Go ahead, pinch yourself. The Sandman is really back.

Over twenty years after his game-changing comic book's first run, Neil Gaiman is reviving the ruler of the dream world with a new collection, The Sandman Overture.

The best-selling fiction writer (Coraline, American Gods) joins guest host Gill Deacon to reflect on how the unusual character launched his now storied career, why Sandman is often credited with bringing women to comics, and what it feels like to revisit a dreamworld he invented in his 20s.



"The wonderful thing about being a young writer is that you have no idea what kind of writer you are. You don't actually know what it is that you do, you just want to tell stories," says Gaiman.

Re-enter Sandman. Neil Gaiman has returned to an early love, a character he dreamt up in his 20s. (Ben Shannon/Fabiola Carletti/CBC)

WEB EXTRA | Here's just one of the impressive panels written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by J.H. Williams III. Gaiman compares working with the artist to playing a great ping pong game, with Williams hitting just the right angle every time. "I would ask him to draw things that were impossible," says the author.

A page of Vertigo's "The Sandman: Overture Deluxe Edition," written by Neil Gaiman with art by J.H. Williams III. (DC Entertainment/The Associated Press)

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