Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is an English comic writer and author books for both adult and children. He's known for imaginative work that crosses horror, fantasy and sci-fic genres.

Some of his best known works are:

• The Sandman comics which tell the tale of Morpheus, the anthropomorphic personification of Dream. It ran for 75 issues and won nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, including the award for best writer four times, and three Harvey Awards. Sandman #19 took the 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, making it the first comic ever to be awarded a literary award.

• American Gods is a novel combining ancient mythology in modern America. His novel Anansi Boys is set in the same 'verse.

• Good Omens was co-written by Neil with Terry Pratchett. It follows the exploits of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley who are concerned the impending Apocalypse may disrupt their comfortable existence on Earth.

The influence of Gaiman's work has always been evident in Supernatural, and at Comic Con 2007, Kripke acknowledged this: “I was hoping I would meet [Neil Gaiman] because he’s a huge influence on Supernatural, between American Gods and Sandman.” Source

In late 2010 Kripke was mentioned in association with a project to create a TV series based on The Sandman - "my all-time favorite comic".

• See The Sandman for more information on the series.

Through the project, Kripke did get to speak with the Neil Gaiman:

"I’m such a fan of Neil, and he’s every bit as smart as promised and every bit as cool and down-to-earth, and I just loved my conversations with him... I've ripped of Neil front, right and centre. I mean Supernatural is basically "Sandman meets American Gods"

References from Gaiman's work in Supernatural

While themes and motifs from Gaiman's work are woven throughout Supernatural, there are some explicit references.

• The character of Tessa the Reaper, who first appears to a dying Dean in 2.01 In My Time Of Dying . She who bears a striking resemblance to Death from Sandman, and the Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 2 confirms her as the inspiration.

• John Constantine, of the Hellblazer series which Gaiman wrote for and who also appeared in Sandman was Kripke’s source for Castiel’s look. See our entry on Castiel's Trench Coat for more details.

• Azazel is a ruler of Hell in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

• Episodes such as 1.11 Scarecrow, 5.05 Fallen Idols and 5.19 Hammer Of The Gods have themes similar to American Gods where deities of ancient mythology (Odin, Loki etc) are remanifested and recruited to fight the New American Gods.

• A Hand of Glory appears in 3.06 Red Sky At Morning as well as the "Sandman" comic by Neil Gaiman and his novel "Neverwhere".

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• American Gods and Anansi Boys by Gaiman also feature the character of Anansi, under the name Mr Nancy, who is a Trickster God not dissimilar to that which Gabriel disguised himself as.

• Crowley’s name is probably a shout out to the character of the same name in Good Omens. Interestingly Crowley is introduced in 5.10 Abandon All Hope which opens with an overhead shot of a freeway which evoking the description in Good Omens of the M25 which Crowley builds in the shape of a sigil and on which the traffic unknowingly helps generate “low-grade evil to pollute the metaphysical atmosphere.”

• Good Omens also features the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and an 11 year old Anti-Christ reminiscent of Jesse in 5.06 I Believe The Children Are Our Future. And Chuck isn’t the only prophet to write books – Good Omens has the works of “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch”.

in Fandom

Fanfic featuring Supernatural crossovers with Gaiman works:

• SPN Omens an LJ community for Supernatural/Good Omens fanworks
• American Gods crossovers tagged on delicious
• Sandman crossovers tagged on delicious
• Good Omens crossovers tagged on delicious

Links

• Neil's blog
• Neil's Website
• Neil in Wikipedia