The Dreaming

Gaiman’s The Sandman set new standards for mature, sophisticated graphic fiction and charmed readers. His works of fiction outside comics — including American Gods, Neverwhere, and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish — have garnered favorable notices, and attracted many prose readers into comics shops for more of his visions.

In Harlequin Valentine, Gaiman and illustrator John Bolton will offer a modern re-telling of a classic commedia dell’ arte legend of tomfoolery and hopeless love, the story of the buffoon Harlequin and the beautiful, oblivious Columbine, to whom he has given his heart unsuccessfully. The 40-page book will also contain an eight-page backup feature on the commedia dell’ arte, written by Gaiman and illustrated by Bolton.

Dark Horse Comics will publish “Harlequin Valentine,” a fully painted story teaming Gaiman with illustrator John Bolton (“Black Dragon”).

“Harlequin Valentine” is a retelling of the classic commedia dell’arte tale of Harlequin and Columbine.

The bittersweet romance was adapted from a short story of Gaiman’s originally printed in the 1999 World Horror Convention program book.

Harlequin pins his heart to the door of a lady named Missy, and “Harlequin Valentine” explores what she does with the Harlequin’s heart.

Following the story will be an illustrated prose essay by Gaiman about the commedia dell’arte. The commedia dell’arte is a style of drama originating in 16th century Italy. It is characterized by improvisation from a written plot. The Harlequin is a standard character of the commedia dell’arte.

Adapting myths, legends and literature is a strength of Gaiman’s.

In “American Gods,” Gaiman weaves a tale of the old forgotten gods raging against the emerging new ones. Ex-con Shadow makes a bargain with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday following the death of Shadow’s wife. Shadow agrees to work for Wednesday. Wednesday, however, is more than he seems (as is nearly everyone in the book), and Shadow soon finds himself a key player in a coming Ragnarok.

Though Gaiman has had critical success in the book market with “Good Omens” (with Terry Pratchett), “Neverwhere” and “Stardust,” the sales surge of “American Gods” may put Gaiman on a short list of top-selling fantasy novelists.

Gaiman holds status in the comics world as a writer who has brought prestige and acclaim to his medium.

“Sandman,” created by Gaiman and original artists Sam Kieth (“The Maxx”) and Mike Dringenberg, became the flagship of DC’s Vertigo line and a comic that kept adult readers returning to the comic shop month after month.

The 10 volumes of “Sandman” graphic novels, collecting the 75-issue series, remain among DC’s best-selling graphic novels years after their original release.

Gaiman’s “Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” story in “Sandman” No. 19, illustrated by Charles Vess and Malcolm Jones III, won the World Fantasy Award for best short story – a first for a comic book.

In 1999, Gaiman teamed with the highly regarded Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano (“G-Force,” “Vampire Hunter D”) to write an illustrated prose epilogue to the “Sandman” saga.

The resulting book, “Sandman: The Dream Hunters,” tells a fable of a badger and a fox that eventually ties in to Morpheus, the Sandman of Gaiman’s comics.

“Dream Hunters” won a Bram Stoker Award for illustrated narrative and was nominated for a Hugo.

And Gaiman isn’t necessarily done with the Endless. The chief characters of “Sandman,” seven constant forces personified in the story, are the Endless – Dream (Morpheus, or Sandman), Despair, Destiny, Delirium, Desire, Death and Destruction.

DC Comics have announced but not scheduled an Endless hardcover to be written by Gaiman.

IS THERE A SHORT SENTENCE FROM YOUR PREVIOUS WORK YOU FIND PARTICULARLY PLEASING? WHY? From American Gods: “Chicago happened slowly, like a migraine.” For a novel that’s fundamentally an American road trip novel it seemed like a quintessentially American sentence.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR? Depends on my mood. It’s often a toss-up between James Branch Cabell, Shirley Jackson, R. A. Lafferty, Gene Wolfe and Hope Mirrlees. But John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, or John Aubrey or David Quammen, or the lunatic Harry Steven Keeler can often leap to the front of the line. Robert Aickman was good enough to scare me.

WHAT BOOK DO YOU WISH YOU’D READ BY NOW? The Complete Short Stories of R. A. Lafferty — of course, that would mean that someone would have collected them and published it. Lafferty was a living national treasure while he was writing, and nobody ever noticed.

WHAT BOOK SHOULD BE RESCUED FROM OBSCURITY? WHY? The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, by Count Jan Patocki. He killed himself amid rumours of incest and lycanthropy, and the book is hugely flawed, but it’s a wonderful Arabian-Nights-like experience, filled with stories of all kinds that interconnect and flow, as we learn why a Spanish nobleman’s dalliance with two lovely sisters becomes a nightmare, as he wakes beneath the bodies of two dead robbers.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTATION? “First you dream. Then you die.” Cornell Woolrich said that. I want to keep dreaming as long as I can.

DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL WORK HABITS? Is it unusual to write novels in fountain pen and then do the second draft on the computer? I suspect it may be. I like to alternate ink colours while I’m writing a manuscript so I can see how much I did in a day.

“American Gods” is so intricately detailed in its imagery that even its stand-alone chapters would get an A+ from any creative writing professor. The reader can almost smell and taste the scenery that acclaimed author Neil Gaiman (“Neverwhere,” the Sandman graphic novel series) paints.

His fans will undoubtedly relish it.

The main protagonist, Shadow, comes off as a strong, silent type who has seen a little too much in the world to be moved by it. Released from prison three days early to attend the funeral of his wife, who has died in a car accident, he is a man haunted by what might have been. On the flight home, he meets the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, who offers the ex-con a job as an errand boy. Shadow initially refuses, but when he finds out that his late wife died while consummating an affair with the man who was going to give him a job after leaving prison, he reluctantly accepts.

Wednesday introduces Shadow to a number of strange old characters, all of whom seem to know a great deal about him, more than he knows about himself. Wednesday is attempting to recruit them for the upcoming battle, while they are content to enjoy their retirement. Shadow is also introduced to the opposing forces, which are trying to recruit him to come over to their side, or kill him if he doesn’t.

Shadow takes in what is happening around him rather phlegmatically, as he is dealing with his own issues of grief tempered by the revelation of his late wife’s infidelity. As the events unfold leading up to the battle, he slowly realizes the extent of the holy war that is about to take place, and how much he is caught up in it.

Wednesday, his boss, is a con man trying to enlist others in a cause they would rather ignore.

And the visits by Laura, Shadow’s late wife, are eerily conversational.

For the casual reader, “American Gods” comes under the heading of sensory overload. Perhaps there is such a thing as too much detail; this novel has that. Some of the sequences are almost Kubrickian in their complexity; and knowledge of other religions is required.

Still there is some worthy material here: The idea that America has replaced its old religious icons with the trappings of a modern society is rich in its possibilities, and the old gods reduced to poverty and odd jobs to survive has artistic merit. Law enforcement would also be advised to read the chapter where Wednesday pulls off an ingenious method of bank robbery.

Ever wonder what happens to the old gods people have mostly forgotten? In “American Gods,” Neil Gaiman takes us on a fascinating tour through a U.S. chock-full of has-been deities. As each wave of immigrants from the Old World arrived, they brought their idols with them — and those idols are still here, surviving on what crumbs of belief they can find. These aren’t can’t-touch-me spiritual forms either, but undertakers, taxi drivers and con men. These are legends destitute and almost faded, and like Tinkerbell, they need belief to exist.