Neil Gaiman has a voice that relaxes a room and its the perfect one for a virtual panel at DC FanDome. Watching a panel online can sometimes feel impersonal, but Gaiman and all the friends brought together by his graphic novel Sandman seemed to welcome the chance to talk about it.
Gaiman creates comics that lends itself to adaptation into other media and collaboration both among creators involved. He's also taken his time with the adaptation of Sandman one of his most popular and longest running works. Production started recently on the 11-episode drama he wrote for Netflix in 2019 only to have Covid-19 push its release back into 2021. The FanDome panel comes a few weeks after Audible released the first part of an audio drama adaptation of Sandman that featured a star-studded cast. The FanDome panel featured series creator Neil Gaiman, director of the audio drama version Dirk Maggs, Sandman collaborator and creator of Ms. Marvel comic books G. Willow Wilson, and actor Michael Sheen who voices Lucifer in the Audible audio drama.
Sandman is a comic book franchise that tells the story of Morpheus, one of The Endless, who escapes into the real world after being imprisoned. The 75-issue comic book run explores Morpheus' journey to collect the artifacts that will allow him to take back his power. Gaiman offered some insight about the Netflix adaptation, first acknowledging pandemic related delays and that he's spent the time polishing the script. He also mentioned that the Netflix version will be a condensed version of his series of graphic novels covering its first three volumes. The show will also take place in a modern timeline and and take into account views on race and gender when it comes to characters.
While COVID-19 production delays pushed back the Netflix version of Sandman back, that didn't stop the massive undertaking of turning the entire graphic novel series into an audio drama. Gaiman worked closely with Maggs on this project, which is already out and available on Audible.
Sheen is familiar with Gaiman's work playing a lead role in the adaptation of the book Good Omens, a collaboration between Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. He plays the angel Aziraphale opposite the devil Crowley (played by David Tennant) in the television version released streaming on Amazon Prime. During the panel, Sheen spoke about the influence Gaiman's work had on him after it was introduced to him, saying that Sandman "changed his life" and essentially created his taste in entertainment.
G. Willow Wilson, known for creating the version of Ms. Marvel featuring Kamala Khan, and offered much of her own insight creating a story within the Sandman universe during the panel. The work lends itself to guest entries into the series with other notable authors and comic writers penning stories.