Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is an English science fiction writer, author of graphic novels and comics, and screenwriter.

He was born on November 10, 1960, in Portchester, United Kingdom. His father was a businessman, and his mother worked as a pharmacist. After graduating from school in 1977, Gaiman gave up the opportunity to pursue higher education in favor of journalism. However, it was six whole years before his first professional publication — an interview with Robert Silverberg — appeared in the English edition of Penthouse magazine in 1984. In May of that same year, the author’s first story, Featherquest, was published in Imagine.

In 1985, Gaiman decided to work in comics. He bought a couple of books explaining the principles of comic-book creation and met Alan Moore, who gave him a number of practical tips. Neil’s first attempt in this field was issue No. 488 of the comic 2000AD, published in 1986. For several years Gaiman honed his skills, meanwhile publishing the graphic novel Violent Cases (with artist Dave McKean) and the nonfiction book Don't Panic: The Official Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy Companion — a superb study devoted to the work of English science fiction writer Douglas Adams. Merrily Haifetz, Gaiman’s literary agent, recalled that Gaiman managed to receive an impressive fee for Don't Panic — more than anyone could have imagined — and that he told her then that he was writing comics at the moment, but one day he would write novels as well.

After three years of practice on other people’s projects, Neil Gaiman decided to try his hand at creating an original comic series. For this, he took a somewhat forgotten horror hero from the 1930s, and in 1989 the first issue of Sandman appeared. It was published by DC (Detective Comics). Gaiman did not especially expect his creation to be a success, but this was precisely one of those cases in which he was mistaken. Sandman became extraordinarily popular, selling in the tens of thousands — and later in the millions. In 1991, the nineteenth issue even won the World Fantasy Award — the first time in history that a prestigious literary prize had been awarded to a comic.

In 1990, Neil Gaiman, together with Terry