The Sandman
Morpheus, the anthropomorphic personification of Dream, is accidentally captured by an occultist seeking to trap Death and is imprisoned for 70 years. Upon escaping, he must reclaim his realm and its lost artifacts across stories that range from the court of Elizabeth I to 1960s San Francisco to the borders of Hell. The series uses Dream as a lens to explore mythology, storytelling, and what it means to be human by examining the ageless entity who enables human consciousness to tell stories to itself.
The Sandman is the most critically acclaimed long-form comic series in the English language, winning multiple Hugo Awards and establishing Neil Gaiman as a major literary voice while simultaneously legitimizing DC's Vertigo imprint as a venue for adult literary comics. Its approach to mythology — drawing on everything from Norse legend to Shakespeare to Japanese folk tales — created a new template for fantasy fiction that influenced a generation of novelists and screenwriters.
Gaiman began writing Sandman in 1987 as DC was searching for a way to expand beyond superhero comics following the critical success of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. The creation of the Vertigo imprint to house Sandman, Preacher, and other mature titles was a direct consequence of the book's success in proving that comics could attract adult literary readers who had never read superhero stories.
Phil Seuling's creation of a direct distribution system — selling non-returnable comics directly to specialty shops — broke the newsstand monopoly and allowed small publishers to reach dedicated readers without national distribution. This infrastructure enabled the creator-owned revolution and made possible the publications of titles like Cerebus, Elfquest, and eventually Maus and Watchmen.