Grains of Sand: 25 Years of the Sandman

One of the things that Lyssa and I bonded over early in our relationship were the works of Neil Gaiman, in particular the graphic novel which spanned seven years and seventy-five issues called Sandman. It was considered the flagship series of DC's Vertigo imprint and has a community of fans around the world for whom these stories are very important indeed even to this day. Earlier this year the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco hosted an exhibit (which was so popular they held it over) called Grains of Sand: 25 Years of the Sandman. So of course, when Lyssa and I heard about it, we had to make the trek to see it. On display were some original panels from the comic, some of which included edits, paste-up, and even notes written in the margins during the production process. Also on display were early character sketches and designs of Dream and Death alongside newer depictions made by noted artists who either worked on the series originally or who hold those stories in some esteem themselves. A few years ago Dancing Ferret Disks assembled an album of songs inspired by the work of Neil Gaiman called Where's Neil When You Need Him? Some kind soul assembled a Youtube playlist of those songs which you may wish to listen to while you page through this photo album. Here are my photographs taken at the exhibit. All works are the property of their respective creators, I'm just a fan who took a few pictures at the museum.