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Neil Gaiman Returns to The Sandman

There are few titles in the world of comics bigger than The Sandman. Neil Gaiman’s chronicle of the adventures of ‘Dream’/Morpheus, published from 1988 through to 1996, has become a modern fantasy classic, even making the New York Times bestseller list. Since then, Gaiman has continued his writing career with a string of other notable successes, such as his acclaimed American Gods. But today, [not] at SDCC, Gaiman made the announcement (via video) that he would be returning to series in order to explore some of the backstory that was neglected during the original series:

The new instalments are due to begin publication in November 2013, exactly 25 years after the initial release of the Sandman series.

While I’m eagerly looking forward to these upcoming releases, this latest announcement certainly puts an exclamation mark on the criticism, from some, that production companies in film and publishing are sticking to tried and tested formulas rather than trying new things. This Sandman reboot comes on the heels of the controversial Before Watchmen series, and the recent release of the Alien ‘prequel’ Prometheus. Hey, hang on a second – looking at Dream’s iconic mask, I think I know the storyline of the new Sandman Series already. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Promorpheus!

If I really wanted to start connecting dots, I might point out that J. H. Williams – the artist who will be working with Gaiman on the new series – is well-known for his work on Alan Moore’s Promethea series. But I wouldn’t do that…

Editor
  1. Exciting!
    I normally approach reboots with hesitance, but this might turn out to be truly amazing. Neil’s recent work is still great, and J.H. is an amazing artist. I hope for the best, time will tell.

  2. Alrighty then!
    In other words Neil, DC offered you a boatload of money to return to Sandman. Nothing wrong with a boatload of money. I’d say a boatload of money is preferable to a boatload of anchors. Heck, it’s even preferable to a boatload of Sandman graphic novels.

    But your whole “there’s this one panel of untold back story I’ve been aching to tell” schtick sounds surprisingly like a story you made up so you wouldn’t have to say, “Look DC offered me a boatload of money to return to Sandman.”

    I loved comics as a kid. I learned to read primarily by reading comics. But you could buy 10 comics for a $1.20. These days 10 comics will run anywhere from $30 – $50. Not to mention that the bulk of the audience for comics are adults who haven’t been able to shake their Batman addiction. I actually feel sorry for the little tykes because that cheap form of imagination fix is no longer cheap & no longer, in many cases, appropriate for kids to even read. Many of them are festooned with themes meant to appease adult comic readers. But an 8 year old just isn’t wired for exposure to them.

    Anyway Neil, I thought the world was supposed to end on Dec. 23rd or Dec. 21st, depending on whether you believe the scholar who did the original calculation(Dec. 23rd) or the New Agers who paired it up with the Winter Solstice(Dec. 21st) because they’re New Agers & they’ve got a lifetime of fudging data into convenient results fanning out behind them.

    Maybe you would be better off jumping up that release date Neil. That is, if you want an audience to read it.

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