Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman Turns 35

One of the most important comic series to ever be released turns 35 this year and that series is The Sandman.

The Sandman was originally created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman. Fox was in charge of writing and Christman was in charge of the artwork. This version of Sandman wore a green business suit with a cape (the cape came a bit later), a fedora, and a WWI gas mask. His weapon of choice was a gun that shoots out sleeping gas to knock out the criminals he was going after. The series would go on from 1939 till 1946. Other people took the mantel of Sandman over the years such as Garrett Sanford, Hector Hall, Daniel Hall, Sandy Hawkins, and Kieran Marshall, it was someone else or something that took the mantel and made it his own.

In 1989 we are introduced to Dream or his other name Morpheus. He is one of seven beings that are known as the Endless and each one of the Endless portrays a different meaning of existence. You have Dream and his other brothers and sisters, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and of course Death who is a fan favorite.

The Sandman is about Dream as he was held prisoner for 70 years by a cult and once he was free, he saw how things changed since he was gone and how things went on without him, for better or for worse. Even the DC Universe played a part in the series and we also see topics of life, death, trust, empathy, and so much more.

The series would also win numerous awards such as the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Angoulême International Comic Festival award, multiple Eisner Awards, and a World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story in 1991. It was the first and last comic series to win this award in the Best Short Story at the World Fantasy Award and it was said that the rules were changed so that no other comic series or graphic novel could ever win that award again.

If you haven’t read the series or only know about it via the Netflix series, which is a must-watch by all means, do yourself a huge favor and read the series and see what made this comic series so beloved and celebrated in comics and still to this day. Also a fun fact, did you know Death is based on Cinamon Hadley, a Utah-based performer who was a friend of Mike Dringenberg.