The Dreaming Era (1996-2001) The years following Gaiman can only be described as a mixed bag. Just a couple months after the conclusion of The Sandman in 1996, DC launched The Dreaming in the hopes of continuing the high sales and critical praise that The Sandman had received as Vertigo's flagship title. Named after Dream's realm and featuring the characters that Gaiman had used but not created, as well as (and more and more as time went on) some ancilliary characters created by Gaiman, The Dreaming featured cover artist Dave McKean, the only founding creative member of The Sandman other than Gaiman to remain throughout Gaiman's run. The Dreaming was intended to feature various arcs telling the stories of different characters, written and illustrated by a different team for each arc -- it would be an anthology concerning related characters, somewhat in the style of the successful Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. The Dreaming began with the three-part "The Goldie Factor," by Terry LaBan and Peter Snejbjerg. Various other projects, primarily mini-series, began almost immediately. The end of 1996 saw the three-issue prestige-format mini-series Mythos: The Final Tour, focusing on rock musicians influenced by Desire's minions; it received poor reviews. As The Dreaming continued, it declined rapidly from its much-publicized launch; the general consensus was that, while the new stories were not without good ideas, Gaiman had been a hard act to follow and these short tales featuring ancilliary characters lacked that Sandman "magic." Considered memorable, however, were #16 -- "Ice," by Peter Hogan and Gary Amaro -- and "Souvenirs" -- #17-19, featuring the Corinthian (it's hard to go wrong with a serial killer), by Caitlin R. Kiernan and Peter Doherty. The 1997 three-issue prestige-format mini-series, Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold, featured Destiny (available because, unique among The Endless, Gaiman had not created him) and told three stories of plagues with a framing sequence that occured in the future. But flagging sales and lackluster reviews spurred the decision to abandon the anthology format following the completion of Al Davison's "The Dark Rose" (issues #20-21). Gaiman himself expressed his opinion, likely muted (as he often is) and certainly not offensive to DC editorial: The main thing is making it [The Dreaming] a story that is going somewhere, that feels like it's going somewhere and it will be one huge story that is going somewhere rather than these sorts of little stories that basically go 'Person A, who you've never met before nor do you care about, has a problem. They are going to go into The Dreaming and come out and their problem will be ... resolved from their experiences ...,' which was becoming the default plot. You didn't really feel that anything was necessarily going anywhere even though a lot of these stories were competently written. They also didn't display an awful lot of feeling for the characters. Many of them were very, very forgettable. Of course, the successful Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight didn't feature continuing stories either -- although, admittedly, it did have Batman (fortune cookies would sell in clothing stores if they had a picture of Batman on them). This was all bullshit: as Gaiman well knows, no single aspect is necessary for a work of art to succeed. First and second issues often not only sell well but are enjoyed despite that readers don't already care about the characters. I'm not sure to what extent there were "characters" in The Sandman, which was itself a kind of anthology, although one with a larger narrative that slowly moved forward; its central "character" was an allegorical one, but its stories were fun -- or thoughtful. What was needed wasn't a conservative title featuring characters to whom little happened, but a title as radical, in whatever manner, as The Sandman had been. Caitlin R. Kiernan and Peter Hogan were chosen as the two writers who would head the new direction for the title, which would feature changes to characters and a more consistent direction. Kiernan's "Unkindness Of One" (issues #22-24, illustrated by Paul Lee) and Hogan's "My Life As A Man" (#25, illustrated by Chris Weston), served to lay the foundation for this new direction. At the same time, James Robinson reprised his Witchcraft mini-series with a three-issue 1998 follow-up. The month following this mini-series's conclusion saw the commencement of The Dreaming's first long story arc, titled "Many Mansions," in The Dreaming #27 -- and the extra-sized special The Dreaming: Trial and Error. In the first months of "Many Mansions," which featured various artists, the new Dream, Daniel, was featured (with Gaiman's consent) in Grant Morrison's hugely successful JLA (issues #22-23). In the last few months of "Many Mansions," which concluded in #34, a four-issue Death mini-series of sorts, entitled The Girl Who Would Be Death saw publication in 1998-1999, though Death herself would not appear; the storyline and the mini-series concluded in the same month. Following the conclusion of "Many Mansions" in The Dreaming #34, Kiernan became the title's sole author (beginning with #35). Occasional mini-series carring "The Sandman Presents" as their supertitle began appearing with the three-issue The Sandman Presents: Lucifer, written by Mike Carey and published in 1999. Two months later, the three-issue mini-series The Sandman Presents: Love Street premiered, telling a tale of Hellblazer's John Constantine during Dream imprisonment (as shown in Gaiman's The Sandman #1). 1999 concluded with Neil Gaiman's return, to mixed reviews, in an original hardcover entitled The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano -- though Gaiman had annually written a short story featuring The Endless in Vertigo's anthology, Vertigo: Winter's Edge, published late each year in 1997 and 1998, with the third and final installment in 1999. (The same anthologies had featured The Dreaming shorts as well.) 2000 saw the four-issue The Sandman Presents: Petrefax, also written by Carey. An ongoing series -- the second to spin off from The Sandman -- entitled Lucifer and written by Carey premiered the same month that mini-series concluded. Later that year, the comical extra-sized special, The Sandman Presents: Merv Pumpkinhead -- Agent of Dream was published. The Sandman Presents line of mini-series had proven more successful than the ongoing The Dreaming, and so that ongoing came to an end with issue #60 in 2001, to be replaced by a more vigorous line of Sandman Presents mini-series and specials. This meant that Mike Carey's Lucifer, then a year old, became the sole ongoing inheritor to Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. The baton had been passed.

IMAGE	TITLE	DESCRIPTION	STATUS
1. The Anthology Mini-Era
The Dreaming #1-60, The Dreaming: Trial and Error: Dave McKean cover
The Dreaming #1-3, 13-14: Terry LaBan script
The Dreaming #1-3, 27, 29; Mythos: The Final Tour #2: Peter Snejbjerg art
The Dreaming #1-3: "The Goldie Factor" storyline
Larger Version Available	The Dreaming #1	cover-dated June 1996	0
	The Dreaming #2		0
	The Dreaming #3		0
The Dreaming #4-7, 16, 25, 29, part of 31, all of 32; The Sandman Presents: Love Street #1-3: Peter Hogan script
The Dreaming #4-7: "The Lost Boy" storyline
The Dreaming #4-6: Steve Parkhouse art
	The Dreaming #4		0
	The Dreaming #5		0
	The Dreaming #6		0
The Dreaming #7, 32: Steve Parkhouse pencils; Dick Giordano inks
	The Dreaming #7		0
	The Dreaming #8	a single-issue Cain & Abel story; Alisa Kwitney script; Michael Zulli art; also contains 3 extra pages that expand The Sandman (second series) #72; cover-dated January 1997	0
Larger Version Available	The Dreaming: Beyond the Shores of Night	collects The Dreaming #1-8 with a new 2-page introductory sequence (in the spirit of DC's classic horror titles, scripted by Peter Hogan with Joe Orlando art); 208 pgs; softcover; cover-dated January 1998 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	0
Mythos: The Final Tour #1-3: John Ney Rieber script; 48 pages; prestige format
	Mythos: The Final Tour #1	Gary Amaro & Peter Gross art; cover-dated December 1996	B
	Mythos: The Final Tour #2		B
	Mythos: The Final Tour #3	Teddy Kristiansen art; cover-dated February 1997	0
The Dreaming #9-12: "Weird Romance" storyline; Bryan Talbot script, Tayyar Ozkan inks
	The Dreaming #9	Dave Taylor pencils	0
The Dreaming #10-12: Peter Doherty pencils
	The Dreaming #10		0
	The Dreaming #11		1
	The Dreaming #12		0
The Dreaming #13-14: "Coyote's Kiss" storyline; Jill Thompson art
	The Dreaming #13		1
	The Dreaming #14		0
	The Dreaming #15	Mervyn Pumpkinhead offers a tour of the Dreaming; Jeff Nicholson writing and art	0
	The Dreaming #16	focuses on Nuala and her brother; Gary Amaro art	0
The Dreaming #17-19, 22-24, 26-28, 30, part of 31, all of 33-45, 48-54, 56-60; The Girl Who Would Be Death #1-4: Caitlin R. Kiernan script
The Dreaming #17-19: "Souvenirs" storyline, featuring the Corinthian
The Dreaming #17-18: Peter Doherty art
	The Dreaming #17		0
	The Dreaming #18	cover-dated November 1997	0
	The Dreaming #19	Peter Doherty & D'Israeli art	0
Larger Version Available The cover to a Titan Books publication, apparently titled The Dreaming: Souvenirs, that looks to be a trade paperback of (at least) The Dreaming #17-19
Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #1-3: prestige format; Alisa Kwitney script; features a framing sequence with Kent Williams art that takes place in plague-ridden 2009; Kent Williams cover
	Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #1	tells of a plague in the Byzantine empire with Michael Zulli art; cover-dated November 1997	0
	Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #2	tells, with Scott Hampton art, the story of a princess from just before Black Death overtook Europe in the 1300s	0
	Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #3	tells, with Rebecca Guay art, the story of an English woman in 17th-Century England; cover-dated January 1998	0
Larger Version Available	Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold	collects Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #1-3; Alisa Kwitney introduction [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	1
The Dreaming #20-21, 41: Al Davison art
The Dreaming #20-21: "The Dark Rose" storyline, a tale of the Corinthian set in the Victorian era; Al Davison script
	The Dreaming #20	cover-dated January 1998	0
	The Dreaming #21		0
The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, the 10-page Desire short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge, the 6-page Death short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge 2, the 9-page Desire short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge III: Neil Gaiman script
the 10-page Desire short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge, written by Neil Gaiman with painted art by John Bolton, published in December 1997, occurs here
the 10-page The Dreaming short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge, written by Caitlin R. Kiernan & Peter Hogan with art by Duncan Fegredo, published in December 1997, occurs here
2. Kiernan and Hogan Mini-Era
The Dreaming #22-24: "Unkindness of One" storyline; Paul Lee art
	The Dreaming #22		0
	The Dreaming #23		0
	The Dreaming #24	Matthew the Raven learns about his enemy while Eve, Lucien, and an avian army fight it	0
Witchcraft: La Terreur #1-3: James Robinson script; Michael Zulli pencils; Vince Locke inks; interlocking Michael Kaluta covers
	Witchcraft: La Terreur #1	cover-dated April 1998	0
	Witchcraft: La Terreur #2		0
	Witchcraft: La Terreur #3	cover-dated June 1998	0
	The Dreaming #25	"My Life as a Man"; focuses on Aristeas of Marmora; Chris Weston art; cover-dated June 1998	0
Larger Version Available	The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory	collects The Dreaming #15-19, 22-25; published in 1999 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	0
	The Dreaming: Trial and Error	Cain is tried for murdering Abell; Len Wein script; Brian Apthorp and Scott Hampton art; cover-dated July 1998; please e-mail me if you know if this was a book (i.e. had a spine) or not	0
	The Dreaming #26	Duncan Fegredo art	0
The Dreaming #27-34: "Many Mansions" storyline
	The Dreaming #27	"Stormy Weather", focusing on Cain	0
The Dreaming #28, 30: Jamie Tolagson art
	The Dreaming #28	Eve contemplates the House of Mystery as it burns	1
	The Dreaming #29	Cain and the residents of the House of Mystery take residence in the House of Secrets	1
	The Dreaming #30	focuses on Lucien; published on 23 September 1998	1
	The Dreaming #31	38 pages; features a framing sequence written by Caitlin R. Kiernan with Paul Lee pencils and Kim DeMulder inks; features various stories written by Peter Hogan with art by Shawn McManus, Scott Hampton, and Gary Amaro; cover-dated December 1998	1
	The Dreaming #32		1
	The Dreaming #33	John Totleben art	1
	The Dreaming #34	Marc Hempel art; cover-dated March 1999	1
the 6-page Death short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge 2, written by Neil Gaiman with black-and-white art by Jeff Jones, cover-dated December 1998, occurs here
the 8-page The Dreaming short story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge 2, written by Caitlin R. Kiernan with art by Teddy Kristiansen, cover-dated December 1998, occurs here
	The Girl Who Would Be Death #1	Dean Ormston art; cover-dated December 1998	0
	The Girl Who Would Be Death #2	I have no idea of the art for this issue	0
	The Girl Who Would Be Death #3	Sean Phillips and Dean Ormston art	0
	The Girl Who Would Be Death #4	I have no idea of the art for this issue; cover-dated March 1999	0
3. Kiernan Mini-Era
Lucifer #1-13, The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #1-3, The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #1-4: Mike Carey script
The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #1-3: Scott Hampton painted art and covers
	The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #1	cover-dated March 1999	0
	The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #2		0
	The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #3	cover-dated May 1999	0
	The Dreaming #35	features W. B. Yeats and Christina, a woman from Lucien's past; Rebecca Guay art; cover-dated April 1999	1
The Dreaming #36-38: "The Gyres" storyline; Christian Hojgaard pencils; Teddy Kristiansen inks
	The Dreaming #36		1
	The Dreaming #37		1
	The Dreaming #38		1
Lucifer #1-13, The Sandman Presents: Love Street #1-3: Duncan Fegredo cover
The Sandman Presents: Love Street #1-3: features John Constantine with a flashback story occuring in 1968 London; Michael Zulli pencils; Vince Locke inks
	The Sandman Presents: Love Street #1	cover-dated July 1999	1
	The Sandman Presents: Love Street #2		1
	The Sandman Presents: Love Street #3	cover-dated September 1999	1
	The Dreaming #39	introduced by Neil Gaiman in praise of Caitlin R. Kiernan; Christian Hojgaard art on the framing sequence, with Shawn McManus art on the remainder, plus two pages of Teddy Kristiansen inks; cover-dated August 1999	1
The Dreaming #40-43: "Fox and Hounds" storyline
	The Dreaming #40	Christian Hojgaard & Ron Randall pencils; Ron Randall inks; cover-dated September 1999	1
	The Dreaming #41	contains a preview of The Sandman: The Dream Hunters; cover-dated October 1999	1
The Dreaming #42, 44-45, 48, 51-54, 57-60: Christian Hojgaard pencils, Ron Randall inks
	The Dreaming #42		1
	The Dreaming #43	features an appearance by Daniel, the new Dream; Bo Hampton pencils; Scott Hampton inks	1
Larger Version Available	The Sandman: The Dream Hunters [hardcover]	136 pages of illustrated prose; art and cover by Yoshitaka Amano; hardcover; published without a dust jacket; published in late 1999 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	1
Larger Version Available	The Sandman: The Dream Hunters [softcover]	cover-dated September 2000; published in July 2000 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	0
Larger Version Available	Vertigo: Winter's Edge III	includes a Desire short story, featuring a Neil Gaiman script and Michael Zulli art, a story of The Dreaming with Caitlin R. Kiernan script and art by Shawn McManus, a Hellblazer story in illustrated prose form by Dave Gibbons, a Swamp Thing story, prior to the first issue of the new series, with Brian K. Vaughan writing, Roger Petersen pencils, and Jose Rubinstein inks, a Books of Magic story with Peter Gross script and Michael Lark art, a poor Transmetropolitan story with Warren Ellis script and art by Darick Robertson and Keith Aiken, a 100 Bullets story by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, a story by Jamie Delano and Gordan Subzuka, supposedly the first appearance of The Great Satan (retitled Outlaw Nation prior to publication), the first Deadenders story, featuring Ed Brubaker writing, Warren Pleece pencils, and Richard Case inks, an interview with Jeph Loeb and Chris Bachalo of The Witching Hour; Philip Bond cover; published in December 1999, very shortly after The Sandman: The Dream Hunters	B
	The Dreaming #44		1
	The Dreaming #45		1
	The Dreaming #46	I have no information about this issue	0
	The Dreaming #47	I have no information about this issue	0
	The Dreaming #48		0
	The Dreaming #49		0
3a. PETREFAX
The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #1-4: Steve Leialoha art, Pascal Alixe cover
	The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #1	cover-dated March 2000	0
	The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #2		0
	The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #3		0
	The Sandman Presents: Petrefax #4	cover-dated June 2000	0
4. Dreaming / Lucifer Mini-Era
	The Dreaming #50	The House of Mystery is rebuilt; Duncan Fegredo, Marc Hempel, and John Totleben cover; cover-dated July 2000	0
Lucifer #1-3: Chris Weston and James Hodgkins art
	Lucifer #1	cover-dated June 2000	0
	Lucifer #2	cover-dated July 2000	0
	Lucifer #3	cover-dated August 2000	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #4	Dean Ormston and Warren Pleece art; cover-dated September 2000	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway	collects The Sandman Presents: Lucifer #1-3 and Lucifer #1-4; cover-dated July 2001 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	1
	The Dreaming #51	cover-dated August 2000	0
The Dreaming #52-54: "Exiles" storyline
	The Dreaming #52	cover-dated September 2000	0
	The Dreaming #53	cover-dated October 2000	0
without insignia Larger Version Available	The Dreaming #54		0
Lucifer #5-8: "The House of Windowless Rooms" storyline
Lucifer #5-8, 10-11, 13: Peter Gross art with Ryan Kelly help on finishes
	Lucifer #5	cover-dated October 2000	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #6		0
	Lucifer #7	cover-dated December 2000	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #8		0
The Dreaming #55, The Sandman Presents: Merv Pumpkinhead -- Agent of Dream: Bill Willingham script
	The Dreaming #55	Danny Nod and Goldie interrupt hitorical and literary episodes; art by Adam Hughes, Michael Kaluta, Daniel Torres, Phil Jimenez, Paul Pope, Peter Gross, Zander Cannon, Linda Medley, Albert Monteys, Marc Laming, and Bill Willingham; cover-dated December 2000	0
	The Sandman Presents: Merv Pumpkinhead -- Agent of Dream	Mark Buckingham and John Stokes art; Kevin Nowlan cover; cover-dated December 2000	0
	The Dreaming #56	"The First Adventure of Catterina Poe", featuring Edgar Allan Poe's cat; Steve Leialoha art	0
	Lucifer #9	Dean Ormston art	0
The Dreaming #57-60: "Rise" storyline
	The Dreaming #57		0
	The Dreaming #58		0
without insignia Larger Version Available	The Dreaming #59		0
without insignia Larger Version Available	The Dreaming #60	final issue; cover-dated May 2001	0
Lucifer #10-13: "Children & Monsters" storyline
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #10	features Lucien and Merv Pumpkinhead in a single page that takes place in the Dreaming	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #11		0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #12	Peter Gross, Dean Ormston, and Ryan Kelly art	0
without titles or indicia Larger Version Available	Lucifer #13	Lucifer creates his own universe using the archangel Michael; cover-dated June 2001	0
	Lucifer: Children and Monsters	collects Lucifer #5-13 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	1
MISCELLANEOUS
	The Sandman: Book of Dreams [hardcover]	a collection of short stories (not written by Gaiman but) edited by Gaiman and Edward E. Kramer; includes stories by included Clive Barker, Tad Williams, Barbara Hambly, Gene Wolfe, and Nancy A. Collins; this book was a long time in the coming and had been held up by DC Comics's legal division, which had required that writers sign away their rights to their stories; approximately 300 pages	0
Larger Version Available	The Sandman: Book of Dreams	published after the hardcover [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	0

On The Continuity Pages: The Sandman Click here to return to the main Sandman page. Vertigo Chronology This large, hyperlinked table covers the publications of DC's Vertigo imprint, organized by cover-date and by type. The Continuity Pages: Neil Gaiman The continuity page for Neil Gaiman's miscellaneous projects, including links relevant to Gaiman. Neil Gaiman Chronology An annotated, hyperlinked chronology of Neil Gaiman's work.	Off-Site Please be aware that the continued quality, and even existence, of these sites cannot be guaranteed. None at present.
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