Neil Gaiman announces new Sandman Universe line of comics

[Darkstars]

This is great news! I wonder how good the new Lucifer comic is going to be? Volume 2 wasn't nearly as good as what Mike Carey wrote imo.. Hope we get to see a little of the DCU in a few of these comic's, and some of Destiny.

[Adset]

i can't help but be interested, even if i've found *most* sandman spin-offs since the original series ended to be... meh, at best.

(of course that doesn't include carey's lucifer, which is obviously a masterpiece)

books of magic is one of those series i've never picked up, even though i've always adored gaiman and really dig the genre. not sure why. probably need to use this excuse to read the older stuff before this new one comes out.

[Spiderboy12]

books of magic is one of those series i've never picked up, even though i've always adored gaiman and really dig the genre. not sure why. probably need to use this excuse to read the older stuff before this new one comes out.

Since this new series starts almost from the beginning (a bit of a restart), the only "required" reading is the original Books of Magic miniseries by Neil Gaiman and his artistic partners, which of course was collected as a trade and has been reprinted many times.

Not that I'd want to dissuade you from reading the collected volumes of Books of Magic by John Ney Rieber and Peter Gross, which cover the first 50 issues of the ongoing (out of 75), or the various associated Books of Faerie trades. Or any of the other Tim Hunter material, collected or not. But I think only the original mini-series is necessary for the new series.

[Vic Vega]

Wow this is a really welcome surprise.

Can't wait.

[Tazpocalapse]

2 words Mervyn Pumpkin.

[JasonTodd428]

I'm really excited for this and its a welcome surprise as well.

[Tetragrammar]

DC is really firing on all cylinders right now with its publishing: Young Animal, Wild Storm, and now Sandman Universe. With these imprints they're really allowing concepts and worlds to stand on their own. I couldn't be more excited for these new titles. Sandman is my favorite series so when anything comes out set within that world I'm pretty much throwing my money at it.

Now just some comments and thoughts on the forthcoming titles.

The Dreaming: I've read the first Dreaming series, rather reluctantly back in the day because it never quite seemed to hold my interest. Only until I read the Kiernan stories "Unkindness of One", "Souvenirs", and "Many Mansions" was I hooked. But I'm curious how Matthew the raven's return will be portrayed, since he was replaced by the white raven Thethys.

House of Whispers: This sounds incredible. I love when gods from other pantheons are added to the mix, and I don't believe we've ever had a voodoo god before in the past.

Lucifer: LOVED Carey's run and loved the second series with Holly Black. My only disappointment was the series ended a little too soon. The conclusion felt rushed and there was clearly more to be told. But I'm happy Vertigo allowed it to have an ending and not just be cancelled. I really wanted to see the Constantine-stand in character of Arabelle Crane be connected back to John as some aspect of the Constant One, an element fully explored in Andy Diggle's run of Hellblazer.

Books of Magic: This may be the one I'm most intrigued about. I always thought Tim Hunter needed a new series. I loved the original Gaiman story but Tim Hunter's story never quite clicked with me during his second series under John Ney Reiber's pen. I will say once Peter Gross took over as writer from Books of Magic 51-75 and Annual #3, I was finally hooked again. Gross' run incorporated and expanded upon many elements that it felt like I was truly reading a story cemented within the Sandman Universe.

Hunter: Age of Magic, although filled with many interesting ideas and plot points, never hooked me.

However, Books of Magick: Life During Wartime ended up being one of my favorite runs for Tim Hunter. This Tim was called The Hunter and was another version of the original. What I'm getting at here is I love that the new Books of Magic is a brand new Tim Hunter and a brand new universe for him, and this essentially will not conflict with any past stories, since throughout his many runs there has always been a multiverse of Tim Hunters, and I think this is a smart move in "rebooting" him as a New Tim without negating anything that came before.

[Nick Miller]

I will probably get these in trade.

This would have been a nice chance for DC to publish these as 96 page OGN. These lose momentum very quickly in 20 page chunks.

As far as what I hope we get, knowing about Sandman and Gaiman’s aesthetic, I will use a quote from the back of TH White’s Once and Future King

“It is the magical epic.... of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad.”

[TimberWolf]

An actual Sandman book would be nice

[nickytesla96]

This is an awesome surprise. I'm so hyped!

I'll be trade waiting them since I prefer to read all creator-owned/non-capeshit books in trades. Plus my pull list will be down to 10 titles by the beginning of the summer and I don't wanna add more except Static whenever that comes out.

[Denirac]

An actual Sandman book would be nice

Gaiman says he's keeping 'Do Not Enter' signs up around certain aspects of the Universe because he wants to return at some point.... a Sandman series is probably in that area

[Zero Hunter]

House of Whispers has me intrigued.

[Lee Stone]

Since this new series starts almost from the beginning (a bit of a restart), the only "required" reading is the original Books of Magic miniseries by Neil Gaiman and his artistic partners, which of course was collected as a trade and has been reprinted many times.

Not that I'd want to dissuade you from reading the collected volumes of Books of Magic by John Ney Rieber and Peter Gross, which cover the first 50 issues of the ongoing (out of 75), or the various associated Books of Faerie trades. Or any of the other Tim Hunter material, collected or not. But I think only the original mini-series is necessary for the new series.

The original Books of Magic mini, and select issues of Moore's Swamp Thing, should be required reading for anyone even remotely considering writing magic or supernatural characters at DC.

[Daniel22]

This is great news! I wonder how good the new Lucifer comic is going to be? Volume 2 wasn't nearly as good as what Mike Carey wrote imo.. Hope we get to see a little of the DCU in a few of these comic's, and some of Destiny.

I didn't like Lucifer vol 2 as much as vol 1 either... But I don't like many things as much as I like Lucifer vol 1. To be fair it felt like Lucifer vol 2 got cut short. I think it was building to something and never got the chance to get there.

I'm with you on wanting to see some Destiny. I don't want this to interact with the traditional DCU much though. I prefer it when it's off doing its own thing.

[DIVINITY]

No mention of Death, I’m still intrigued though...