I am a huge fan of Asterix and also consumed Tintin and Archie comics when i was a kid. But uh oh, i think i'm beginning to like the so called 'graphic novel' genre now. Truth be told i never took comic books very seriously before. Maybe that's because the word 'comic' is somewhat of a misnomer when it comes to something like 'The Sandman'. 
 Neil Gaiman has created a universe in which mortals are looked over by a set of beings that are representative of inherent conditions of human nature. Anthropomorphic personifications if you will. Our protagonist is Dream a.k.a. Morpheus, the king of the land of dreams, whose sister is Death. 
 That being said, he also includes heaven and hell and other biblical elements, rebirth and Buddhism, Greek mythology and probably several other things i missed in what appears to be a bizarre free market economy of belief systems and mythical constructs. 
 His humans generally divide into 3 categories, in true DC fashion. The rare crime buster, the truly evil and the vast majority of innocent blind fools that are the masses. Most of them are ignorant about happenings beyond the constraints of their mortal lives and the material world they live in. And this setting is central to the concepts Gaiman explores in his work. 
 He talks about the fear of death, megalomania, their predisposition to distraction and evil, greed, ambition and self destruction. Their daily lives and habits become insignificant and pathetic when looked through the immortal prism of Morpheus. At first glance most of these themes are not positive. But they are, weirdly. By painting his universe with darkness, Gaiman creates contrasts that deliver positive messages as well. 
 One gripe I had was with his attempt to integrate the Sandman universe with the regular DC universe. Somehow The League of Justice and Batman seem a little out of place in this mythic setting. But their appearances are very brief and unimportant in the overall plot line so that's a relief. 
 What i liked most is that the book gives you a lot to think about as you read along, trying to decipher the various references and situations you are presented with. Norman Mailer described this as 'a comic book for intellectuals', i think i agree. I also liked the artwork, which is wild and at times even messy, in keeping with the surrealistic feel of the story. 
 It was published in serial form from 1989 to 1996. The whole series runs a total of 75 issues. The 'Preludes and Nocturnes' volume encompasses the first 8 issues of the series. If you've never read a serious comic book before this is a perfect place to start. I'd highly recommended it to Fantasy fans. Although the genre here would be more aptly described as fantasy-horror.