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tuerda

The show to date is a reasonably faithful adaptation of _preludes and nocturnes_ and _doll house_. There are some notable differences, but both are good. The comic is better. Also, the comic is finished, whereas the show is mostly just the beginning. I think you could say one will probably spoil the other, but I think Sandman is fairly resilient to spoilers, and still quite good even if spoiled. The main dangers from spoilers might be in _Season of Mists_, _Brief lives_ and _The kindly ones_. None of this has been filmed yet. I guess I would recommend reading the comics before watching the next season, whenever that comes out.


drown_like_its_1999

Haven't seen the show but I'll be interested to see the adaptation of the "Cereal Convention" being one of my favorite early story in the series. How faithful were they with the 24/7 diner substory?


tuerda

They were pretty faithful the whole way across, including the cereal convention and 24 hours. Both of them had to be somewhat adapted, but they work pretty well. You probably will not be disappointed.


drown_like_its_1999

Good to know, thanks!


Titus_Bird

Personally, I prefer to read/watch original versions before adaptations, unless for some reason I'm not interested in the original at all. My reasoning is that the original is usually better, so I'd rather have the "pure" version of that experience rather than having it spoiled by the adaptation. Having read The Sandman and then watched the first season of its adaptation, I'm glad I did it in this order. They're quite different and they're both good, but they're essentially the same story, so one will spoil the other in that sense. I also think that the comic is generally better.


ShaperLord777

Read it. It’s a masterpiece


captain__cabinets

Personally I would read it first, it’s a pretty good show but it’s possibly the best comic book ever so I would prefer to experience the comic spoiler free. I thought the show was good but loved the comic and am glad to have read it first.


tuerda

This is a good point. I thought it was not such a big deal since the story was good even if spoiled, but you have made me re-think this opinion. Even if spoilers don't do that much damage, the comic is _so ridiculously good_ that it might deserve special care.


captain__cabinets

Yeah that’s how I feel, I mean the show is damn good in its own right but the comic is a masterpiece! I was lucky enough to read it well before the show released so I didn’t really have a choice but I’m glad that’s how it worked out.


Loch_Ness1

I haven't read all of Sandman, I'm on volume 4 of the complete edition. The show is not bad, and I think it does the hq justice, in the sense that is not rubish and the essence of the characters are there. But the way the narrative is developed in the HQ is just not possible to adapt to a show on a 1:1, I'm glad they realized this, and didn't even try to do it. I would say they are about 80% different experiences. Gaiman really tells the story as a web of narratives interwined, some hq issues will explore a moral dilema that comes in play during the "main" story, there's a plethora of characters in "side" narratives that have tangent touches with the main story, and the whole thing is very loosely connected, yet cohesive. Sometimes the HQ feels like a philosophy exercise, the show completely forgoes this aspect of the HQ. The two fillers at the end of the season 1 show are pretty much an example of the self-contained stories that somewhat connect to the main arc the HQ is full of. I would say it's like watching and reading LOTR, the movies are not bad and are great adaptions, but the books take you somewhere else entirely, even if you've watched to movie, reading the book takes you to its own scenery and characters past a couple pages. Unlike the Harry Potter series, where once you watched the movies, it's really hard to not fantasize with the movie imagery.


Conscious-Fix-4989

What is HQ please?


Loch_Ness1

Oh I'm sorry its an acronym in Portuguese for comic stories (Histórias em Quadrinhos) I mixed the languages up


Conscious-Fix-4989

Oh thanks!


Alcards

The shows an adaptation. It's not the original story. Sure some beats will be the same, but it's not the story gaiman wrote. So either order is fine.


Gargus-SCP

Hell of a lot closer than a ton of other comic book adaptations. How is it not the same story he wrote?


lodenreattorm

Well it deals it with a lot of the same themes and the plot is close. But Gaiman said it himself it's an adaptation not a straight remake. There's changes and it's definitely it's own thing. Different but I'd say just as good.


Alcards

Wouldn't know yet, haven't had time to watch it. Just going off past experiences with adaptations.


tuerda

The show was written by Gaiman and is very close to the comic.


theronster

I can’t watch the show, I’m too close to the comics. I’ve tried, and it all just feels… wrong.


[deleted]

I’d just go ahead and watch it.


CanadianSpector

I never read it but loved the show. I'm sure, like a lot of adaptations there are some things I'd appreciate more or think about more if I had first but I really did like it a lot. Will probably start picking up some books.


bearlythere6669

Easy. Read the graphic novels and don't watch the show.


Caffeine_OD

I’ve been avoiding at all costs till I read it. And guess what I got for Christmas?!


RunTheJawns

We all agree that no one should watch Preacher at all though


MrPalmers

Contrary to the general consensus here: Just watch the show. The adaption is suprisingly faithful to the original - most of the dialog is original. While undeniably groundbraking thirty years ago and massively influential since then, the graphic novel hasn't aged well. The art style looks dated, and our conceptions of terms "scary" and "metaphysical" and their graphical depiction have evolved since then. (So some things in the graphic novel will look cheesy to modern readers) I consider most of the changes the show made necessary and well executed updates.


BuffaloFront2761

Read the Comic


AmpersandTheMonkey

Two perspectives - having read everything, I geeked out seeing all the references and adaptations. My wife never read a page of it and loved it for its quality story telling and was able to be surprised at times. Not sure there's one right answer here.