Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean.

The series is famous for Gaiman's trademark use of anthropomorphic personification of various metaphysical entities, while also blending mythology and history in its horror setting within the DC Universe.

Critically acclaimed, The Sandman was among the first graphic novels to appear on The New York Times Best Seller list, along with Maus, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight Returns.

'"[6] Gaiman crafted the new character from an initial image of "a man, young, pale and naked, imprisoned in a tiny cell, waiting until his captors passed away... deathly thin, with long dark hair, and strange eyes".

[3] Mike Dringenberg, Todd Klein, Robbie Busch, and Dave McKean were hired as inker, letterer, colorist, and cover artist, respectively.

Gaiman revisited Hell as depicted by Alan Moore in Swamp Thing, beginning with a guest appearance by Jack Kirby's Etrigan the Demon in issue No.

[30] DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that "The Sandman became the first extraordinary success as a series of graphic novel collections, reaching out and converting new readers to the medium, particularly young women on college campuses, and making Gaiman himself into an iconic cultural figure.

[46] To commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Sandman, Gaiman wrote a new tale involving the battle that had exhausted Morpheus prior to the beginning of the original story.

[47] Written by Gaiman and with art by J. H. Williams III, Overture tells the previously hinted story of Dream's adventure prior to Preludes and Nocturnes, which had exhausted him so much that it made Burgess's actions capable of capturing him.

It is written as a metaphysical examination of the elements of fiction,[58] which Neil Gaiman accomplished through the artistic use of unique anthropomorphic personifications, mythology, legends, historical figures and occult culture, making up most of the major and minor characters as well as the plot device and even the settings of the story.

[61] As the series increased in popularity, DC Comics began to reprint them in hardcover and trade paperback editions, each representing either a complete novel or a collection of related short stories.

(Death's debut story, "The Sound of Her Wings" from issue #8, appeared both at the beginning of early editions of The Doll's House and at the end of Preludes and Nocturnes, creating overlap between the first two volumes.

[68] The first volume of The Annotated Sandman was published by DC Comics in January 2012 as a large 12" by 12" black-and-white book with an introduction by Gaiman and included issues #1–20.

The annotations are presented on a page-by-page, panel-by-panel basis, with quoted sections from Gaiman's scripts and insight into the various historical, mythological and DC Universe references included in the comic.

[79][80][81] The Sandman and its spin-offs have won more than 26 Eisner Awards,[82] including three for Best Continuing Series, one for Best Short Story, four for Best Writer (Neil Gaiman), seven for Best Lettering (Todd Klein), and two for Best Penciller/Inker (one each for Charles Vess and P. Craig Russell).

Roger Avary was originally attached to direct after the success of Pulp Fiction, collaborating with Pirates of the Caribbean screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio in 1996 on a revision of their first script draft, which merged the "Preludes and Nocturnes" storyline with that of "The Doll's House".

Avary was fired after disagreements over the creative direction with executive producer Jon Peters, best known for the 1989 film Batman and the abandoned project Superman Lives.

[93] David S. Goyer announced in an interview in early December that he would be producing an adaptation of the graphic novel, alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Neil Gaiman.

[97] In October 2015, Goyer revealed that a new screenwriter was being brought on board to revise the script by Jack Thorne and stated that he believed the film would go into production the following year.

Film director James Mangold pitched a series concept to cable channel HBO, whilst consulting with Gaiman himself on an unofficial basis, but this proved to be unsuccessful.

It was reported in September 2010 that Warner Bros. Television was licensing the rights to produce a TV series, and that Supernatural creator Eric Kripke was their preferred candidate to adapt the saga.

[102] As the film adaptation of Morpheus's story was being planned, DC and Fox discussed a possible TV series based on the Sandman character Lucifer.

[103] Netflix announced in June 2019 that it had completed a deal with Warner Bros. to develop Sandman into a live-action television series run by Allan Heinberg, with Gaiman and Goyer serving as executive producers.

[108] On September 16, 2014, Deadline reported that DC and Fox were developing a television series based on the Sandman character Lucifer created by Neil Gaiman.

[111] The show began airing on January 25, 2016, and concluded on September 10, 2021 Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant portrayed Payne and Rowland in the third season of the Doom Patrol TV series.

The main cast for the pilot, as announced in November 2021, includes Jayden Revri as Edwin Payne, George Rexstrew as Charles Rowland, and Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace.

Additional cast members include Briana Cuoco as Jenny the Butcher, Yuyu Kitamura as Niko, Jenn Lyon as Esther, and Ruth Connell reprising her Doom Patrol role of Night Nurse.

[114][115] The voice cast included Gaiman as the Narrator, James McAvoy as Dream, Kat Dennings as Death, Taron Egerton as John Constantine, Michael Sheen as Lucifer, Riz Ahmed as the Corinthian, Andy Serkis as Matthew the Raven, Samantha Morton as Urania Blackwell, Bebe Neuwirth as the Siamese Cat, Arthur Darvill as William Shakespeare, Justin Vivian Bond as Desire, and Miriam Margolyes as Despair.

The Sandman: Act II was released on September 22, 2021, and featured most of the original cast, adapting Season of Mists, A Game of You, and seven stories of Fables & Reflections.

New additions to the cast included: Regé-Jean Page as Orpheus, Jeffrey Wright as Destiny, Brian Cox as Augustus, Emma Corrin as Thessaly, John Lithgow as Joshua Norton, David Tennant as Loki, Bill Nighy as Odin, Kristen Schaal as Delirium, Kevin Smith as Merv Pumpkinhead, and Niamh Walsh as Nuala.