This is a pretend retrospective, mostly because I finished it a few weeks ago and didn't feel like taping it to the end of the Camus post. This is going to be short.
First off, this is a good series. The only thing I've ever read by Gaiman that I wasn't really in love with was Stardust, to be honest. I've mentioned smidgens here and there about the other volumes, I think--well, the series wraps itself up perfectly. And I mean, perfectly. It's kind of like... Like a panel out of Watchmen. The one I'm thinking of is in the sort-of epilogue, when the first Silk Spectre is making tea while The Outer Limits is just opening on the TV. Her daughter and the second Night Owl come to the door with the hair dyed and such... And all the panels are synced to the opening of the TV show ("Do not attempt to adjust your TV set..." etc), the steam is acting with it, the actions and items in the background work with it--even Silk Spectre's struggle to recognize her daughter works with it. It is so ridiculous how detailed and perfect it is--that's what the whole series is like. You may not necessarily notice every perfect intersecting detail, but it's all there at the end. That alone is a good reason to read it, I mean, really.
But it is good in its own right. I mean... I don't know what to say other than what I have already. If you like comic books and like Neil Gaiman, read it. It will appeal to people who enjoy fantasy books, mythology books... Gaiman himself describes it as horror, and it is kind of dark, but... I don't know. When I think horror I either think of something like the Alien movies, or something like a psychological horror, you know. This did not strike me as being either of those, though there are some disturbing ideas presented here and there, I suppose...
Oh, and there's a companion to the series by Hy Bender that is mostly interviews with Gaiman, and that is amazing. The first few chapters are rubbish--"Why read a comic book?"--in my personal opinion, if you're asking yourself that, then maybe you ought not be reading it at all, or even considering reading it. ...Buuuut, once he starts talking about the issues themselves, and presenting the Gaiman interviews, it is very interesting. Actually one of the coolest parts--other than overlooked details being pointed out, or realizing I was right about certain things, or Gaiman being Gaiman--is seeing how many characters were borrowed from long-forgotten DC comics. Lucien, Dream's librarian, Cain and Abel, Eve, Prez, the guy who believes he is the new Sandman after Dream was trapped (first volume, I'm pretty sure)... They're all borrowed from mostly failed comic lines by DC in the seventies. It's actually pretty crazy. I'd love to find those old comics and read them too, to see how they matched up, you know? (Especially Lucien's and Prez's.) Hm... I also wonder if Neil Gaiman intended his short story-turned-radio play-turned-comic book Murder Mysteries to sync in with this. I'm pretty sure that was written even after Hy Bender's Companion book was, though, so he does not mention it. (Murder Mysteries is about heaven--or the Silver City as it is known in Sandman--prior to Lucifer's fall, although Lucifer is not the main character. However, he leaves after the main events take place, and you see his original departure from heaven, though the main character leaves before Lucifer begins his assault.)
Hmmm... I guess that's it. Like I said, I don't have a lot to say--at least nothing particularly important... I'd urge you to read it, if again, you like fantasy, mythos, Neil Gaiman's other works... I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. But if that is not your thing, don't bother. I borrowed mine from the library out of convenience (and being flat broke), but actually, it's kind of funny... I just finished the series, and right after that Neil Gaiman announced on his Tumblr that a special edition box set of the series was being released for $125. In an alternate universe where I am not a flat-broke college student, I have preordered it and await its arrival in excitement.
(And if you're broke, no worries! This comic is popular and well-known enough for nearly any library to carry at least a few of its volumes! My college library even has the first two... Actually, I think it's two and four, or something like that. Well... You know what I mean.)
So yeah! Go read the series, it's good. Oh, and the spin-off comics aren't bad either, especially the ones by Jill Thompson--it's the spin-offs of the spin-offs you have to look out for (no thank you, Dead Boy Detectives!) And sorry that this wasn't more detailed. I don't have any volumes on me, and I read the whole series in a rather stilted fashion. So... Sorry.... (But this should only give you more incentive...)
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