Some comics books are fleeting. They’re written, they entertain for a time, and they are forgotten. There’s no shame in that. Comic books for most of their existence have been disposable entertainment. The idea of comics as capital-L Literature only really started to break into mainstream thought around the mid-80s. But even then, the idea that a comic book could be taken seriously seemed to be a laughable proposition. Then came The Sandman. And everything changed.
Who the Hell is That?
Towards the end of the 80s following the success of Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, DC were looking to expand their line with a range of darker, more adult titles. Journalist and writer Neil Gaiman was asked if there was any character he’d like a shot at revamping for a more adult audience. After listing several characters and being told “no”, he mentioned an idea he had for updating the Golden Age character The Sandman, a mystery man who wore a gas mask and used knockout gas to put his foes to sleep
Gaiman decided to throw out everything but the name, and came up with Lord Morpheus, The Sandman, the literal Anthropomorphic Personification of the act of Dreaming.
The man could think laterally, you have to admit.
Morpheus lives in the Dreaming, the Land of Nod, the place people go to when they fall asleep and dream. And Gaiman made him one of the Endless, a group of seven beings which represent the unchanging forces of life in the universe- Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium. And, to make it interesting, he made them a family.
Dream is a brooding, solitary being, content to construct his dreams and nightmares, but he is also, like all artists, a romantic at heart. A being of immense power, who takes his duties very seriously, unlike some of his more capricious younger siblings.
Also, he’s a well-spoken messy-haired story teller, and is basically one of the most egregious author insertion characters of all time. I mean, come on- he’s often referred to as the Lord of Stories. But then, Gaiman is awesome, so he gets a pass for that.
What Makes Them So Special?
Look it sounds like a giant pile of wank but trust me on this- Sandman is very, very good. The series lasted for 75 issues; In that time, it won the Hugo Award, EIGHTEEN Eisner Awards, and a World Fantasy Award for issue #19 A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After it won they changed the rules so a comic could never win again. Anyone would think it was REAL literature, or something.
If that doesn’t convince you- Sandman managed to literally change the world of comics. From its content, which mixed action and humour with numerous allusions to literature and mythology, to it’s very design, which included moody artwork and sombre covers by Dave McKean which were often pieces of art all by themselves.
But more importantly it changed the way comics were written. Before Sandman, the idea of having a single writer write an ongoing series for 75 issues was almost unthinkable. And for him to decide to finish the story he was telling and end the comic was unprecedented. The current method of printing single issues which are then collected into storyline volumes as trade paperbacks was popularised via Sandman. And the idea that a smart, dark, funny comic that didn’t talk down to its audience could actually sell issues was practically a revelation.
As for the stories themselves, they’re everything from romance to horror to thriller to epic fantasy. While they share a common tone, it’s basically guaranteed you’re going to find something you like somewhere in the thousands of pages. Some of the drawings are quite pretty too.
Also, this book was almost as influential as Morrissey in creating the Goth subculture, but please don’t hold that against it.
Why It’ll Never Work
Well it’s possible it could, but no film would ever be able to capture the full sweep of its 75 issues in one feature length picture. Even a trilogy couldn’t do it, and there’s no way a studio is going to invest the massive amount of time and money, Lord of the Rings style, into a property beloved by comics fans and practically unknown outside of that. Although with Gaiman rapidly attaining the status of Superstar Writer, that option actually looks slightly more likely.
What you could do is adapt one of the earlier story arcs, probably The Doll’s House or Season of Mists, which both could be used to introduce the characters while still providing a fairly tightly plotted story that doesn’t rely too much on what has come before.
That’s not to say that people haven’t been trying to make this into a movie. Hollywood has been sniffing around this one for ages, given that it’s been constantly one of the most talked about comics properties basically since the first story arc wrapped up. Several attempts have been made at a script, including a draft where Morpheus has a fistfight with Lucifer, which kind of misses the point of the series. Gaiman described the last script sent to him by Warner Brothers as “…not only the worst Sandman script I’ve ever seen, but quite easily the worst script I’ve ever read.” So there’s that.
Ultimately, the trouble with adapting Sandman into a comic is you would spend millions of dollars in CGI to bring these characters to life on the screen (and don’t tell me you could just get someone to play Morpheus- you would need to Mocap the hell out of that, and for once having dead, lifeless eyes would actually be a bonus) and then have those million dollar creations sit around talking. There’s precious little actual action in the comic, and what’s there is there for very good reasons. But if you’re spending that much money for film you want Spectacle, and that’s never what Sandman was about.
What We’ll Have to Settle For Instead
It turns out Gaiman himself is slated to direct a film about Dream’s sister Death, based on the short series Death: The High Cost of Living, about a guy who meets a 16 year old goth girl who says she’s Death, and the adventures they have for a day. The comic it’s based on is a fan favourite, and with Gaiman at the helm it promises to be a pretty good adaptation of the work. Also Guillermo Del Toro is executive producing, making it basically a perfect storm of geeky awesomeness.
Gaiman has suggested that Terry Gilliam would be able to get Sandman right, but to be honest I’m pretty sure Gilliam has an ancient wizard’s curse on him at this point, and should be made to stop making films before they kill any more actors.
