A piece of original promotional artwork for DC’s The Sandman, signed by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Mike Dringenberg, is currently fetching a super high price at auction. This art, featuring lead character Dream, first appeared in Action Comics Weekly #628, two months before Gaiman’s masterpiece hit shelves. The rest, as they say, is history. With a New York Times bestselling audio drama and an upcoming live-action Netflix adaptation, The Sandman is as popular today as it has ever been.
The piece can be found over at Heritage Auctions, where it’s currently pulling in bids of $20,000 — and with nearly two weeks left on the clock, that number will probably just keep growing. The art is said to be in “Very Good” condition. However, “the board is lightly toned, with some faint creases running across the middle image area.”
What makes this art so special? After all, there are thousands of amazing pieces of Sandman art out there; both official and made by fans. This one holds a very special place for all fans since it was the first-ever image of Morpheus to appear in print. Take a look:
For the curious -- the first image of Morpheus to see print from @DCComics, as Mike Dringenberg drew it and as it was printed. pic.twitter.com/nPKagwnWvv
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) August 23, 2021
There’s an interesting story behind this art. As you can see from the poster, Morpheus says the quote, “I will show you terror in a handful of dust.” That quote may sound vaguely familiar even to those who haven’t read The Sandman. Morpheus was meant to say “I will show you fear in a handful of dust,” which is a line from T. S. Eliot’s 1922 poem The Waste Land. DC changed the line to instead say “terror” over concerns of copyright infringement.
Death goes on auction
As one of the most influential comics ever written, there are always highly sought-after collectibles from The Sandman going up at auction. Besides the original poster, Heritage Auctions is also holding a bidding war for an excellent condition copy of Sandman #8, “The Sound of Her Wings,” which currently stands at $105! This comic in particular is so beloved because it marks the first appearance of Dream’s sister Death, who was perhaps the biggest breakout character from the comic!
Now is probably the best time to bid on these items, because once the Netflix adaptation premieres and hordes of new fans fall in love with the story, it’s going to be even harder to get your hands on them. We still don’t have a release date for the show, although it sounds like we can expect more news on September 25 during Netflix’s “Tudum” event.
There’s only one place to see your favorite stars reveal exclusive first looks of Netflix’s biggest shows and films... #TUDUM: A Global Fan Event is coming September 25 pic.twitter.com/moXnYqtxOD
— Netflix (@netflix) August 25, 2021
While we’re waiting for the series, we still have the audiobook adaptation to enjoy. “The Sandman: Act II” releases on September 22.
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