Gaiman made the surprise announcement by video at the DC Comics' Vertigo panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Karen Berger, Vertigo Executive Editor, then announced that acclaimed Batwoman artist J.H. Williams III will draw the series.
One of the few graphic novels ever to be on the New York Times Best Seller list and The Sandman #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", won the World Fantasy Award in 1991 for Best Short Fiction. Also, The Sandman and its spin-offs have won 26 Eisner Awards, including three for Best Continuing Series, one for Best Short Story, four for Best Writer (Neil Gaiman), seven for Best Lettering (Todd Klein), and two for Best Penciller/Inker (one each for Charles Vess and P. Craig Russell). The Sandman: The Dream Hunters was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Book in 2000. Both Endless Nights and The Dream Hunters won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative in 2004 and 2000, respectively.
"When I finished writing The Sandman," said Gaiman, "there was one tale still untold. The story of what had happened to Morpheus to allow him to be so easily captured in The Sandman #1, and why he was returned from far away, exhausted beyond imagining, and dressed for war. It was a story that we discussed telling for Sandman's 20th anniversary...but the time got away from us. And now, with Sandman's 25th anniversary year coming up, I'm delighted, and nervous, that that story is finally going to be told."
"There's nothing like a Neil Gaiman story," Berger remarked, "and there's nothing like having Neil back home on The Sandman, his dark, soulful, literary epic that transformed comics and continues to captivate countless new readers year after year. Working with him again, and with J.H. Williams, the extraordinary and groundbreaking artist, is truly the stuff dreams are made of."
DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio added, "As accomplished as Neil Gaiman is in other media—whether it be novels, film and even music—he still has an incredible passion and love for comics. It’s exciting to have him back. J.H. Williams will be the perfect complement to Neil’s writing. He has a history of creating art that pushes the boundaries of the medium."
More details concerning the new mini-series will be announced at a later date. If you'd like to see the video of Gaiman's announcement, you can view it below thanks to Comic Book Resources...