Published under DC’s now-defunct Vertigo, Sandman features Gaiman’s signature blend of dark, mythology-inspired fantasy. Other DC heroes showed up every so often, but it mostly stayed within the land of dreams known as The Dreaming, and focused on Gaiman’s original characters. Neil Gaiman does what many have tried and failed to do successfully. He creates a multi-dimensional Universe spanning gods, time space, dimensions, and all of human human conditions.

The Sandman universe is a master-creation following Dream, also known as Morpheus, lord of the Dreaming — a vast, hallucinatory landscape that houses all the dreams of any and everyone who has ever existed. Gods, demons, mortals, and everything in between. All dreamers visit the Dreaming and have an opportunity to teach Morpheus some surprising lessons.

As to NG's Sandman - the stories are a top 10 must-have of the graphic novel, arguable a high point of the form.

Weaving together ancient mythology, folklore, and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision, Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death. Omnibus: The main series is collected in Vol. 1 and 2. Vol 3 contains other stories set in the Sandman universe which are written by Gaiman (Endless Nights, The Dream Hunters (prose and comic), Overture, Both Death miniseries, Midnight Theatre, and more) Pros: Oversized hardcover (Same trim size as Omnibus edition) - Some scripts and art galleries reprinted from the Absolute editions - New wraparound cover art by Michael Wm. Kaluta and Dave Stewart - Premium hardcover for collectors on a budget Pros: Definitive collectors editions - Huge slipcased volumes with leather-like cover and sewn binding, a ribbon bookmark, and lots of bonus content Neil Gaiman is the New York Timesbestselling author of the Newbery Medal-winning The Graveyard Bookand Coraline, the basis for the hit movie. His other books include Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, American Gods,and Stardust,(winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award as one of 2000's top novels for young adults) as well as the short story collections M Is for Magic and Smoke and Mirrors. He is also the author of The Wolves in the Wallsand The Day I Traded My Dad for Two Goldfish, both written for children. Among his many awards are the Eisner, the Hugo, the Nebula, the World Fantasy, and the Bram Stoker. Originally from England, he now lives in the United States.I really have to say that I don't like Neil Gaiman at all. Although it starts out like a dream (pun intended). This is my kind of fantasy: combining the real and the mythical, micro- and macrocosm, the personal with the all-encompassing, the mundane with philosophy, intimate despair and the apocalypse. But Gaiman is just a terrible storyteller. He has the most astonishing ideas and concepts - which never end up making a good plot or resolution. They all lead to nothing at all. A fascinating conflict is set up ... then random things happen ... and fizzle out without a point. The shorter segments are better, because they rely more on concept than story. But the last volumes were really a drag.