It is nearly impossible not to have run into Neil Gaiman at some point in your life. He first started his career as a journalist and in 1989 he first gained recognition and acclaim for writing “The Sandman” for DC Comics’ Vertigo family of graphic novels. Gaiman has a wide portfolio of popular work such as “Coraline” and “American Gods” and co-wrote “Good Omens” with fellow fantasy author Terry Pratchett. He was fairly active on social media, often talking to fans about his work, playfully responding to questions or voicing his support for women and LGBTQ+ people.
It was Christmas of 2021 when my mother gifted me a copy of “The Sandman, Vol. 2: “The Doll’s House.” I had only heard of “The Sandman” in passing and it wasn’t even something I asked my mother to get me, but she’s a librarian and she always knew what kinds of books to get people. My only other big exposure to Gaiman’s work was when a daycare provider let me watch “Coraline” when I was little.
Even in a medium like comics, Gaiman still had a novelist’s approach. He intertwined whimsical passages and meaningful dialogue so seamlessly with the artist he was working with for the issue. Even though I wasn’t sure how the world of “The Sandman” worked, I still wanted to keep on reading. I wanted to learn more about the protagonist, the Dream of the Endless (better known as Morpheus), the situation going on with Rose Walker, and the mystery as to why Morpheus was so obsessed with finding her. Gaiman’s dark yet whimsical writing style and often folkloric subject matter is something I wish to imitate in my own art. I requested my family to buy me more “Sandman” books for the next Christmas and I included “The Sandman” omnibus as part of a project asking me what items I would take with me on a deserted island.
A year ago, a smaller U.K. news website known as Tortoise Media released a series of podcasts titled “Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman,” which interviewed two women who alleged sexual misconduct done by Gaiman. Just a week ago on Jan. 13, investigative reportor Lila Shapiro published “There Is No Safe Word” on Vulture which provides further and more harrowing allegations of sexual assault and coercion. The courage it must have taken for these women to have come out is astounding, especially considering Gaiman’s own deep pockets and litigious tendencies, like his court battle with comic artist Todd McFarlane over the former’s involvement with the “Spawn” comic books that started all the way back in 2004 and only wrapped up ten years later.
An outsider looking into any forums, social media accounts and subreddits focusing on Gaiman’s works would think they were mourning the loss of a close friend. I see fans post about how they feel betrayed by Gaiman, while others step forward about their strange encounters with Gaiman either on social media or in real life. Some feel they unlocked the courage to point out how Gaiman’s most popular work was actually bad the whole time. Others still see it as an opportunity to buy Gaiman’s work from disillusioned people and there are so many posts detailing how they chose to dispose of their literature by just throwing their books in the recycling bin, accidentally letting their cat throw up on the pages or just straight up burning them in a crude little pyre.
The allegations against Gaiman have altered how I view his works. It’s hard for me to go back now knowing how there could be some parallels between real life and some of Sandman’s more suggestive or questionable moments of writing. At the same time, the comics have inspired me to create and tell stories myself. Gaiman’s writing made me interested in reading again after years of grade school burnout.
After learning about these incidents, my small collection of The Sandman graphic novels will rest on my shelf for an unspecified amount of time. I can’t be the judge of what others want to do with their books or how much they are willing to separate art from the artist. If anything, I wish people could donate their books to a charity or dispose of them without destroying them. Personally, I will never go out of my way to touch any of Gaiman’s future works unless it’s through pirating or reading from the local library. While people are innocent until proven guilty, I still would like to believe what the victims said are true the same way I would believe someone who claimed they were mugged or had their house broken into. It was through money, a welcoming persona and the parasocial relationship between fans that Gaiman possibly got away with his crimes for so long and I feel I don’t need to make his pockets deeper than they already are.
At the end of Vulture’s expose, one of Gaiman’s alleged victims, Scarlett Pavlovioch, briefly discussed how she has grown close with other alleged survivors in more recent years. I see something similar with former Gaiman fans. I’ve seen people pour out overwhelming amounts of support to the accusers, some recommending books or graphic novels in the same niche as Gaiman, and so many former fans all supporting each other process the fallout of the allegations. Even if I can’t enjoy Gaiman’s work the same way again, I feel it would be dishonest to say that I never did enjoy his art.
Emily Swift can be contacted at
eswift@kscequinox.com
