“It feels weird that this beloved author who hardly anyone i know except people i’ve met over the internet have ever heard of is now making movies with these big famous people in them. (Okay, yes, i know he’s pretty well known, just no one in my everyday life except people i’ve introduced to his work know of him.) I find myself feeling very happy for him the way you would be pleased for a family member or old friend who became big and successful.”   

         -From a Neil Gaiman fansite

Neil Gaiman is a well-known fantasy writer with a cult following- an obsessive group of fans dedicated to discussing and collecting his work, life, and speculating about future projects.  I personally discovered his universe on accident, while working at a library during my Las Vegas high school years.  The Las Vegas library district has a killer administration system that allows each branch to select a focus.  Our library specialized in African-American Studies (I loved that section so deeply), but for some reason, had a pretty awesome graphic novel section.

Graphic novels fell under PN.  Know your Dewey Decimals, people.  It was lower down on the shelves, meaning they got less play and escaped the debasement of Crazy Tommy, the crackhead with one dread and a leopard fur coat.  Crazy Tommy would often and enthusiastically pick a book at random, copiously lick it, cover to back, then replace it backwards and upsdide down.  So on my shelf-checks, I’d often grab an out-of-place book, to find wet, smelly, crack-tongue saliva all over my hands and a two-toothed pervy smile from Crazy Tommy.  I will never, ever forget that hideous smell.

So, relief, then, that the graphic novels were fresh and nice, unbuckled by water damage and cleverly altered to hardcover by the library district.  After finding this treasure trove, I devoured amazing series, one by one:  Preacher Gone To Texas, Hellboy, Black Orchid, The Invisibles, Sin City.  My most beloved:  Sandman.

Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman captured my mind for hours on end.  I tore through the novels, binging on the joy of a solid story.  Good books keep you up all night, absorbed until the sun comes up, genuinely saddened as the pages thin, and completely satiated as you close the cover.  Every Sandman novel’s given me that joyous fulfillment, thanks to Neil Gaiman.  Gaiman is admired for solid storytelling and realistic characters, but to his cult fans, he is loved for much more.  He functions as a master storyteller, allowing readers to identify with modern gods, keeping old traditions alive.

Neil’s stories fall into traditional sci-fi formats.  A lone warrior collects friends on their journey to combat a larger opponent.  A fallen hero struggles to make amends.  Kingdoms, planets, time-travel, magic, kings, queens, and ESP are all the norm in Neil’s universe. An awesome aspect of his work:  Neil’s characters all populate the same universe, with pop-culture references sneakily tucked in.

His longtime visual partner Dave McKean has a dark, eerie, mystical aspect to his work.  He’s heavy on the symbols, muted tones, antiquated collage, photoboxes, skulls, feathers, and smudged edges.

Neil’s female characters are brave, sassy, mean, flawed, gorgeous, ugly, wicked, catty, demented, evil, calculating, dishonest and noble.  They’re well-developed female characters who hold their own in confrontations. Neil also includes well-developed gay characters, not afraid to explore sexism and racism. In the male dominated comic/fantasy culture, his novels are a world where girls can feel safe in knowing Neil understands them.

Neil is a master storyteller.  His books and stories appeal to the literary fan.  He’s named in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers.  He’s not merely a cult writer; he’s a great writer who appeals to several cult fanbases simultaneously.  His command of mythology and history is impressive.  Traditional gods, faeries, mythologies, Shakespearean characters, and historical figures are realistically brought to life.

Clearly, I’m a fan.  I’ve gone out for Halloween dressed as Death and spent way too much money collecting the Sandman series one by one.  Replacing books I’ve given out to friends while attempting to spread the love adds to the grand total.  But it’s OK.  I’m so lucky to have stumbled upon this series, a benchmark of creativity.  Thank you, Las Vegas Library District, for keeping culture alive.  And thank you, Neil, for keeping our gods and heroes relevant.