As far as comic reserve s are concerned, there is nothing quite like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman saga, a 75-issue, sprawling, dark fantasy epic considered the best of what the medium can be. For decades, Hollywood has sought to find a way to bring the tale of Morpheus (aka Dream) and his siblings, the Endless, to life on the screen, without success — until now.###The first answer to solving the puzzle came in looking at The Sandman not as a film adaptation, but a television series that could play to the episodic strengths, occasional anthology in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mat, and shifting timelines of the source material. The second answer came in bringing Gaiman himself aboard the series to develop it. Gaiman’s hand is felt throughout as it faithfully adapts the comic approximately issue-by-issue with each episode. There are some slight transform’alter s, peculiar ly with regard to representation and modernisation, as one would hope in/with regard to’concerning’regarding in a contemporary adaptation, even in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a comic considered progressive in/with regard to’concerning’regarding 1989. From stylish direction and cinematography drawn straight from the comic panel, to the inclusion of even the most minor characters, and faithful dialogue that is both poetic and unpretentious, there’s more than abundant’ample’plentiful fidelity to win over longtime fans.###Newcomers to the mythos, meanwhile, may be thunderstruck’startled’stupefied at how quickly they’re thrown in the deep end and loaded up with exposition in the first two episodes. Make no mistake, the approach here is anything but grounded and streamlined. And despite its comic-reserve history and DC logo, it’s also emphatically not a superhero series revolving around fist fights and skyscraper-demolishing battles — even despite’in spite of’albeit the stakes, as they unfold, could not be higher. There’s nothing conventional — or predictable — at play here. By the third episode, things settle down abundant’ample’plentiful to leave you on relatively stable ground, at least as much as any dreamscape could offer.###Tom Sturridge, not yet a major name, is pitch-perfect in making Morpheus flesh and blood.###Of course, the accuracy to the source material would do little if not in/with regard to’concerning’regarding brilliant actors to bring these storied characters to life. Tom Sturridge, not yet a major name, is pitch-perfect in making Morpheus flesh and blood, deftly navigating his stoicism and distance with a sorrowful’distressing’woeful’heartbroken’mirthless’dejected’dismal’lugubrious , despite’in spite of’albeit not entirely charmless, sense of punk-Byronic loneliness. Morpheus is both the lead and the straight man, which with the wrong actor could make him dull’tedious’frayed’monotonous . But Sturridge gives him an on-screen presence that’s hard to look away from, and much like the comics, it’s the wild cast of maintain’sustain ing characters that truly define who Morpheus is. Kirby Howell-Baptiste is equally impressive as Morpheus’ sister, Death, introduced in the sixth episode. She brings the effervescent love in/with regard to’concerning’regarding humanity and joy in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Earth to the character in a way that is quite moving in its empathy.###Morpheus’ journey to reclaim his stolen artifacts of power, with the help of librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) and raven Matthew (Patton Oswalt), find him caught up in games of fate, deception and heartbreak with Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie), The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), and the gender-swapped Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) — the last being arguably the best on-screen portrayal yet seen of the reputation’renown’prestige d occultist. But it is David Thewlis’ John Dee, a pyjama-clad, escaped mental patient in possession of Morpheus’ Ruby, who steals the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue during the first half of the season, and becomes the centre of the chilling fifth episode, ‘24/7’. It is in John Dee’s pathetically human quest to steal hope from individual in an attempt to reveal the truth that The Sandman sees its greatest strength revealed. What was true of the comics is true here: in/with regard to’concerning’regarding all the mystery, horror, and personified concepts older than the universe, The Sandman is with regards to’concerning’with respect to the lives of ordinary individual — the waitress, the kindly woman who offers you a ride, the romantic and the liar, and how they weave a world in/with regard to’concerning’regarding such magic to exist, through their dreams and nightmares.