Neil Gaiman came into Sandman in Alan Moore’s shadow and left as the top writer in the comic book industry. He then moved into novels and rattled off a string of criticallyacclaimedbest–sellers.  He’s won science fiction awards, YA awards and a closet full of comic awards. It all started with a dentist’s violin and when Vertigo came along to England to recruit some new writers, Gaiman (fresh off assisting Alan Moore and peeking at his scripts) offered to redo a classic character that Jack Kirby had taken a swing at 20 years earlier. 75 issues later (actually 76 if you count the Sandman Special) Sandman is the most honored mainstream comic series of the 1990s. But who is Sandman?

In the superhero boom of the late 1930s, Gardner Fox and Bert Christman created a new character who was more closely aligned with the pulps then with superheros. Wesley Dodd wore a trenchcoat and had a gun that could compel truth telling or sleep. He was later given a more traditional superhero costume and assistant. And Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took over the creating for awhile. In the 1970s, Simon and Kirby created a new superhero named Sandman. This one was part superhero, part mythical Sandman of dreams. But it only lasted a few issues, but was remembered fondly by some people including Neil Gaiman.

When Gaiman started his series, he created a new Sandman character who had been captured in an occult ritual decades ago and, upon escaping, goes to regain his powers and tools with the help of John Constantine. After the initial series, Gaiman explained that he had to make a choice. He could keep his character and stories tied into the DC Universe or he could go into a different direction. Gaiman decided to go more in the direction of mythology.

Gaiman then started incorporating everything into his stories. Cain and Abel were host in two DC horror comics in the 1970s (and had appeared in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing). Then Gaiman brought in characters from the 1970s Sandman and many other obscure (and non-superhero) DC comics characters that he could shoehorn into his mythology. The family came along also. This Sandman is Dream, one of the 7 Endless who were in the Universe before anything else and will be there after anything else. The most popular of the Endless was Death, portrayed as a Goth dressing sweetheart who wants nothing more than to help people end their lives with dignity and grace.

Over the remaining issues, Gaiman told a series of heartbreaking stories that follow the slow change and downfall of Dream. The stories range over a few years with flashbacks over thousands of years (with a few stories set eons ago). At first the overall story arc is not clear, but it slowly circles around and around the core storyline until all the pieces are in place and the climax happens. It is masterful storytelling by Gaiman. He deftly mixes longer story arcs and stand alone stories to bring these characters to life.

Most people suggest that you start reading with the second series, The Doll’s House, since that is the first storyline that truly feels like it’s part of the overall storyline. The first few issues are interesting to see as Gaiman struggles to find his voice and decide what kind of stories he wants to tell. There is little missed by skipping the first storyline to start with and you can always come back to it later. Gaiman deserves every bit of praise that he received for this series. There are 10 books that collect the 75 issues and all are worth owning. Highly recommended.