Is Dead Boy Detectives Connected to The Sandman Universe?
Neil Gaiman doesn’t create singular worlds. Instead, he produces an entire universe held together by the gravitational force of his imagination.
Dead Boy Detectives, the new series based on Gaiman’s teenage ghost duo Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), exists within the same narrative reality as The Sandman. The undead detectives solve mysteries and fight demons and witches, while trying to evade the attention of Death (Kirby) herself. The series, developed for television by Steve Yockey — who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz — lives on its own, but the influence of The Sandman radiates throughout.
“I grew up reading Sandman and Books of Magic and Children’s Crusade and Dead Boy Detectives and all the sort of Vertigo imprint stuff for DC Comics,” Yockey tells Tudum. “I found Dead Boys when I was going through a particularly difficult loss in my life and just found it oddly comforting in a sort of psychedelic way and fell in love with it.”
Schwartz was a newcomer to the Dead Boys world. “I actually saw Steve’s adaptation first, and then I read the comic and then fell in love with it,” she tells Tudum. “And I love Neil Gaiman from all his other stories, but Dead Boy Detectives I had not previously read, and it’s just so beautiful. I love all the artwork and the stories.”
Yockey created The Flight Attendant, and had a connection with Warner Bros. So he approached them with a request. “I was like, ‘Hey, you guys have this property that’s probably sitting on a shelf somewhere that no one’s asking about, but can I please have Dead Boy Detectives?’ And DC said, ‘No.’ ” Later, Yockey “snuck in” and asked again. “Somehow the request got to Neil, and he said, ‘Yes.’ So then, with the studio’s blessing, I started adapting the comic book.”
Now, a television series of Dead Boy Detectives has been conjured up for our viewing pleasure. Intrigued about how the spirit of The Sandman and Gaiman’s philosophies haunt the series? Read on to learn more.
This article contains major character or plot details.
Neil Gaiman doesn’t create singular worlds. Instead, he produces an entire universe held together by the gravitational force of his imagination.
Dead Boy Detectives, the new series based on Gaiman’s teenage ghost duo Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), exists within the same narrative reality as The Sandman. The undead detectives solve mysteries and fight demons and witches, while trying to evade the attention of Death (Kirby) herself. The series, developed for television by Steve Yockey — who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz — lives on its own, but the influence of The Sandman radiates throughout.
“I grew up reading Sandman and Books of Magic and Children’s Crusade and Dead Boy Detectives and all the sort of Vertigo imprint stuff for DC Comics,” Yockey tells Tudum. “I found Dead Boys when I was going through a particularly difficult loss in my life and just found it oddly comforting in a sort of psychedelic way and fell in love with it.”
Schwartz was a newcomer to the Dead Boys world. “I actually saw Steve’s adaptation first, and then I read the comic and then fell in love with it,” she tells Tudum. “And I love Neil Gaiman from all his other stories, but Dead Boy Detectives I had not previously read, and it’s just so beautiful. I love all the artwork and the stories.”
Yockey created The Flight Attendant, and had a connection with Warner Bros. So he approached them with a request. “I was like, ‘Hey, you guys have this property that’s probably sitting on a shelf somewhere that no one’s asking about, but can I please have Dead Boy Detectives?’ And DC said, ‘No.’ ” Later, Yockey “snuck in” and asked again. “Somehow the request got to Neil, and he said, ‘Yes.’ So then, with the studio’s blessing, I started adapting the comic book.”
Now, a television series of Dead Boy Detectives has been conjured up for our viewing pleasure. Intrigued about how the spirit of The Sandman and Gaiman’s philosophies haunt the series? Read on to learn more.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death in episode 1 of DEAD BOY DETECTIVES.
Does the character Death appear in Dead Boy Detectives?
Dead Boy Detectives works within the laws of the The Sandman universe: Life exists after death, but where you go is determined by your actions in life. A family of seven cosmic beings called the Endless preside over humankind, much like Greek gods, sometimes mingling nefariously in humans’ lives. The Endless sister of Morpheus (played by Tom Sturridge on The Sandman), Death — played by Kirby in both series — kindly ushers the newly dead to their destinations. In The Sandman, Death appears in Episode 6, gently ushering scared dead souls to the next life. Kirby’s touching portrayal quickly became a standout moment to fans. In Dead Boy Detectives, she arrives in Episode 1 to bring a lost WWI soldier to the afterlife once he’s freed from demonic possession.
“Death is the basis of our entire show; our leads are running from Death,” says Schwartz. “So that was a very important character to cross over for us to actually show what they’re scared of, which is this wonderful character created on Sandman.”
Yockey continues: “And getting permission from Neil and [The Sandman series creator] Allan [Heinberg] to use Kirby [was] amazing.”
