I can’t believe it was 20 years ago when I first started reading Sandman from DC Comics Vertigo imprint. It was my introduction to Neil Gaiman and I’ve been a fan ever since.

I’ve devoured everything Sandman related since then and I eagerly await receiving the final 2 volumes in the Absolute Sandman series this Christmas, so I can re-read the entire series.

One great thing about the series was the cast of rotating artists. Being only 14 when the series started, it introduced me to great artists like Jill Thomson, Marc Hempel, MIke Zuli, and more.

If you’re a fan of the series or great looking art, you should check out the Endless Refelctions: 20 Years of Sandman gallery. Many of the pieces are available for purchase—if you have the $$.

If you’re a fan of artist James Jean (if you’re not, you should be), you’ll be glad to know that DC Comics is releasing a hardback collection of his work on the Vertigo series Fables.

Jean has posted the beautiful wrap-around cover for the collection on his site and you can pre-order the book from Amazon right now for $26. Just check out his blog for examples of his stunning work. Well worth picking up in hardcover.

Probably the one of the best segments ever on the show Friends has been combined with one of my favorite cartoons ever.

In 1966, Filmation successfully launched The New Adventures of Superman cartoon. It’s success led to a number of spin-off shorts and series. Between 1967 and 1969, Filmation produced a series of 18 shorts featuring The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

Growing up, I remember seeing these on the Bozo show and years later when they began running on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang in between shows I began recording them. A few episodes were recorded off of S-VHS tapes from a friend and cleaned up and enhanced. All in all, it’s a great looking set. Here’s hoping that Warner will release this series on DVD with extras similar to the New Adventures of Superman and the Adventures of Aquaman sets.

Featuring Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, this was the first series to refer to the Justice League as the SuperFriends. Each 44-minute episode featured the main cast of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog battling a villain or menace created specifically for the show. No comic villains were used.

Two episodes (of the 16 total) did feature guest appearances from other heroes. Green Arrow played a prominent role in one episode and Plastic Man made a minor appearance in another.

As with many of the shows I record, I wanted to make this set to share with Carter. I also wanted to experiment with the menu as well. I had figured out how to create custom thumbnails, but that wouldn’t work on a set with so many episodes and such long episode titles. I decided to use one large thumbnail in the shape of the Superman S. Placed behind Krypto, it plays the intro to the show and provides the background music for the menu.

I recently completed this set. It took quite a while to catch all of the Season 2 episodes, as they premiered with little fanfare. However, the set is now done a looks great.

That was my initial thought when I heard about Supermanyi Eodeon Sanayi or (A Man Who Was Superman) over on Geeks of Doom. Way more than a superhero flick, “A Man Who Was Superman” sounds like an intelligent take on the superhero genre, one that resembles nothing I’ve ever seen or read before.

Here’s a part of the description:

While filming, her camera is stolen camera by a thief. The camera is quickly retrieved by a man in a Hawaiian shirt (played by actor Jeong-min Hwang) who claims to be Superman. He explains to Soo-jung that he has been rendered powerless by a villain who placed shards of Kryptonite in his head, but still does good deeds like rescuing lost dogs, persuading a man not to wander about naked in public — and sometimes regains enough power to stand on his head and push the Earth away from a collision course with the Sun.

Definitely one to look for later in 2008, when it makes its way to DVD.

It’s little things like that image above that make comics so fun. Artists (and writers) insert all kinds of little references and in-jokes for perceptive readers to find. Some of them (like a Vulcan–from Star Trek– Green Lantern) make perfect sense.

The Green Lantern Corps is supposed to have a member from every sector in the galaxy, so a Vulcan GL Corp member makes sense. One little reference makes the comic universe seem so expansive and large and feel like anything can happen. For those that want to check his one-panel appearance, see Green Lantern 2nd Series (1976), Issue #90 – “Those Who Worship Evil’s Might.”

Here’s the beautiful cover to the Starman: The Complete Saga HC, Vol. 1 (by Tony Harris and James Robinson). May 6, 2008 is a long way off. Hopefully, DC Comics will release these at a rate of 2 (or more) a year.

After years and years, the Woner Twins finally (well, Zan anyway) faces the cold, hard truth about his powers.