On Neil Gaiman in HANGING WITH THE DREAM KING

Books
On Neil Gaiman in HANGING WITH THE DREAM KING
By Leroy Douresseaux
June 20, 2005 - 14:40

Fantagraphics Books
Writer(s): Neil Gaiman
ISBN: 1-56097-617-9L
300 pp., B&W illustrated with 16 pp. in color, $17.95

HANGING OUT WITH THE DREAM KING: Interviews with Neil Gaiman and His Collaborators

Next to Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman is probably the most respected comic book writer in North America and Great Britain, and like Moore, Gaiman has lots of fans who want to know more about him: what’s he really like, what’s his creative process, and what’s it like working with him. All three of these questions, especially the third, gets answered in Joe McCabe’s fabulous book, HANGING WITH THE DREAM KING (subtitled Interviews with Neil Gaiman and His Collaborators).
McCabe’s book presents a thorough look at Gaiman’s work through interviews with the artists, writers, editors, musicians, and other collaborators who shared being creative with Gaiman. The discussions are frank, honest, and joyously detailed in how things went down when working with Gaiman. Interview subjects include long-time DC editor Karen Berger and long-time Gaiman partner Dave McKean. The rest of this delightful hodge-podge of comic book creators includes Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Jill Thompson, P. Craig Russell, and Michael Zulli. Other people who worked with Gaiman and who are included are Tori Amos, Alice Cooper, Yoshitaka Amano, Terry Pratchett, and Gene Wolfe. Hanging with the Dream King has several pages of black and white illustrations and 16 pages in color.
McCabe also conducts two interviews with Neil Gaiman, in which the author shares his thoughts about collaborating. Gaiman is, as usual, generous in sharing his creative processes (or as much as he can verbalize it), and he, like the other subjects, is delightfully engaging. Simply put, this is essential for Gaiman readers who want a peak into how he does it. If you have more than two books written by Gaiman, then, you also must add this to your library. A