Neil Gaiman defends 'Sandman' follow-up

Published Jul 21 2012, 12:43 BST  |  By Hugh Armitage

Neil Gaiman has defended plans for a new Sandman miniseries.

Addressing hypothetical detractors, the writer said that he loves the way his legendary series creates a strong reaction in fans.



"I'm imagining a hypercritical audience of roughly 50 million people going, 'That's not Sandman!'" he told Wired.com.

"But then I think, the great thing about Sandman was that from the moment I discovered the internet, and that people were talking about Sandman on the internet - which would have been, like, rec.art.comics.dc circa 1989, end of '89 - what people were saying then never changed for the next seven years of comics.

"All they ever said was: 'It's not as good as it used to be'. And the earlier stuff was always whatever somebody had picked up first and loved. And it carried on, with people talking about when Sandman was good, all the way up through #75."

Gaiman's collaboration with artist JH Williams III on a new, six-issue miniseries was announced at Comic-Con last weekend.

Vertigo owner DC Comics has received heavy criticism for its current Before Watchmen project which, unlike Gaiman's Sandman, has not been endorsed by original writer Alan Moore.

Watch the full interview with Gaiman and his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, below: