Listen, I love Neil Gaiman just as much as the next girl but I feel like Sandman is so over-hyped, especially wrt the earlier issues. Like, there's even an interview w/ Neil himself in the back of my copy where he says that he looks back on this and realizes it's not his best work. I actually read ...probably about half of Sandman several years, but I got distracted by Lucifer and never came back. But now I'm ready to try again and hopefully I'll get all the way through it this time! 
 There's definitely some great groundwork here, but I think it suffers from a few main problems. The first is that it doesn't really know what it's trying to do at this point, which Neil also addresses in that same interview I mentioned earlier. It's very clear that each of the first 7 issues are him trying his take on a different well known comic style and it feels a little bit gimmicky to me. I do try to put this in perspective because I realize this was written almost 30 years ago, but I just don't feel like it has aged that well. 
 Also something that I always forget is that Sandman was actually published first under DC's main imprint because Vertigo wouldn't exist for another 4-5 years at this point. And because of that you have things like the Justice League and other big name main DC characters being crossed-over into this story line, which is something that I don't think really fits the mood that it's trying to get across. Issue 8 is definitely the best out of the bunch and I think that's because it's where Gaiman really starts to do his own thing. Also I just really love Death, so her appearance really helps. 
 The other thing that I think stops me from being in love with this series is that I just flat out do not like Dream. He's a mopey git at the best of times and an absolute bastard at the worst. One of the things that he's done that makes me the most angry has only been hinted at in this volume so I'll save that rant for a later date, but most of the time I just want to shake or slap him. I do appreciate him on some level because in this post-Twilight world it's refreshing to be able to read something with an immortal who 1) actually acts like an immortal and 2) isn't a misunderstood heart-throb, but on the other hand having me hate your main character isn't the best way to get me to connect with your story. 
 But this is only the first volume and I'm hoping I will be able to better connect with the story this time around. Wish me luck!