As a Belgian (i.e. someone who grew up with Franco-Belgian comics), I'm neither very interested in, nor very impressed by the American comics style in general - the superhero obsession, the printing every important word in bold because they apparently can't write well enough to make the reader not need such cheap tricks, and the like. But there are a few books or series I'll make an exception for because they're just that good (or because they're not about superheroes), and while Sandman isn't exactly comparable to Maus and the like, its breadth, ambition and execution still take my breath away, though of course like any series it has its stronger and weaker moments.