Vertigo has released a slew of details on Neil Gaiman's Sandman prequel, including an image, title, and release date. The first issue of The Sandman: Overture, will be released on October 30th this year, followed by five more issues, each released two months apart. Renowned comic book artist J.H. Williams III will draw the six-part miniseries. He's well-known for creating haunting artwork and unconventional layouts, and has previously worked on Alan Moore's Promethea and the recent Batwoman series. Cover work for the series will be produced by Williams and Dave McKean, who created some of the original comics' iconic covers.

The new comics are set before the events of the original series, and will tell the story of Dream / Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, explaining how he came to be captured in the first book, and detailing his life before capture. Regarding the plot, Gaiman says "this is the one story that we never got to tell... you learn he was returning from somewhere far... but we never got to the story of what he was doing and what hat happened. This is our chance to tell that story." The Sandman: Overture will be released October 30th in print and digital.