Neil Gaiman is turning The Sandman into an expanded comics universe

Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series The Sandman set a new high-water mark for the comics industry when it debuted in 1988, and 30 years later the author is expanding that world into its own full-fledged mini-universe. Dubbed The Sandman Universe, the series will be part of DC’s Vertigo imprint, and consist of four new individual comic series, each handled by a different writer, with the entire thing kicking off on August 8th.

“I found Vertigo at a time when I was bored with comics, then I read Sandman and my head exploded,” Vertigo executive editor Mark Doyle said in a press release. “Suddenly I saw all these endless storytelling possibilities. I knew I had to get into comics, and I had to get into Vertigo. To return to the imprint and work with Neil Gaiman to expand the Sandman Universe — it’s honestly a dream come true.”

The original Sandman series focused on Dream, a god-like creature that personified dreams themselves, who found himself tasked with rebuilding his kingdom, The Dreaming, after being held captive for decades. The series ran through 1996, incorporating horror, fantasy, dark comedy, and striking artwork to create a singular work that left an indelible cultural impression. Gaiman has periodically returned to the world in the years since the series ended, but this broader expanded universe concept represents a much more ambitious approach to this world than he’s ever attempted before.

The initiative will kick off with The Sandman Universe #1, which features a story by Gaiman, but will be written by his four collaborators on the project: novelists Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring) and Kat Howard (Roses and Rot), and comic writers Si Spurrier (Suicide Squad) and Dan Watters (Limbo). It sets up the basic premise of the new universe: Daniel, who became the lord of dreams at the end of the Sandman run, has vanished, leading to chaos. Each of the new books will pick up a story thread from there.

The Dreaming, which will be written by Spurrier, takes place in Dream’s kingdom, where “crimes and calamities” break out in Daniel’s absence. The comic will focus on three characters — Lucien the librarian, a “monstress” named Dora, and Nuala of Faerie — as they try to find Daniel and put him back in his rightful place of power, while darkness threatens to fall across the kingdom.

The House of Secrets and House of Mystery were prominent locations in Sandman lore, and the second book in the series will introduce another. At the center of House of Whispers is a woman named Latoya, who is trapped in a coma. In an effort to help her, Latoya’s girlfriend and two sisters call upon the Book of Whispers, accidentally stealing the “essence” from a voodoo deity in the process. It causes their home to crash into Dream’s kingdom, while in the real world Latoya wakes up. The problem is, Latoya thinks she’s dead.

Dan Watters’ Lucifer appears to be one of the more straightforward titles in the new collection. It’s about, yes, the devil himself, who is thought to have disappeared. It turns out he’s in a small town, having lost his memory, and trapped in the body of a frail old man. But in Los Angeles, a policeman who is battling brain cancer finds himself with a rather specific mission: find Lucifer and kill him.

Rounding out the collection is Books of Magic, from Kat Howard. There’s a particularly Harry Potter-esque vibe to the cover art of the first issue, and it’s reflected in the storyline, too. It tells the story of Timothy Hunter, a London teenager who is destined to become “the most powerful magician in the universe.” Magic seems to get in the way of school and talking to girls, however — as do a group of cultists, who want to preemptively kill him before he can become too powerful. But a new substitute teacher joins his school, and offers to show Timothy the way to master his powers.

While Sandman was always known for a rather specific kind of moody tone, the new books seem to run the gamut, from the ethereal and dreamlike, to the hard-boiled and fanciful. It’s not clear yet just how much the different titles will overlap, in the style of a traditional comic book universe, or whether the stories will remain relatively siloed unto themselves. From the different premises of the four books, however, it appears there will be plenty of territory to explore in either case. Sandman fans will be able to start reading on August 8th.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/1/17069162/the-sandman-universe-neil-gaiman-dc-comics-vertigo