Comics To Read If You Love Netflix's The Sandman

Just like the first volume of "The Sandman," we're featuring a fateful trip to Hell. In this case, it's the very same Hell featured in "The Sandman" — one that's every bit as tumultuous and also populated by the same cast of dramatic, godly beings. This trip to Hell comes courtesy of "Lucifer," the "Sandman" spinoff series that shifts its focus from Dream and his cosmic, aloof siblings and onto the titular fallen angel and the various earthbound evils with which he's associated.

This Lucifer is technically the same version as the one featured in the Fox (and then Netflix) series, but aside from their identical origin, the two versions of the Morningstar could not be any more different. The incarnation who stars in the "Lucifer" comic is written by the exceedingly intellectual and poetic Mike Carey, and because of that, this devil is a complex, Miltonian character whose immortal existence is as much of a curse as it is a blessing.

The "Lucifer" series does more than develop the former King of Hell (who decides to shut the place down and head to Los Angeles). It also tells deep, nuanced, and ironically human tales of the (also ironically) demonized figure Lilith, archangels like Michael, and even — spoiler alert — the eventual successor to Yahweh, the demi-Angel Elaine Belloc.

You can likely guess from the title of "Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology" that Gaiman himself wrote the comic. But there's more to the saga of the comic's inception, and it only adds to its richness. 

The origins of Norse mythology, like the origins of any mythology, come from multiple sources of varying credibility and translatability. There's no definitive version of Norse myths, only versions that seem by consensus to be the most accurate, most entertaining, or both. Gaiman wisely doesn't attempt to end the evolution of these stories. Instead, he simply adapts them for modern audiences — in as accurate and entertaining a way as possible.

As for the comic series, it's based on Gaiman's book of the same name. The comics present the Norse tales in chronological order, with the addition of rich artistic representation. Gaiman's artists for the comic are a series of legends, including Mike Mignola, iconic writer/artist for "Hellboy." The series is an exceptional read for fans of "The Sandman" for many reasons. For one, it's written by the man behind Morpheus himself. Secondly, it stars multiple "The Sandman" characters like Thor, Odin, and Loki. Plus, it features more of Gaiman's trademark (and paradoxical) poetic prose.

If there's one comic series that most closely resembles "The Sandman," it's "American Gods." The story was first published as a novel back in 2001, and in 2017, it was adapted as both a Starz original series and an ongoing comic from Dark Horse. Though all three versions are sure to satisfy anyone who loves "The Sandman," the comic boasts the most parallels with the Morpheus comics.

Like "The Sandman," "American Gods" is written by Neil Gaiman. It also creates a remarkably similar setting — an Earth in which anything that receives enough attention and prayer becomes very real and very powerful. Likewise, those beings of worship who begin to lose followers find themselves weakened and no longer quite so godly. Naturally, in both series, this leads to a conflict between newer, more powerful deities and the older, classical gods who still cling to the last embers of their ebbing religions. Plus, in the "Sandman" comic, Dream and company find themselves contending with characters like Odin and Loki, both of whom play pretty pivotal roles in "American Gods."

Despite being a comic book — and despite its multiple superpowered cameos (such as the villainous John Dee, aka Doctor Destiny) – "The Sandman" shares little in common with mainstream superhero comics. Its sweeping narrative runs through dozens of historical eras, and it spends entire issues debating concepts like the nature of inevitability and change. In other words, it isn't exactly in line with the majority of super tales from the likes of Marvel and DC. However, if that superhero comic is written by Neil Gaiman, you can bet it'll end up closer to the mark, and that is certainly true of "Marvel 1602."

Alongside artist Andy Kubert, Gaiman uses "Marvel 1602" as an opportunity to reinvent many of the company's most beloved heroes, specifically by imagining what they would have become had they all lived during the Elizabethan era. The altered setting allows Gaiman to do what Gaiman does best and insert long tracts of flowery narration and period-accurate dialogue. The book just feels closer to an issue of "The Sandman" than the average Marvel book, and for that alone, it's a comic worth reading for Dream fans.

However, it has another major asset going for it — it is genuinely fun. Many critics have cited how entertaining the whole series is, whether it's Peter Parquagh (the Peter Parker analog) constantly being almost bitten by spiders or the era-appropriate version of Captain America, a Native American (sort of — no spoilers) named Rojhaz (get it?).

Thanks in part to the beloved Guillermo del Toro movies, Hellboy is an ultra-popular character among genre fans. He's even pretty famous among the general population (even if the David Harbour reboot massively bombed). But there are two different Hellboys. There's the movie version — a muscly dope who defeats Nazis and demons alike by punching them, shooting them, and then downing whiskey over their corpses. And then there's the comic book version who, yes, absolutely does every bit of that as well, but he also acts under the direction of series writer and artist Mike Mignola. Thanks to Mignola's craftsmanship, the "Hellboy" comic is a thoroughly researched, deep, even reverent combination of mythologies from cultures across the world and throughout history.

Fans of "The Sandman" will no doubt have noticed the breadth of Neil Gaiman's knowledge of religion and folklore, and if there's any series that can keep pace, it's "Hellboy." Though Mignola, a diehard fan of pulp fiction, tends to speak glibly and humbly in interviews, when pressed, he will admit to an exceptional dedication. He often answers initial questions about his process by saying some form of "I just think it's cool" or "it's just a funny idea," but just a few questions later, he will, for example, wax poetic on the Victorian era or discuss the "antiquarian sensibility" in the works of H. P. Lovecraft (via BLDGBLOG). Fans of the rich mythology tapestry that is "The Sandman" need to read "Hellboy."

Of all the many comic book series that will leave fans of Netflix's "The Sandman" engrossed and in awe, one stands above them all for one very simple, straightforward reason: It's the official, canonical continuation of Dream's story. 

After Neil Gaiman wrapped up the original series, he revisited it only once, with the award-winning and critically adored "The Sandman" Overture." And then the Dreaming, and the larger universe around it, sat silent and unused for years. That is, until DC and Gaiman decided to let the characters live on through a string of comics that focus on the Dreaming, its inhabitants, and the greater world they inhabit.

The first and perhaps best of these sequels is "The Dreaming," by Simon Spurrier, which follows the titular dimension of dreams as it's forced to adapt to a new lord — a strange, arcane being of logic and numbers. Even if it weren't connected to "The Sandman," Spurrier's writing and Bilquis Evely's art alone make it worthy of a read. The series was published under the banner of "The Sandman Universe," and it shares that banner with a number of other sequels and spinoffs, all of them worthwhile comics to read if you love Netflix's "The Sandman."