G

GAIMAN, NEIL (1960–). Born Neil Richard Gaiman in Portchester, England, Gaiman

is a prolifi c writer of comics, short stories, poetry, and novels. He is most famous for his
work on Th e Sandman (1989–96), which, along with the work of Alan Moore , is seen
as bringing a literary breadth and depth to comics writing. Gaiman began his writing
career as a journalist for the British Fantasy Society; he began writing for comics after
his friend Moore asked him to work on Eclipse Comics’ Miraclemen ; his fi rst published
stories, however, were four episodes of Future Shocks in 2000 AD (1986 – 87). He also
collaborated with Dave McKean on three graphic novels, Violent Cases (1987), Signal
to Noise (1989), and Th e Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A Romance
(1994).
In the late 1980s, Gaiman began work for DC Comics , for whom he fi rst wrote
the re-launch of Black Orchid (1988) before beginning his celebrated Sandman series.
Although Sandman began as a horror comic , Gaiman used the series to explore a
number of mythological and literary avenues. For his writing on Sandman , Gaiman
won four Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, known as the Eisner Awards , for
best writer, along with three Harvey Awards ; in addition, Sandman #19 also won the
1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, the fi rst time a comic book had won
a literary award (and the last time the World Fantasy Award was won by a comic
book). Gaiman’s other writing for comics includes Th e Books of Magic (1989); Stardust
(1997–98); Marvel 1602 (2003); and Eternals (2006).
While he does continue to write for comics, Gaiman has largely turned to more
traditional writing. His novels Good Omens (1989, with Terry Pratchett), American
Gods (2001), and Anansi Boys (2005) also blend mythological traditions as Gaiman did
in Th e Sandman. Along with more adult fare, he has written a number of young adult