The Sandman Universe

The Sandman Universe is a line of American comic books published by DC Comics under its imprints DC Vertigo and DC Black Label. The line launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (1989—1996) and Vertigo's 25th anniversary. The Sandman Universe began in August 2018, with a titular one-shot, which was followed by four ongoing series—House of Whispers, Lucifer, The Books of Magic, and The Dreaming. Each comic is overseen by Gaiman but written by new creative teams.

The Sandman Universe
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
GenreDark fantasy
Publication dateAugust 2018
Main character(s)

Conception and development

The Sandman Universe celebrates the 30th anniversary of DC Comics' The Sandman[1] and the 25th anniversary of the launch of the DC Vertigo imprint. The line was conceived and is overseen by the series' creator, Neil Gaiman, but produced by new creative teams. The Sandman Universe expands The Sandman's part of the DC Universe[2] using new characters and concepts.[3] The line was announced by Entertainment Weekly in March 2018 and was accompanied by a trailer featuring Gaiman. It launched with the one-shot The Sandman Universe #1 on August 8, 2018, with the other series following on later dates.[3]

When asked why he returned to The Sandman, Gaiman said he began to feel guilty that almost no one had been able to return to the series since its conclusion and liked the idea of reviving it, as well as letting new writers play with his "toys". Gaiman assembled the writing team for the line with the Vertigo editorial team. Both parties suggested writers who they thought would be good for new Sandman stories. Samples by writers were then read by Gaiman, who decided whether or not they were proficient. Deciding writers also involved choosing which comic suited which writer best; Gaiman cited Nalo Hopkinson's science fiction work as an influence for assigning her to House of Whispers. Gaiman chose Kat Howard, who he has worked with for several years, to reboot The Books of Magic because of her handling of magic in her stories, and Dan Watters to write Lucifer because he was up to the challenge of recreating the character.[3]

Titles

The Sandman Universe began with a titular one-shot released in August 2018. It picks up after the events of DC's 2017–2018 Dark Nights: Metal crossover event. Dream has disappeared since the conclusion of Metal,[4] leading to chaos in his homeland of the Dreaming. Each Sandman Universe series follows a story thread introduced in the one-shot.[1][3][2]

Title Issues Writer(s) Artist(s) Publication date Format
Year One
The Sandman Universe #1 Simon Spurrier, Kat Howard, Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters Bilquis Evely, Tom Fowler, Dominike Stanton, Max Fiumara, Sebastian Fiumara August 2018 One-shot
The Dreaming #1–20 Simon Spurrier Bilquis Evely September 2018 – April 2020 Monthly ongoing
House of Whispers #1–22 Nalo Hopkinson Dominike Stanton September 2018 – June 2020 Monthly ongoing
Lucifer #1–24[lower-alpha 1] Dan Watters Max Fiumara and Sebastian Fiumara October 2018 – Monthly ongoing
The Books of Magic #1–23 Kat Howard Tom Fowler October 2018 – September 2020 Monthly ongoing
Year Two
The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1 Simon Spurrier Marcio Takara October 2019 One-shot
John Constantine, Hellblazer #1–12 Aaron Campbell November 2019 – November 2020 Monthly ongoing
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1– G. Willow Wilson Nick Robles May 2020 – Limited series
Locke & Key: Hell & Gone[lower-alpha 2] #1– Joe Hill Gabriel Rodriguez October 2020 – TBD
  1. Issues #19-24 to be published only as a collected edition, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic[5]
  2. Crossover with Locke & Key by IDW Publishing

Collected editions
TitleMaterial collected FormatPublication dateISBN
The Dreaming
Vol. 1: Pathways and Emanations The Dreaming #1–6; The Sandman Universe #1 TP June 5, 2019 978-1401291174
Vol. 2: Empty Shells The Dreaming #7–12 January 8, 2020 978-1401295639
Vol. 3: One Magical Movement The Dreaming #13–20 July 8, 2020 978-1779502834
House of Whispers
Vol. 1: The Power Divided House of Whispers #1–6; The Sandman Universe #1 TP July 24, 2019 978-1401291358
Vol. 2: Ananse House of Whispers #7–12 February 19, 2020 978-1401299170
Vol. 3: Watching the Watchers House of Whispers #13–22 October 27, 2020 978-1779504319
Lucifer
Vol. 1: The Infernal Comedy Lucifer #1–6; The Sandman Universe #1 TP June 19, 2019 978-1401291334
Vol. 2: The Divine Tragedy Lucifer #7–13 January 22, 2020 978-1401295721
Vol. 3: The Wild Hunt Lucifer #14–19 July 28, 2020 978-1779502353
Vol. 4: The Devil at Heart Lucifer #20–24 February 2, 2021 978-1779507556
Books of Magic
Vol. 1: Moveable Type Books of Magic #1–6; The Sandman Universe #1 TP July 10, 2019 978-1401291341
Vol. 2: Second Quarto Books of Magic #7–13 February 5, 2020 978-1401299040
Vol. 3: Dwelling in Possibility Books of Magic #14–23 February 16, 2021 978-1779503008
John Constantine, Hellblazer
Vol. 1: Marks of Woe The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1; John Constantine, Hellblazer #1–6; Books of Magic #14 TP September 29, 2020 978-1779502896
Vol. 2: The Best Version of You John Constantine, Hellblazer #7–12 March 30, 2021 978-1779509536

Reception

According to the review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, the line has an average rating of 8.9/10 based on 20 reviews.[6]

References
  1. Bishop, Bryan (March 1, 2018). "Neil Gaiman is turning The Sandman into an expanded comics universe". The Verge.
  2. Polo, Susana (March 1, 2018). "The Sandman Universe is Neil Gaiman's next comics project". Polygon.
  3. Holub, Christian (March 1, 2018). "Neil Gaiman announces new Sandman Universe line of comics — exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  4. Shiach, Kieran (August 10, 2018). "How Doomsday Clock & Dark Nights: Metal Affect The New Sandman Universe". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  5. https://www.cbr.com/dc-lucifer-remaining-issues-canceled-straight-to-collected-edition-sandman-universe/
  6. "The Sandman Universe Comic Series Reviews". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved August 10, 2018.

Further reading
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