I watched 23 TV shows based on books this year, some brilliant, some baffling, and a few that made me question all my life choices (looking at you, cancellations). From epic fantasy finally finding its footing to adaptations that somehow outshone stories I already loved, this list breaks down the 5 shows that truly stuck with me… and yes, I will roast the ones I love.
Morpheus is back in the Dreaming—and so is his past. From heartbreak, Hell to a surreal sibling road trip, Season 2 of The Sandman balances myth, vengeance, messy emotions, and brilliant performances. Here's what Part 1 gets so right.
The Sandman doesn’t waste time pretending we’re in control of how we arrive in this world. Instead, it asks the real question: What do we do once we’re here? Through layered storytelling and melancholic truth, it holds up a mirror to the parts of us we didn’t ask for but still carry.
"They lie because they're scared. People will say anything. Do anything to keep from being hurt." The Sandman
"We do not choose to be created. Nor do we choose how we are made." The Sandman S1
"Knowing that people are selfish sets you free from having to take their actions, their lies, personally. People lie because they are selfish. They lie because they are human." John - The Sandman S1
My 2022 top 5 TV-Shows based on previously published works.
A nightmare's purpose is to reveal a dreamer's fear, that they may face them." Morpheus, The Sandman
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times Magazine as “the greatest epic in the history of comic books”, The Sandman changed the game with its dark, literary world of fantasy and horror - creating a global, cultural phenomenon in the process.
The truth is a cleansing fire...which burns away the lies we've told each other...and the lies we've told ourselves. So that love and hate, pleasure and pain, can all be expressed without shame. Where there is no good or bad there is only the truth." John Dee, The Sandman (2022)
Worn Out Spines 