There is a wider world to explore, one introduced through the many pantheons of gods showcased in this story. expand the world of the Sandman far beyond its initial DCU bounds (which, with a few exceptions, had been shucked off a while back). And Dream Country told what some might feel as tangential tales that provide a bit more knowledge about the Sandman. The Doll's House expanded readers' knowledge of the Dreaming, as the challenge of a new dream vortex almost spurs Morpheus to spill family blood.

Preludes & Nocturnes was a Campbellian 'hero quest,' as Morpheus went in search of his symbols of power. To my mind, Season of Mists is where things open up for this particular Sandman mythos. To this day this is the only comic book series a few of my friends have read, and they mention this volume as the one that got them interested in reading the entire story. This is also one of the two books in the series that I would lend out to my non-comic book reading female friends who were curious about Sandman (Doll's House was the other) and was pretty much the gateway drug for the entire series. And seeing Death in her pink running gear is just too weird. Or the interlude in the boys' school, though something about the art in that particular episode just didn't work for me. Or Morpheus and Lyta's argument when he visits (and names) Daniel. For instance, right after the description of all of the Endless, there's that incredibly awkward family dinner, which leads to Morpheus going to Hell to rescue Nada. It's interesting for a story arc that dealt with so much cosmic stuff, it also has some of the best human feeling moments. A Season of Mists, to me, was the point that Sandman stopped feeling episodic and started to feel like a bigger story was being told.

The sandman vol 4 season of mists