Need to know everything about THE SANDMAN? Well, with THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN you can. In this installment of the 25 Days of Sandman, we’re taking a look at THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN. These gorgeous volumes feature commentary, historical and contemporary references, hidden meanings and more about the series that has become a worldwide sensation and that helped launch Neil Gaiman’s career.

Literary historian Les Klinger (The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and The New Annotated Dracula), was the natural choice to edit THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN. Nearly a decade ago, Klinger had befriended Gaiman at a dinner for “hard-core Sherlockians.”

Having maintained that friendship, Klinger was given unprecedented access to source materials including Gaiman’s detailed original scripts, and Gaiman himself, for the task of turning the entire Sandman library into beautiful and informative annotated hardbound volumes.

In celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of THE SANDMAN, Klinger wrote an article entitled “Annotating Sandman” which was published exclusively in the Comic-Con International: San Diego 2013 souvenir book. Check out the cover in the galley above and the brief excerpt below:

 “Neil learned scripting from Alan Moore, he told me, and the result of that training was scripts that were immensely detailed, with elaborate instructions to the various artists that gave panel-by-panel descriptions of what he wanted to see. The scripts were also essentially letters to friends–the artists–sharing Neil’s life-experiences during the course of the writing. I was amazed to understand that these were produced on a strict monthly schedule, and the vision of the process of creation was awe-inspiring.

 “Everyone seems to get immediately why Sandman, more than any other comic, deserved—I won’t say needed—this kind of scholarship and attention. No one can read the annotations without asking themselves how Neil Gaiman, on a pressured monthly timetable, produced such a monumental work with the depth of detail and breadth of research that are apparent.”

Available now, THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN Vol. 1 takes an in-depth look at issues #1-20 and THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN Vol. 2 takes an in-depth look at issues #21-39. Check out some interiors from Vol. 1  in the gallery above. THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN will amass four volumes and is sure to please fans as well as those discerning readers curious about the phenomenon.