Comics most probably evolved from the nineteenth century penny dreadfuls in England, and from the pulps in the United States. Such comics were, however, usually of a humorous nature, hence the term 'comics'. Although the tone and subject matter of comics now vary widely, many people still find it hard to accept comics as other than juvenile and meant for entertaining children, and certainly the multitude and popularity of titles such as Superman, X-men and even Archie , which have come to epitomise comics, have not contradicted that opinion. The Sandman series is an excellent example of how varied the comics industry has become. If originality is an indication of creativity, then surely Neil Gaiman can be said by any to be creative, and Sandman would be his creative product.
Originality is originality, no matter what medium it arises in.
In addition to the originality of the kind of stories Gaiman writes, he also shows his talent in the technical aspects of writing a comic book. This was a method that I, as an avid comic book reader, have not previously seen in western comics and perhaps not even in other forms of western art, and certainly never so successfully, and also never in this context. Comics have been often attacked for various reasons. The 1955 publication of The Seduction of the Innocent , a research report by American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham proved the culmination of a post-war campaign against comics that accused comics of having socially and educationally detrimental effects on young readers. They were said to lead to juvenile delinquency and promote illiteracy, among other things.