issues of Sandman Mystery Theatre, this was a shock to the system. The overall quality here is far lower than the core series, likely due to the fact that it is a different creative team. This seems like Marvel's Death's Head 3.0 from a few years ago, being a feeble attempt at rebooting/ re-imagining a title, and like that trade, should be avoided.
February 21, 2017
"LET THEM SLEEP!" this one is crazy, throats are getting slit, explosions and it deserves a movie 5 just for that gun and madness if ever imagined in The Middle East deserts wanting to see flesh turn to dust. Sandman Mystery Edition gives
May 24, 2024
I couldn't get myself to care about this new character. The best parts of this were the too rare moments involving an elderly Wesley and Dian. Taking away the film noir style of the original and modernizing it didn't work for me at all.
October 28, 2025
I just couldn't get into this. The Sandman Mystery Theatre series is one of my favorite comic series of all time, so this had a hard act to follow. Even so, it was a little confusing, and I didn't find it a satisfying coda to the original series.
January 30, 2021
A solid enough modern pulp diluted in the end by metaphysics & just a general muddiness/opaqueness
December 22, 2008
There's always been a little bit of Batman in SMT's characterization of Wesley Dodds, but I'm not sure that I buy him as the old, but still tougher than anybody, version from Dark Knight Returns.
I'm also not sure I like the weaponization of the Sandman's arsenal. Sure, it's always been a weapon, but the idea of Wesley altering his gun to make people sleep for longer or having enemies trying to steal his gas to use as a sleep weapon seems out of keeping with the rest of the world.
Still and all, I liked it, but I think I need another read before coming to a final judgment.
I'm also not sure I like the weaponization of the Sandman's arsenal. Sure, it's always been a weapon, but the idea of Wesley altering his gun to make people sleep for longer or having enemies trying to steal his gas to use as a sleep weapon seems out of keeping with the rest of the world.
Still and all, I liked it, but I think I need another read before coming to a final judgment.
September 16, 2017
guh.....
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews