DALLAS — Art has served as a source of joy and inspiration for Neil Gaiman, the writer behind various books ("Coraline", "Good Omens", "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", etc.), comic books ("The Sandman") and TV shows throughout his illustrious career.
“I love being around art. Ever since I was a young writer, I’ve been really fortunate in that I’ve been working with artists,” Gaiman recently told WFAA. “So, starting out in comics, you get really spoiled because there’s art everywhere, and sometimes, the artists give you art, and sometimes you fall in love with something and you buy a piece of art from them.”
Now, as more than 100 pieces of original comic book art and other collectibles belonging to Gaiman (many of which were gifted to him by other artists and writers) go up for auction through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, Gaiman is sharing the joy the pieces brought him with others.
Watch WFAA's full interview with Neil Gaiman here:
He got the idea to do the auction from his friend Geoff Notkin, who starred in the show “Meteorite Men” and played drums in a punk band with him when they were children.
Notkin eventually auctioned off some of his meteorites from the show.
“[Notkin] had two huge reasons for auctioning off these meteorites. One of which was they had given him joy for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and he thought it was time that they could give other people joy, and the other was going, 'There are charities out there, I can give money to them,' which he did,” Gaiman said. “Geoff kept saying to me, ‘You should do one of these.’”
The proceeds from Gaiman’s auction will go to The Hero Initiative, which supports comics creators in need, the Author’s League Fund, which supports authors, journalists and other writers in need, and the original comic book artists.
“The thing that actually made me go, ‘I think I want to do this,’ was just... because I want to give the living artists here a share of what it makes,” Gaiman said.
Among the highlights of Gaiman’s collection with Heritage are a page-16, issue-7, 17-panel piece from “Watchmen,” which was gifted to Gaiman from writers Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons; a 1995 test page illustration of Death in pencil of a planned scene from the final “Sandman” storyline called "The Wake" by artist Michael Zulli; a drawing of the popular character Death of the Endless from “Sandman” by French illustrator Jean Giraud; the cover of “Swamp Thing” #66; and more.
Notably, Gaiman will be in attendance for the auction at 11 a.m. Thursday, sharing the stories behind certain auction items live and in person with those in the audience. Fans can RSVP to attend the auction in person for free here, and learn more on Heritage Auctions’ website here.
The "Watchmen" page is among the items with sentimental value to Gaiman.
“I have this page from ‘Watchmen’ that Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore gave me back in 1986 because I helped Alan do some research for ‘Watchmen’ and titled some episodes,” Gaiman said. “I love it, and I love it because it’s a dream and I went on to write ‘Sandman.’ I love it because it’s the only 17-panel page in the whole of ‘Watchmen,’ which is famous for being on a nine-panel grid... I love it because it’s got the famous kissing skeletons of ‘Watchmen.’”
Now, he says he likes the idea of someone else getting to appreciate it.
“I look at it, and I go, ‘You are going to make somebody so happy. You’ve been making me so happy now for almost 40 years and now you can bring joy to somebody else,'” Gaiman said. “All I hope is that they’ll hang it on a wall and that anybody who comes to their house will be shown this piece... I want it to be shown, I want it to make people happy.”
Gaiman also has a connection to Dallas. He’s visited Dallas since he was a guest at Dallas Fantasy Fair in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s.
“For me, the most thrilling thing that I remember in Dallas is the incredible people that I’ve met, beginning with other authors and artists back at the Dallas Fantasy Fair,” Gaiman said.
As Gaiman told WFAA, his novel “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” was finished in Dallas.
“I remember sitting in a wonderful little coffee shop and doing that final word count and realizing that I had not written a novella as I had thought, but it’s actually a novel,” Gaiman told WFAA.
So, what’s next for the ever-prolific Gaiman?
He says his novel “Anansi Boys” is being adapted into a TV series that he hopes will appear on screens this year. At the same time, “Sandman” season 2 is being shot, and "Dead Boy Detectives" -- a supernatural detective comedy drama TV series -- will premiere this spring. He’s also in the process of writing “Good Omens” season 3.
For Gaiman, everything in life -- including his upcoming auction in Dallas -- always comes back to storytelling.
"For me, that was the biggest thing," Gaiman said. "It felt like every single thing in the auction was a story somehow."