# Neil Gaiman! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029 "2003-08-09T15:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/41 "2003-09-21T02:09:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jeanster \* > \*\*[Here](http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/library/resources/sandman_spinoffs.html) is a list of the Sandman spinoffs. > > I eventually plan to read The Thessaliad and Lucifer. \*\* Wow, there’s a bunch there I’d not even heard of. I rather liked Lucifer at the start, but rather lost the thread after a while. Ditto The Dreaming. Never heard of The Thessaliad, Bast, Petrifax, ‘Everything you always wanted to know…’, The Furies or the Corinthian series (all of which look interesting), and had forgotten about the Destiny mini and The Children’s Crusade - I’ll have to keep an eye out. Merv Pumpkinhead: Agent of Dream is a riot. You’ll have met Merv, IIRC. Now, imagine him as a secret agent. Now, pick up the shattered shards of your sanity, and get the book. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/42 "2003-09-21T02:19:00Z")
Eventually I’ll get ahold of the _Sandman_ series. Can’t pay for them now, though, and my county’s library system only has _Death, the high cost of living_. (In the notes it says “The image of Tori Amos is used to portray the character Death.” One of the more unintentionally funny statements I’ve seen lately.) I really liked _American Gods_, in fact I own it. Not really into author correspondence, but it’s nice that he’s so cool to his fans. I’m rambling now, so I guess I oughta stop. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/43 "2003-09-21T12:34:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Abby215 \* > **However, I did get Sandman: Endless Nights (which is volume 11)…** Not to be pedantic (well, OK… I am), but _Endless Nights_ is really more of a spinoff, isn’t it? My understanding is that it’s about the Endless as a whole, not so much centering around Dream as the Sandman series proper did. And even if we did consider _Endless Nights_ part of the Sandman series, wouldn’t it be volume 12, since we’d have to include _The Dream Hunters_ (which _does_ focus on Dream) in there somewhere? OK, now I’ll really stop being nitpicky. Glad you got to meet Neil, **Abby** , he always seems to treat his fans well! 🙂 I’ll definitely be picking up _Endless Nights_ either way… besides the fact that Gaiman wrote all the stories, they got some top-notch illustrators for it. Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, P. Craig Russell, and Bill Sienkiewicz. I’ll be looking forward to see what they do with it. And **jeanster** , let me also extend my thanks for that link to Sandman spinoffs – I’d read most of them but I didn’t even know about the Merv one-shot or the Corinthian series, so I’ll definitely have to go a-hunting for those. Two of my favorite characters from the series; I even dressed up as the Corinthian one memorable Hallowe’en. Scared little kids everywhere, though my own kids thought it was cool. Interesting that the guy who put together that list was put off by Kiernan’s writing style in _The Dreaming_ – I mostly felt the same way. The series had potential, but something about her writing, particularly dialogue, just seemed overdone. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/44 "2003-09-21T14:31:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\* > > And **jeanster** , let me also extend my thanks for that link to Sandman spinoffs – I’d read most of them but I didn’t even know about the Merv one-shot or the Corinthian series, so I’ll definitely have to go a-hunting for those. Two of my favorite characters from the series; I even dressed up as the Corinthian one memorable Hallowe’en. Scared little kids everywhere, though my own kids thought it was cool. > > Interesting that the guy who put together that list was put off by Kiernan’s writing style in _The Dreaming_ – I mostly felt the same way. The series had potential, but something about her writing, particularly dialogue, just seemed overdone. \*\* You’re welcome, **Avalonian**. I just finished reading Volume 7: Brief Lives. It’s difficult for me to say which volume of the series is my favorite. I was surprised and delighted to see Morpheus and Delirium having such huge roles in this book, unlike the others so far. Merv cracked me up. I must get the spinoff that features him in it. And I learned while reading this book that Lucien the Librarian is a head taller than Morpheus. See page 17 of chapter 6 of Brief Lives. I thought Morpheus was thin and tall, but Lucien towers over him. I never noticed it before if that was shown in the previous volumes. Oh, it was a nice change to see Delirium collected for once, even if it was only for a few moments. See chapter 7, pages 10 through 12 of Brief Lives for that rarity. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/45 "2003-09-27T02:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\*jeanster - the artist who did that portion also did 2 tie-in books: The Little Endless Storybook, and Death: At Death’s Door (which is a retelling of Season of Mists from Death’s POV) - I haven’t found the first, but I really highly reccomend the second. \*\* **Tengu** , I received my copy of Death: At Death’s Door. I love it! Thanks so much for recommending it! Morpheus as a tall young anime figure is totally hot! Death, Delirium and Despair are adorable in anime form. I wonder why the pages are in black and white instead of full color. But I still enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/46 "2003-09-27T05:11:18Z")
Many traditional _manga_ (Japanese comics) are in black and white, so the lack of color and the small size of the volume itself were more homages to the style. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/47 "2003-09-27T06:08:15Z")
What Lou said. Now, if it were a real Japanese manga tankubon (collection), there’d be a few colour pages (most likely at the beginning), but that would have likely seemed weird to most of the readers, since a) a sizable proportion of the readers don’t read manga, and b) American translations rarely, if ever, reproduce the colour pages in colour, so even most readers who do read manga wouldn’t expect that. Glad you liked At Death’s Door ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/48 "2003-09-27T16:34:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Bad Voodoo Lou \* > \*\*Many traditional _manga_ (Japanese comics) are in black and white, so the lack of color and the small size of the volume itself were more homages to the style. \*\* Thank you. I did not know that. Now that I think of it, a few months ago when I was browsing in the Borders book store, I flipped through pages of an AstroBoy book. All black and white pages, if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/49 "2003-09-27T16:38:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > \*\* > > Glad you liked At Death’s Door \*\* **Tengu** , after you first read that book, did you feel tempted to go to Baskin Robbins and ask for Green Mouse and Telephone Ice Cream? “You don’t have that flavor? Okay, how about Tiger Ice Cream?” 😃 I thought it was cute when that little boy did the happy dance. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/50 "2003-10-17T03:32:02Z")
I received my copy of Little Endless Storybook. I love it! **Tengu** , you must order a copy from Lone Star Comics! It seems to be the only place that has it available currently. And I give a thumbs up for The Sandman: The Dream Hunters. I’m still trying to find a place that sells Merv Pumpkinhead: Agent of Dream. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/51 "2003-10-17T04:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jeanster \* > \*\ ***Tengu** , after you first read that book, did you feel tempted to go to Baskin Robbins and ask for Green Mouse and Telephone Ice Cream? > > “You don’t have that flavor? Okay, how about Tiger Ice Cream?” > > :D\*\* Heh. That’s a reference to a line from Brief Lives, and I had that reaction when I read that. I ADORE Del. I can’t order the Storybook, sadly. a) No credit card, b) they’re out of stock. And, yeah, The Dream Hunters is great. Amano’s art style works wonderfully for a Sandman story. ---
**Author:** ![PsychoTrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@PsychoTrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PsychoTrain)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/52 "2003-12-29T15:57:46Z")
I’m a rather new member reading through some of the older friends. Me and another Doper, KingLupid, got to meet Mr. Gaiman and a Dallas Comic convention back in the early 90s. For some reason where ever we went he was there, walking past him in the hall, getting on the same elevator, etc. Anyway, I was able to get a few of my Sandman books signed (at this point the latest book was A Game of You) and I think he must have remembered me. Instead of just signing the book he drew a picture of Dream. I was stunned and he looked up at me and said “So, what do you think of that?” I just gave him a dumbfounded look and mumbled something to the effect of how cool it was. He has signed about 6 different things for me and all have had different inscriptions so far. Finally, a question and answer session was being held for all of DC comics and they were giving away prizes for the best questions. I asked about the future of Sandman if Gaiman were to ever leave (they actually kept their word, they said the would not replace him on the title, though they did spin it off of course) and I was given a rare copy of the issue 8, the first appearance of Death. This issue was rare due to a special introduction and drawing it contains, I think only 1200 copies or so were ever printed. Neil signed this for me and asked how I got it, I told him and he was very interested in what DC said in response. This was well before it was announced that the series would end with issue 75. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029/53 "2003-12-29T19:53:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jeanster \* > \*\*[Here](http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/icsf/library/resources/sandman_spinoffs.html) is a list of the Sandman spinoffs. > > I eventually plan to read The Thessaliad and Lucifer. \*\* I was able to find a lot of the spinoffs in [The Sandman Presents Taller Tales](http://www.sci-fi-online.50megs.com/reviews/comic/03-11-21_Sandman-Taller.htm). Bought a copy at Borders. Has Merv Pumpkinhead, The Thessaliad and lots more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman/194029.md?page=2)