i would add that it's only really the earlier issues of sandman that would need to be recolored. as the series progresses, certain arcs get very distinctive artists and excellent coloring (i'm thinking of the kindly ones and the wake).

anyway, i agree re: gabriel ba's artwork. i remember reading the first preview on myspace or whatever, and being weirded out by it because it was so different, but ultimately the artwork became the selling point for me (the story feels too "typical" somehow, for me, but i also don't usually buy single issues at a time so that could be part of it, too). often, even really excellent artists of more mainstream-style comics (like fables, for example) still mostly work in a typical semi-realistic style, and are not nearly as imaginative or emphatic in the gesturing.