Neil Gaiman’s complete reinvention of DC’s trademark on The Sandman is inarguably one of the most influential comics of the Iron Age…so why haven’t we talked about it much yet? And why are we starting with the storyline that’s popularly considered “Volume 2” of the series? We’re focusing on the collection that introduced The Sandman to the bookshelf market (which originally included the landmark “The Sound of Her Wings” story) and marked an evolution in the comic from a horror reimagining in the vein of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing to a showcase for Gaiman’s brand of dark fantasy and his love of the world of stories. We’ll also touch on how the series introduced character types not seen in other comics of the time, whether it matters or not that a big part of the story hinges on plotlines from Roy Thomas’ Infinity Inc., and how The Sandman went on to give birth to the Vertigo imprint.