Earlier today, DC shocked the comics community by announcing the creation of The Sandman Universe, a new Vertigo line of comic books curated by Neil Gaiman and set in the world of his beloved, mythological epic.
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The Sandman Universe will launch with four new ongoing titles, existing in a shared universe and building upon Gaiman’s world of The Dreaming.
“The Sandman Universe has always been very close and personal to me and I am thrilled to open up the world once again to an extremely talented group of writers and artists,” Gaiman said in a statement. “I get to see the joy in these brilliant people whom I’ve selected, as they get their chance to play in this world.”
Each writer (Si Spurrier on The Dreaming, Nalo Hopkinson on House of Whispers, Dan Watters on Lucifer, and Kat Howard on Books of Magic) was hand-selected by Gaiman for the project, which will launch later this summer, just as the thirtieth anniversary of Sandman #1 (which was released in October of 1988) approaches.
The new line will begin on August 8, 2018 with a one-shot titled The Sandman Universe #1, plotted by Gaiman and co-written by the four series writers. The issue will reintroduce the Sandman Universe and its characters, while establishing conflicts that will be examined in the monthly comic books. The Dreaming and House of Whispers will be on shelves in September, followed by Lucifer and Books of Magic in October.
Vertigo is helmed by Executive Editor Mark Doyle, who returned to Vertigo last year after some time spent overseeing the Batman titles..
“We have a chance to remind people how fun this universe is, and with the new editorial direction from Mark Doyle, I believe we may create just a bit more magic for years to come,” Gaiman said.
Emerald City Comic Con will feature a Vertigo panel on Saturday, March 3, so expect more news coming out of that. In the meantime, here’s what we’ve got…
‘Sandman Universe’
The story is plotted by Gaiman and written by Spurrier, Hopkinson, Watters and Howard, featuring art by Bilquis Evely with cover art by Jae Lee.
Daniel, the lord of Dreams, has gone missing and it causes chaos in the kingdom of dreams…A rift between worlds has opened, revealing a space beyond the Dreaming. Meanwhile, A book from Lucien’s library of all the unwritten books ever dreamed is discovered by a group of children in the waking world. Simultaneously, a new House appears—the House of Whispers—joining the Houses of Secret and Mystery in the Dreaming. Its proprietor is a fortune teller called Erzulie, whom the inhabitants of the Dreaming suspect may be responsible for all the strange goings on. Elsewhere, Lucifer has fallen again, only this time he might be in a Hell of his own design. And in London, a young boy named Timothy Hunter sleeps, in his dreams he becomes the world’s most powerful magician, but in his nightmares, he becomes the world’s worst villain, which future will become reality?
From the mind of Neil Gaiman, a new world filled with dreams and nightmares, all of his wonderful characters living together in a shared universe for a story unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
‘The Dreaming’
There is a place where gods are born and stories are spun. But twenty-three years after he was anointed as its master, Dream of the Endless has inexplicably abandoned the dreaming.
His absence triggers a series of crimes and calamities which consume the lives of those already tangled in his fate, among them Lucien the librarian, Matthew the Raven, and Dora, a monstress without memories. But while they struggle to restore the King to his throne, they face intrigues from within and conquest from without.
As usurpers circle the defenceless domain and an impossible shadow awaits its own birth beside a rip in reality, the denizens of the Dreaming play out their stories of loss and love, resignation and resistance.
The Dreaming comes to comic shops in September.
‘House of Whispers’
Latoya is in a coma. Her girlfriend enlists the help of Latoya’s two younger sisters. Using the Book of Whispers, they mistakenly steal the essence of Erzulie, a deity of voodoo mythology. The psychic blowback of the spell causes her house to crash into the Dreaming, beside the Houses of Secrets and Mystery and their custodians, Cain and Abel.
In the real world, the awakened young woman suffers a mystical form of Cotard’s Delusion—she believes she is already dead, and she’s transmitting her belief to others, causing them to become guardians of the Gap that has appeared in the Dreaming.
House of Whispers comes to comic shops in September.
‘Lucifer’
A few years ago, the devil vanished. Some people say he died or simply ran away, while others believe he never existed at all. But we aren’t some people. No. This is the one true story of what happened to the Prince of Lies, the Bringer of Light—Lucifer, the blind, destitute old man, who lives in a small boarding house in a quiet little town, where nothing is quite what it seems and no one can leave.
He’s trapped, you see? Trapped in a bizarre prison with no memory of how he got there or why. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a dying policeman believes his suffering may be a call to a divine mission—one that draws him towards revelations regarding the devil himself.
Lucifer comes to comic shops in October.
‘Books of Magic’
Timothy Hunter may be destined to become the most powerful magician in the universe, but he’s still a London teenager and having magical abilities complicates things more than it helps.
It’s not like he can use magic to pass his exams, stop being bullied, or convince his cute friend to date him. And while Tim’s trying to live his life, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his power will eventually corrupt him, and turn him into a merciless mage. Oh, and those are the good guys. Luckily, his new substitute teacher is more than she appears, and may be able to help Tim discover the mystery behind the Books of Magic…
Books of Magic comes to comic shops in October.
There’s a trailer…
A trailer presented by Gaiman himself goes over the history of the property, why the original ended, and what the next generation of Sandman stories is all about.
You can see that above, and check back with ComicBook.com this weekend to see what we might learn during Emerald City Comic Con.
Let us know in the comments below what series you are most looking forward to.
Sandman Universe #1 hits the stands this August.
