540 SANDMAN, THE (GAIMAN)
In 1985, Sale was hired to pencil, ink, and letter Th ieves’ World, published by
Starblaze. Eventually, Sale met Matt Wagner (of Grendel fame), as well as Diana
Schutz (then working for Comico), and Barbara Randall of DC, at the San Diego
Comic-Con. Randall introduced Sale to writer Jeph Loeb. Sale and Loeb struck up a
partnership and the long-standing collaboration has produced a large portion of Sale’s
body of work. Th eir initial collaboration was on the fi rst eight issues of the second vol-
ume of Challengers of the Unknown (1991), for DC, originally created by Jack Kirby.
Sale and Loeb then worked together on three Halloween specials for DC’s Batman:
Legends of the Dark Knight series: Choices (1993), Madness (1994), and Ghosts (1995).
Th e specials led to an infl uential 13-issue limited series beginning in 1996 called,
Batman: Th e Long Halloween. Th e series takes place during Batman’s second year
wearing the cape and cowl as he tries to hunt down a serial killer nicknamed “Holiday.”
(Th e killer murders people once a month on holidays). Th e miniseries was such a suc-
cess that Sale and Loeb became star creators and developed a sequel beginning in 1999
titled, Batman: Dark Victory.
Between Batman: Th e Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory, Sale and Loeb
collaborated on a four-issue limited series called Superman For All Seasons. Similar
to the holiday device used in the two aforementioned Batman miniseries, this story
involved a theme set around seasons and dealt with aspects of Superman’s origins.
Eventually, Sale and Loeb would try to replicate their success with DC’s most popu-
lar superheroes for DC’s main competitor, Marvel. Th ey collaborated on such titles
as, Daredevil: Ye l l o w , Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray, and Captain America: White.
In 2006, Sale collaborated with writer/illustrator Darwyn Cook on Superman Confi -
dential. Like Sale’s collaborations with Loeb, this series concentrated on the character’s
early years and revealed Superman’s fi rst exposure to his Achilles’ heel, Kryptonite.
Sale’s line work can be best described as expressionistic and subtle. It is not car-
toony in the most obvious sense, yet does not subscribe to the realm of realism either.
He is infl uenced by many of the great American comic book illustrators, including
Kirby, Jim Steranko, and Neal Adams. However, he has spent his time studying
European cartoonists too, including Juanjo Guarnido and Ruben Pellejero, which
gives his fat/skinny line brushwork a refreshing edge in the world of mainstream
American comic book artists.
Recently, Sale has been creating artwork for the U.S. television series, Heroes, of
which his frequent partner Loeb is a writer and producer. In addition to illustrating
work for the show that is attributed to characters in the story, he also serves as an artis-
tic consultant and even provides illustrations for the comics that are released between
the show’s seasons.
Jared L. Olmsted
SANDMAN, THE (GAIMAN). A 75-issue DC/Vertigo comics series, Th e Sandman
(1989–96) was written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by a number of artists, including
Charles Vess, Craig Russell, Steve Leialoha, and Jill Th ompson, with covers by Dave
