From St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, 1st
ed. St. James Press, 1998
 

Neil (Richard) Gaiman

Also known as: Neil Gaiman, Neil Richard Gaiman
Nationality: British
Occupation: Writer

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

During the 1980s, Neil Gaiman, along with several of his
countrymen--notably Alan Moore--brought a new relevance to that
most traditional of American literary forms, the comic book. But
where, with his groundbreaking treatment of DC Comics' Swamp
Thing character, Moore worked within both the science-fictional
and fantasy veins, Gaiman approached the medium by concentrating
on the latter, imbuing his work with mythical and Gothic
undertones.

Unlike most of the work produced by Moore, Gaiman's writing,
while, at times, equally horrific and black, is filled with
optimism. The first time this really showed itself was in a
three-issue comic-book series from DC Comics entitled Black
Orchid.

Black Orchid was a re-working of a character from the dim-and-
distant past of DC Comics, home of Superman and Batman, but,
unlike those world-famous caped vigilantes, Black Orchid had
always been distinctly second-division. Gaiman and illustrator
Dave McKean, the team chosen to produce the mini-series, had
already worked together on Violent Cases , a self-contained bete
noir produced by Titan Books in 1987. Mixing together extremes
in depravity and gentility, Gaiman touched on some of the topics
Moore had already flirted with in the watershed Swamp Thing and
yet made them his very own, in a story which, ultimately, dwelt
on the collective sentience of plants and the remarkable
resilience of the human spirit.

His excursions into prose without visual accompaniment are
restricted to one collaborative novel--a hilarious send-up of
horror fiction, Good Omens, written with Terry Pratchett--a
number of short stories, many of which are gathered into the
collection Angels & Visitations, and the horror-fantasy novel
Neverwhere, about a magical "London Below," which was also
conceived as a serial for BBC Television. But it is, rightly,
the Sandman for which Gaiman is most renowned and which, for the
purposes of this book, is most appropriate for discussion.

The Sandman was another forgotten character from the vaults of DC
Comics, but it really isn't even worth considering the earlier
incarnation. Gaiman's version of the Sandman has the character
as one of the Endless, a group of omniscient entities who have
existed since the dawn of time. The Sandman himself is the Lord
of Dreams, a gangling, pale man with a shock of coal-black hair,
who rules The Dreaming, a surreal world which co-exists with
reality but to which people can gain access when they are
asleep. The rest of the Endless--Death, Delirium, Despair,
Desire, Destruction and Destiny--make occasional appearances in
the storylines. Death, the most frequently featured of
these "support characters," is portrayed as a neo-punkish young
woman for whom the shepherding of souls at the moment of their
release is simply a job. Nevertheless, she brings to the task
and to each of her charges a gentle understanding.

When the story unfolds, the pasty-faced, emaciated, wire-haired
Sandman has been held in captivity for a human lifetime. On his
release, he must find his sand-pouch, his helmet and his dream
jewel--all of which have been stolen during his incarceration
(thus neatly explaining why the earlier character with the same
name was so completely different)--and then he must track down
his missing helpers. In his quest, he visits Hell to battle the
demon which stole his helmet; seeks out a young girl who has
become fatally addicted to the sand in his pouch; and battles an
embittered sociopath, Doctor Destiny, who has unleashed from the
Sandman's ruby the full psychotic power of dreams onto an
unsuspecting world.

In the course of his time writing the magazine (he has now ceased
regular scripting of Sandman, although occasional one-off stories
and mini-series are anticipated) Gaiman has truly revolutionized
the power of the medium, effortlessly warping the action between
asylums and dolls' houses, and including en route a motel where
all the serial killers in America are holding a convention, a pub
in London where the Sandman arranges to meet an immortal friend
every century, and an English hillside in 1593 where, during the
final performance of the Faery folk for humankind, we learn
the "true" story of William Shakespeare's  A Midsummer Night's
Dream. Not surprisingly, this last story won the World Fantasy
Award for best short story of 1991--the first time a comic book
has won a non-comics award for a short story.

Occasionally, like any writer intent on expanding rather than on
simply milking his chosen field, Gaiman misses the mark and
becomes a little self-indulgent. But when he's on form (which is
most of the time) he is without peer. The various volumes of
collected Sandman stories, for instance, are almost uniformly
excellent and any one of them would make a good starting point
for those readers who, while well-versed in the field of Gothic
prose literature, have yet to discover the rare but powerful joy
inherent in a great comic book.

Gaiman went on to relate the adventures of his character and the
experiences of those with whom the Sandman comes into contact
for several years. Bravely (and, perhaps, wisely) he elected to
leave the title--at least as permanent writer--while it was on a
high. It is to DC's equal credit that they have (so far) not
even tried to replace him on the book.

But the Gaiman voice, so rich in nostalgia and the downright
weird, has continued undimmed. In his latest (at the time of
this writing) non-series graphic novel, Mr. Punch, again with
frequent collaborator Dave McKean, Gaiman centres on a young
boy's encounters with a mysterious puppeteer, strange relatives
and a woman whose work involves dressing up as a mermaid. It is,
of course, the revered (in the right hands .. . . feared in the
wrong ones) rite-of-passage story, a sequence of events in
which, in this case, the protagonist learns about mortality,
loss and madness. It is an impressive work, rich not only in
freshness and originality but also in compassion, Gaiman's
hallmark and an increasingly rare commodity in the slam-bang,
fisticuffs-and-fatalities worldscapes depicted in 1990s comic
books.

The collective impact is literally breathtaking, writer and
artist working together like the finest, most practised
vaudeville act to produce a visual spinning-top of timing and
imagery, intrigue and betrayal, illusory perception and cold
reality. Mr. Punch's first-person narrative looks back on the
time when the protagonist was a young boy, sent to stay with his
grandparents by the seaside while his mother produces a sister
for him. With enviable simplicity and clarity, the words and
pictures portray first, the strange world of out-of-season
Southsea, with its empty beaches and run-down pier arcades, and,
ultimately, a gradual breakdown of sanity leading to a lonely
death and the slow awakenings of comprehension.

The vast majority of Gaiman's published works--certainly his
short stories and his graphic novels--are heady mixtures of the
everyday and the obscure. Managing to be salutary, evocative and
entertaining at the same time is a trick that few can pull off.
In this respect, his blending of poetic prose, marvellous
invention and artistic vision has assured him of his place in
the vanguard of modern-day dark fantasists.

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Nationality: British. Moved to the United States in 1992.
Born: Portchester, 10 November 1960.
Education:  Ardingly College, 1970-74; Whitgift School, 1974-77.
Family: Married Mary McGrath in 1985; one son, one daughter.

AWARDS
Mekon award, 1988; Eagle award, 1988, 1990; World Fantasy
award, 1992.

CAREER
Miscellaneous journalist, London, from the early-to-mid 1980s;
comics writer from 1987; occasional novelist and television
writer.

WORKS
 * Horror, Ghost and Gothic Publications

 * Novels
 * Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter,
Witch, with Terry Pratchett. London, Gollancz, 1990; revised
edition, New York, Workman, 1990.
 * Neverwhere. London, BBC Books, 1996.

 * Short Stories
 * Angels & Visitations: A Miscellany. Minneapolis, Minnesota,
DreamHaven, 1993.

 * Graphic Novels
 * Violent Cases, illustrated by Dave McKean. London, Titan,
1987; Northampton, Massachusetts, Tundra, 1991.
 * The Doll's House, illustrated by Mike Dringenberg and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1990.
 * Preludes and Nocturnes, illustrated by Mike Dringenberg and
others (Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1991.
 * Dream Country, illustrated by Kelley Jones and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, 1991; London, Titan, 1992.
 * The Books of Magic, illustrated by John Bolton and others.
New York, DC Comics, 1991.
 * Black Orchid, illustrated by Dave McKean. London, Titan, and
New York, DC Comics, 1991.
 * Season of Mists, illustrated by Kelley Jones and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1992.
 * Signal to Noise, illustrated by Dave McKean. London,
Gollancz, 1992.
 * A Game of You, illustrated by Shawn McManus and other
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1993.
 * Fables and Reflections, illustrated by Bryan Talbot and
others (Sandman). New York, DC Comics, 1993; London, Titan, 1994.
 * Miracleman: Book 4: The Golden Age, illustrated by Mark
Buckingham. N.p., 1993.
 * Death: The High Cost of Living, illustrated by Chris Bachalo
and others (Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan,
1994.
 * Brief Lives, illustrated by Jill Thompson and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1994.
 * The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A
Romance, illustrated by Dave McKean. London, Gollancz, 1994.
 * World's End, illustrated by Michael Allred and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1995.
 * The Kindly Ones, illustrated by Marc Hempel and others
(Sandman). New York, DC Comics, and London, Titan, 1996.

 * Play
 * Television Serial: Neverwhere, 1996.

 * Other
 * Editor, with Edward E. Kramer. The Sandman Book of Dreams.
New York, HarperPrism, and London, Voyager, 1996.
* Duran, Duran: The First Four Years of the Fab Five. New York,
Proteus, 1984.
 * Don't Panic: The Official Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Companion. London, Titan, 1988; revised as Don't Panic: Douglas
Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with David K.
Dickson, London, Titan, 1993.
 * Editor, with Kim Newman, Ghastly Beyond Belief. London,
Arrow, 1985.
 * Editor, with Stephen Jones, Now We Are Sick. Minneapolis,
Minnesota, DreamHaven, 1991.
 * Editor, with Alex Stewart, Temps, Volume 1. London, Roc, 1991.