In the comics world Neil Gaiman is most famous for The Sandman . It concerns the doings of the Lord of the Dreams, Morpheus, as well as his brothers and sisters - Dream, Desire, Death, Despair, Destruction and Destiny. 

Morpheus is a bit of a gloomy soul, much given to introspection and navel gazing, something of a tragic figure. Far more fun is his sister, Death, a punkette who seems happy in her work as she guides people over to the "other side" - or whatever.

The original adventure ran for about five years and maintains an amazing continuity given the usual vagaries and short termism of the comic book industry. The story freely draws on legends and myths - Greek, Norse, concepts of Heaven and Hell - as well as adding some of his own. It's an ambitious piece and a good read which is not true of all comics which often look good but read like they have been plotted by a five year old. There are many story threads and digressions to the central plot, which are intriguing in themselves, among them:

• a Hell where Lucifer goes on strike and the dead walk amongst us once more
• a convention of serial killers
• a time when cats ruled the world
• a man who is given the gift of eternal life by Morpheus and Death as an amusing joke
• a talentless playwright named Shakespeare is given the ability to write great plays in return for two commissioned performances

Numerous artists worked on the books, now collected in ten volumes. This has meant that the characters are drawn in a bewildering variety of styles from abstract to realistic to comic. Not all of them work. Designer Dave McKean is a consistent excellent thread throughout the whole series. Brian Talbot also worked on the Sandman.

Gaiman now mainly writes novels.

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