Neil Gaiman’s run on Sandman run ended all the way back in 1996, though he has made periodic returns to the title in books such as The Dream Hunters, Endless Nights, and Sandman Overture. Still, the Sandman mythos has steadily continued at DC, with the original The Dreaming series running from 1996-2001, the Lucifer
Bringing in new creators to flesh out the story of the Sandman is the best thing that could have happened to the story, and by retaining overall creative vision, Gaiman has been able to ensure that the new series are all incredibly high quality books. As Si Spurrier and artist Bilquis Evely’s incredible run on The Dreaming
* Spoilers for The Dreaming: Waking Hours Follow!*
is that it is a ruin. It’s a six issue miniseries stretched out into nine issues, and it shows. There are several points in the narrative where it’s clear that the wheels are spinning, everyone’s just waiting to get to the bit where Wally West confesses everything. I’m tempted to argue that the series would have been better suited for a more Columbo-esque structure where the reader is aware of who did it and the rest of the series is spent finding out why, rather than having that why provided over the course of an issue long monologue.