The award-winning Sandman follows the return of Dream, the personification of hopes and dreams, to his domain after being trapped and held prisoner for 70 years and his quest to regain the powers he once possessed. It also follows his family, known as the Endless.
The concept of The Sandman emerged from Neil Gaiman's idea to revive Jack Kirby's 1970's Sandman series after his Black Orchid mini series at DC Editor Karen Berger suggested he keep the Sandman name but create the rest of the series entirely from scratch. Using ideas he had of a character that lived in dreams, Gaiman created the character of Morpheus, a literal take on the folklore concept of the Sandman and a personification of dreaming itself. With this, Gaiman revived several dormant DC horror and mystery characters and populated his world of The Dreaming with them. The series soon evolved beyond its DC Universe horror origins and became one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy comic series of all time, regularly outselling its superhero counterparts toward its end and introducing comics to whole new audiences outside of the comics mainstream. The collected editions have been reprinted numerous times and remain best sellers for DC/Vertigo.
The series was originally a DC book, but was one of the original titles moved onto the new Vertigo label with issue #47. Gaiman ended the series at 75 issues, but the run also included The Sandman Special (1991).
Pencillers
- Sam Kieth #1-5, 20 (TOT 6)
- Mike Dringenberg #6-11, 14-16, 21, 28 (TOT 11)
- Chris Bachalo #12
- Michael Zulli #13, 53, 70-73 (TOT 6)
- Kelly Jones #17, 18, 22-24, 26, 27 (TOT 7)
- Charles Vess #19, 62, 75
- Matt Wagner #25
- Stan Woch #29
- Bryan Talbot #30, 36, 51-56 (TOT 8)
- Shawn McManus#31-33, 35-37 (TOT 6)
- Colleen Doran #34
- Duncan Eagleson #38
- John Watkiss #39, 52
- Jill Thompson #40-49 (TOT 9)
- P Craig Russell #50
- Alec Stevens #51
- Mike Allred #54
- Shea Anton Pensa #55
- Gary Amaro #56
- Marc Hempel#57-61, 63, 65-69 (TOT 11)
- Glyn Dillon #62
- Teddy Kristiansen #64
- Jon J Muth #74
Spin-Offs
The series proved so popular that numerous spin-off titles were written, both by Gaiman and those that emerged after Gaiman's initial series ended. They include:
*ongoing series are in bold
Trade Paperbacks/Hardcovers
The entirety of the Sandman series collected, albeit out of chronological order, in both soft and hardcover formats. The most recent printings have had their interior art recolored. (This recoloring originally premiered in the Absolute Editions years earlier and was approved by Gaiman.)
30th Anniversary Trade Paperbacks
Absolute Editions
Oversized hardcover re-releases that re-colored and collected the entire series chronologically for the first time. Comes packaged in a special slipcase.
Annotated Editions
The original series collected and accompanied by page-by-page annotations by Leslie S. Klinger.
Omnibuses
Massive oversized collections of the original series.
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