How To Read The Sandman/Hellblazer/Vertigo Universe If You Just Want To Love It, 1: Overtures, Preludes, & Nocturnes

With a cover date of January 1989 (meaning it probably hit comic book stores in November of 1988), Neil Gaiman's Sandman #1 began slowly changing a chunk of the DC Universe into its own corner that would eventually be called DC Vertigo. The Vertigo line would be more literature focused than its mainstream superhero counterpart, but would still share ... not continuity ... influence. There are some Justice League members who fall into the Vertigo chasm, but their ambitions seem different when they're in Vertigo titles. And, sure, Death from Sandman, and Swamp Thing and Animal Man cross back and forth between DC Vertigo and DC proper every decade or so, but the two universes were mostly separate. Until. Until Flashpoint and The New 52 in 2011, at which point the Vertigo imprint ceased having its historic value. In January of 2020 Vertigo was completely removed and replaced by DC's "Black Label", which I'm sure they will relaunch again as something else within the next five years.

But the books that inspired the creation of the label: Gaiman's Sandman, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, and Jamie Delano's Hellblazer are still vital to DC mythology. While books like Y The Last Man, Fables, and Transmetropolitan are  important books that came out with the Vertigo label, they would also fit right in with current Image Comics titles or IDW. The early '90s Vertigo books had fun with characters and references crossing between titles, even as the books themselves didn't have Crossover Events. Dream would just show up in Hellblazer to chastise John Constantine. And Constantine, himself, first showed up in the pages of Swamp Thing. Variations on these characters and these stories went on for almost forty years before they were completely swept into DC proper.

I'm currently reading through as much as I can of the Sandman/Swamp Thing/Hellblazer/Books Of Magic/Dreaming universe in preparation for the upcoming Sandman/Locke & Key crossover.

You shouldn't have to do that. There's a lot of it. Like pretty much every ongoing comic series that lasts more than a couple of years, the quality varies wildly. So I've put together a reading list/order if you want to read Just The Best of these titles. I don't care for which stories are the most Historically Important, like the first appearances of so and so, or The Absolute Beginning of this universe. I care about what's fun to read, and what art is just bonkerstown great.

Most to all of these books should be in print and available from a local comic book store. And if they do dip temporarily out of print, I'm fairly confident they'll return quickly with new cover art and probably a heftier price point. Hope you enjoy!

Season One:
Overtures, Preludes & Nocturnes

1. Sandman: Overture
(Neil Gaiman, JH Williams III, Dave McKean)
Buy Sandman Overture on Bookshop.org

The universe is cyclical, and this is, as of when I'm writing this, the most recent collection in this continuity. It could absolutely serve as a coda, having several callbacks to the original Sandman universe that Gaiman laid down in the 80s and 90s. BUT. Why not start your journey with one of the most beautiful books in the series. JH Williams's art is phenomenal, and Gaiman has crafted a story that, yes, is enhanced a bit if you've read the full run of Sandman and are feeling nostalgic, but it also stands on its own and gives you an idea of how weird this universe is going to be. Also, it's a prequel story so it does actually set up the next time Dream comes into continuity. It's a much more fun and engaging beginning to the continuity than the true start of this universe: Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.


2. Swamp Thing: The Curse
(Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben)
currently collected as Saga Of The Swamp Thing Book Three

Alan Moore purists and classist comic completists will call this sacrilege that I'm not starting with the beginning of Moore's Swamp Thing run. That's ok. They can still read and enjoy it. I found it overwritten. Alan Moore told the same basic Swamp Thing story over and over and over again until it felt right to him. For me, this was the fist excellent portion of the story. It's all about love and identity and environmental politics. Which is exactly what a Swamp Thing story should be. We're also introduced to John Constantine, who will be the linchpin of this entire storytelling universe.

3. Swamp Thing: Reunion
(Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Stephen Bissette, Alfredo Alcala, John Totleben, Tom Yeates)
currently collected as Saga Of The Swamp Thing Book Six

The end of Moore's run on Swamp Thing is hugely satisfying if you've slogged through his entire run (or enjoyed his entire run). He ties up all the various threads and given his characters their Happily Ever After. That's fine. But it also has a really trippy art issue, which counterbalances its inclusion of the DC proper space universe with its Green Lanterns, Thanagarians, and such.  The prose is very purpley (as much of Moore's work is) but it's worth it for the artwork.

4. Hellblazer: The Fear Machine
(Jamie Delano, Mark Buckingham, RIchard Piers Rayner, Mike Hoffman, Alfredo Alcala)
Until the next printing, rooting around comic book stores or EBay is your best bet to find this.
You could also get it affordably via Kindle, if you prefer.

The first few volumes of Hellblazer try, unsuccessfully to balance, magic, demonology, mythology, interpersonal relationships, politics, and Vertigo's burgeoning continuity. Mostly, it fails at its humanity by pushing its very valid political stances too far into the story. Eyes will roll. Here, we get a healthy dose of governmental paranoia, as well as some cool side characters to latch on to. The ending is out of nowhere, but the journey there makes this volume worth reading.

5. Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes
(Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg)
Easily orderable from any bookstore or comic store, or grab it from Bookshop.org.

Picking up from the end of "Sandman Overture", a rich, shitty, American has designed a scheme to trap Death and change the world to fit his beliefs. Unfortunately, he accidentally traps Dream, who refuses to speak to him. While Dream is trapped, The Dreaming falls apart, sleep pandemics occur, and the world goes all wibbly-wobbly-shakey-wakey. When he escapes, he quests to find his most important magical belongings, and set the world and The Dreaming back to its status quo. We also get a team-up with John Constantine, and some cameos from some DC Proper heroes.

​6. Hellblazer: The Family Man
(Jamie Delano, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Ton Tiner, Sean Phillips, Steve Pugh, Dean Motter, Dave Mckean)
Again, rummaging through stores and EBay is the most affordable way to go. 
​Or go the Kindle route.

A serial killer seriously messes with Constantine's  mojo. Also, his family deals with their own spiritual trauma. This volume is Delano's best interpersonal relationship story. While Morrison's contributions are true to Constantine's paranoia, they're fairly boring. Gaiman's one-shot paying tribute to a side character, on the other hand, is a moving and necessary part of Constantine's personal growth.

7. Sandman: The Doll's House
(Neil Gaiman, Chris Bachalo, Steve Parkhouse, Michael Zulli, Mike  Dringenberg,  Malcolm Jones III)
Should be on the shelves at any bookstore, or order via Bookshop.org

This was the volume that elevated Sandman (which was already great) to legendary status. The layouts are astounding, the art is crisp, the characters are interesting, the mythological backstory is well told and placed in the overall narrative, and we start to get a real sense for The Endless's powers and a hint at family dynamics. If you're only going to read one book on this list, I'd suggest Sandman Overture, but this is a close second.

8. Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits
(Jamie  Delano, Garth Ennis, William SImpson, Sean Phillips, Steve Pugh, Dave McKean)
You can get a previous printing which contains only the beginning of the Ennis run via Ebay at an affordable rate.

The end of Delano's run is, honestly wet fucken garbage. It's awful. It features an incredibly stupid retcon that I think, and hope, future writers ignore. It attempts at making things seem cyclical but falls way flat. Before that is a pretty decent family story featuring some characters and themes from "The Fear Machine", and that part works. Then ... ugh. The true highlight of this volume is the beginning of Ennis's run. In addition to Constantine's usual demon enemies (this triumvirate is straight out of Sandman "Preludes & Nocturnes"), he also must battle lung cancer. This is handled with surprising grace, given some of Ennis's other work.