''Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days'' is a

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

compilation of new and previously released comics stories written by British author

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

, and published by the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

imprint of American company

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Background

Due to Gaiman's increased popularity resulting from his series '' The Sandman'', DC chose to collect some of his earliest and hardest-to-find work in a single volume. Included is his previously unpublished "tryout" story for DC editor

Karen Berger Karen Berger (; born February 26, 1958) is an American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line's Executive Editor until 2013. She currently oversees Berger ...

. The story, "Jack in the Green", was illustrated by Stephen R. Bissette and

John Totleben John Thomas Totleben (born February 16, 1958) is an American illustrator working mostly in comic books. Biography After studying art at Tech Memorial in Erie, Totleben attended The Kubert School for one year. He then spent several years working ...

, colored by

Tatjana Wood Tatjana Wood (née Tatjana Weintraub,Tatjana Wood pro ...

, and lettered by

John Costanza John Costanza (born August 14, 1943, in Dover, New Jersey) is an American comic book artist and letterer. He has worked for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was the letterer during Alan Moore's acclaimed run on ''Swamp Thing''. The bulk of C ...

, the same team that collaborated on much of

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

's run on ''

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

''. Other stories in the collection include: * "Hold Me", a

John Constantine John Constantine (), also known as Hellblazer, is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985). I ...

tale with art by frequent Gaiman collaborator

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

, originally published as ''

Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...

'' #27 * "Brothers", a

story in which, however, this character does not appear (the protagonist being

Brother Power the Geek Brother Power the Geek is a comic book character created in the late 1960s for DC Comics by Joe Simon. He first appeared in ''Brother Power the Geek'' #1 (October 1968). The concept behind Brother Power was derived heavily from Mary Shelley's ''F ...

), with art by Richard Piers Rayner, Mike Hoffman, and Kim DeMulder, originally published as ''Swamp Thing Annual'' #5 * "Shaggy God Stories", a post-''

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

Floronic Man The Floronic Man (Jason Woodrue), also known as the Plant Master, Floro, and the Seeder, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has been portrayed in live-action by John Glover in the 1997 film ...

story with art by

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lobster Johns ...

, also from ''Swamp Thing Annual'' #5 * "Sandman Midnight Theatre", the one and only meeting between the Golden Age Sandman and the

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character originating in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The San ...

of the Endless, originally published as the '' Sandman Midnight Theatre''

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

, co-written by

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series ''Mage (comics), Mage'' and ''Grendel (comics), Grendel''. Early life, family and education Matt Wagner's childhood was spe ...

(plot) and

(plot/script), with painted art by

Teddy Kristiansen Teddy Kristiansen (born 29 July 1964) is a Danish comic book artist, known for his work in mystery, horror, and dark, suspense-filled comics. He drew one chapter of " The Kindly Ones" story arc in Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'' series. In 2005, ...

The expanded "Deluxe Edition" published in 2012 also includes the framing sequence from '' Welcome Back to the House of Mystery'' #1, illustrated by

Sergio Aragones Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * Sergio, the mascot for the Old Orchard Beach Surge Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungar ...

. 1999 comics debuts Comics by Neil Gaiman Vertigo Comics titles {{DC-Comics-stub