Like, I suspect, most of you, I learned about Neil Gaiman’s return to Sandman via Albert’s liveblogging of the Vertigo panel yesterday. I was at the computer, reading along with a sense of “They wouldn’t. Would they?” about the whole thing; I had heard the rumor, but to be honest, couldn’t really believe it was true because DC and Gaiman had failed to come to an agreement for this very thing five years earlier, and because I assumed – feel free to throw in that thing about assuming making an ass out’ve you and me here – that Alan Moore’s increasing discomfort with DC over Before Watchmen may have pulled Gaiman away from the idea of working with the publisher considering the friendship between the creators. But, no, it is happening… And part of me wonders whether something this big will end up dominating the rest of con and overshadowing the other announcements not only from DC but also Marvel? After all, as I said on Twitter last night, suddenly “It’s All-New X-Men! With Brian Michael Bendis!” seems a little… underwhelming in comparison to something like this news. Face it, tigers: DC has most likely just won the con.
(Worth pointing out, though: DC has just burned through both Watchmen and Sandman legacies in the course of a year, in terms of announcements; what else of a similar scale does it have in its back pocket for the future…?)
July 13th, 2012 at 7:45 am
I can imagine DC is pulling out all the stops to get Ennis & Dillon back for Before Preacher for 2014 (or maybe 2015 since that’s the 20 year anniversary).
July 13th, 2012 at 8:02 am
How about Bat plus Supes? A plus X?
July 13th, 2012 at 9:02 am
I do find this very intriguing that this is truly “Before” Sandman.
This make me happy. Very, very happy.
I was working at a comic book shop and in college when Sandman #1 came out. I had not ordered it (being very much a Marvel/DC superhero fan) and we had one copy left for the racks after doing our subscription pulls.
It sat on the racks for more than a week… I remember being fascinated by the cover and turned off by the interior art…
When I shifted the books around for the next week’s new releases, I finally put it in my box.
So glad that I did. Not only was Sandman one of my favorite comics experiences of my 20′s (when everything seemed so important and intense), Neil’s novels continue to fascinate and entertain me.
THANK YOU NEIL.
THANK YOU DC.
Welcome back.
July 13th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Wonder if they are renewing the series with a prequel in order to bolster it for a movie. Granted they have more than enough source material for a movie but they might want to show renewed/continued interest in the product – as well as get Neil Gaiman on board. Would be interesting to see if in the new contract if the movie rights were negotiated for
July 13th, 2012 at 10:21 am
I’m starting to get the feeling that Marvel and DC are less concerned about each other and more concerned about Image. Gaiman doesn’t own Sandman — DC could do whatever they want with it. But they’re not.
I can see there being a lot of “we have the coolest toys, come play with them (even if you don’t get to keep them)” coming from the Big Two towards creators.
Makes me wonder what we’ll hear from Image this weekend.
July 13th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
I have to admit, I did get a chuckle out of the fact that Marvel’s biggest counter to the return of The Sandman was news of a Red She Hulk series.
Not even the real one. The red one. It’d be like DC trying to counter a new Alan Moore Marvelman series with a Vibe solo comic. By Howard Mackie.
July 13th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Two words: Camelot 3001
July 13th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
I sure didn’t expect a hack move like this out of Neil Gaiman. Does this guy really need the money that badly? I guess he shouldn’t have wasted all that money on that protracted, spite-motivated lawsuit he brought against Todd McFarlene.
Alan Moore said it best:
“It seems a bit desperate to go after a book famous for its artistic integrity. It’s a finite series…To turn that into just another…comic that goes on forever demonstrates exactly why I feel the way I do about the comics industry. It’s mostly about franchises.”
Before you know it Sandman will be just another generic DC corporate character making guest appearances in Justice League and Superman comics. Oh crap…too late.
July 14th, 2012 at 7:35 am
Before V, the story of the man and how he came to be in cell V.
July 14th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
“Before you know it Sandman will be just another generic DC corporate character making guest appearances in Justice League and Superman comics. Oh crap…too late.”
Why would that matter anyway? Sandman was always integrated into the DCU.
July 14th, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Well, it’s pretty clear that Marvel deliberately avoided playing the Con Hype game – the initial Marvel Now! announcements predated SDCC and there’s any number of big news items Marvel could have doled out at San Diego (whither Hickman, Gillen, Fraction?) that they have chosen to unveil at some other time in some other fashion. With the growing ability to get mainstream news coverage for things like this, why risk having it all get lost in the noise?
Regardless, if we are to play the hype game, my own sense is that Image wins this one big time, with a full slate of creator-owned books big big talents. Lots of promising material, and very much in the zeitgeist. So props to them.
July 15th, 2012 at 4:40 am
well considering The Sandman was highly steeped in the DCU lore especially in that first arc. and Sandman used little bits and pieces of Alan and Rick’s work on Swamp thing…
Now it is interesting to not that Sandman has some very big continuity holes now……Who is Fury? Who was the other Sandman? Daniel now has parents that really have no past.
Matthew the Raven…. still connected to the Swamp thing?
is this mini series one of the last vestiges of the old DCU/Vertigo?
July 16th, 2012 at 7:36 am
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