Every Missing Sandman Universe Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll

It’s time to map the DC Universe! In June, I’ll be joining with Near Mint Condition to launch the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll! This post explains every Sandman Universe omnibus that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.

Through the end of May I’ll be covering DC entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your DC oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll on Near Mint Condition the first week of June.

There’s a school of though that all Sandman collected editions are now doomed due to the allegations against Neil Gaiman. However, Neil Gaiman penned just a fraction of Sandman Universe material – and that’s all been collected in its entirety in omnibus save for four issues of Black Orchid (1988)! There are still several omnibuses of other material without Gaiman’s name involved at all.

And, we’ve seen that DC has some appetite to release this material in a post-allegations world because we finally are seeing the back half of Sandman Mystery Theatre collected later this year in Compendium!

Real people and their health and welfare always come before comics, so I am in no way suggesting we should see all of these books despite the fact that they are attached to Neil Gaiman’s universe of characters. However, beyond separating the art from the artist, there are also dozens of creators who worked on these comics – including some major names like Jill Thompson, Dan Watters, and James Tynion IV!

If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to collected editions on the planet.

Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about DC history and find some great comics to read!

This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:

• Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: Wesley Dodds & Sandman Mystery Theatre Omnibus
  • Sandman, Wesley Dodds – The Golden Age Omnibus (1939 – 1946)
  • Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 1 (of 2) (1993 – 1995)
• Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: The Original Vertigo Years
  • Sandman Universe: Black Orchid by Dick Foreman (1988 – 1995) [could add 70s material]
  • Sandman Universe: The Dreaming Vol. 1 (of 2) (1996 & on)
• Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: Sandman Universe Rebirth
  • Sandman Universe: Lucifer by Holly Black (2016 – 2017)
  • Sandman Universe: Books of Magic by Barnett, Howard, & Fowler (2018 – 2020)
  • Sandman Universe: House of Whispers by Nalo Hopkinson & Dan Watters (2018 – 2020)
  • Sandman Universe: Lucifer by Dan Watters (2018 – 2021)
  • Sandman Universe: The Dreaming by Spurrier & Wilson (2018 – 2021)
  • Hellblazer by Spurrier, Campbell, & Bellaire (2019 – 2024)
  • Sandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives & Nightmare Country by Pichetshote & Tynion (2022 – 2023)

Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how DC could assemble these books. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of DC creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.

Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.

Intensely researched posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics.

Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: Wesley Dodds & Sandman Mystery Theatre Omnibus

Neil Gaiman’s version of Sandman was inspired by the Sandman of DC’s Golden Age, Wesley Dodds. We’ve seen incomplete collections of that solo material in the past, but DC hasn’t revisited it since 2009! See Guide to Sandman Universe.

Sandman, Wesley Dodds – The Golden Age Omnibus (1939 – 1946)

The original Wesley Dodds was just a regular Golden Age superhero who was a member of the JSA and who had many solo adventures of his own. It’s entirely feasible that all of these material could be knocked out in a single omnibus, as stories were only 8-12 pages each, even with a cover included. A prior 29-issue standard-size collection was just 300 pages.

This would collect Wesley Dodds’s original Golden Age material from Adventure Comics (1938) #40-102, material from World’s Finest Comics (1941) #3-7, plus material from The New York World’s Fair Comics (1939) #1-2.

Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 1 (of 2) (1993 – 1995)

This would collect the entirety of the cult favorite series of retcon Wesley Dodd’s adventures, largely written by Matt Wagner. These adventures are generally set prior to Wesley Dodds joining the Justice Society of America.

It’s very likely DC would follow the mapping of their Compendium volumes if this omnibus ever came to pass … which it could, with your votes! However, the Compendiums don’t offer a perfect map, as it seems that they will leave out Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) OGN and Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (2006) #1-5, both of which could be added to the omnibuses to sweeten the deal for folks who need convincing to upgrade.

The first volume of this set would likely collect Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993) #1-36 & Annual 1, adding  Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995) OGN. A second volume would collect Sandman Mystery Theatre (1993) #37-70, adding Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason (2006) #1-5.

The six issues of Jack Kirby’s Bronze Age Sandman, Garrett Sanford, is collected in The Jack Kirby Omnibus, Vol. 2

Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: The Original Vertigo Years

All of Sandman by Neil Gaiman has been collected – along with supporting series Books of Magic and Lucifer. What’s left to collect? Just four more omnibus volumes could knock out all of the remainder of the Vertigo years of material that ran alongside and beyond that original Vertigo run. See Guide to Sandman Universe for more details how all of this material is already collected.

Sandman Universe: Black Orchid by Dick Foreman (1988 – 1995) [could add 70s material]

A Black Orchid (1988) mini-series was actually Neil Gaiman’s first Vertigo title, slightly predating Sandman. While it isn’t a direct tie-in to Sandman, it fits a similar mold – with Gaiman remagining a Golden Age hero for the modern day with horrific undertones.

Writer Dick Foreman took over for a later 1993 ongoing (with art from the legendary Jill Thompson), which briefly interacted with Books of Magic via “Children’s Crusade.”

Some commenters have pointed out that this material is brief enough that it could also include some of the original Bronze Age material that inspired this character. I think that’s a brilliant idea!

This would collect Black Orchid (1988) #1-3 and Black Orchid (1993) #1-22 & Annual 1 (as well as other Children’s Crusade material, as needed). It could also add Bronze Age Black Orchid material from Adventure Comics (1939) #428-430 and The Phantom Stranger (1969) #31-32, 35-36, & 38-41.

Sandman Universe: The Vertigo Years Companion (1994 – 2004) [AKA Sandman Presents, collects mini-series]

DC has been aggressive in collecting Sandman itself, but there’s a lot more Sandman-adjacent material would could collect! In fact, there’s a perfectly-sized omnibus of it.

This would collect Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold (1996) #1-3, WitchCraft: La Terreur (1998) #1-3, The Sandman Presents: Love Street (1999) #1-3, The Sandman Presents: Petrefax (2000) #1-4, The Sandman Presents: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Dreams…But Were Afraid to Ask (2001) #1, The Sandman Presents: The Corinthian (2001) #1-3, The Sandman Presents: The Furies (2002) OGN, The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad (2002) #1-4, The Sandman Presents: Bast (2003) #1-3, The Witching (2004) #1-10, The Sandman Presents: Thessaly: Witch for Hire (2004) #1-4, and perhaps also The Little Endless Storybook (2001) OGN and Delirium’s Party: A Little Endless Storybook (2011) OGN.

Sandman Universe: The Dreaming Vol. 1 (of 2) (1996 & on)

I’m surprised that DC has left this series uncollected! It’s truly the one main continuity piece of Sandman that they have never made available in the book market. And, Neil Gaiman never directly wrote it. Perhaps we’ll see it in a pair of Compendiums similar to Sandman Mystery Theatre en route to it being collected in omnibus.

This would begin to collect The Dreaming (1996) #1-60 & The Dreaming: Trial and Error Special, as well as Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of D.R.E.A.M. (2000) OGN.

Sandman Universe Omnibus Mapping: Sandman Universe Rebirth

DC brought the Sandman Universe back to life in 2018, again without much direct participation from Neil Gaiman. And, actually, slightly ahead of that it revived Lucifer in a series that remains uncollected (and of inconsistent continuity to the rest of the material in this period. See Guide to Sandman, Guide to Lucifer, Guide to Books of Magic, and Guide to Houses & Horrors of DC.

Sandman Universe: Lucifer by Holly Black (2016 – 2017)

This is a Rebirth-era Lucifer series, which was not part of main DC continuity. It would collect Lucifer (2016) #1-19.

Sandman Universe: Books of Magic by Barnett, Howard, & Fowler (2018 – 2020)

This was part of the 2018 relaunch of the Sandman Universe. It rebooted Timothy Hunter, rolling back his age and magical status quo (though he retained some hints of past continuity). This would collect Books of Magic (2018) #1-23 and material from The Sandman Universe (2018) #1.

Sandman Universe: House of Whispers by Nalo Hopkinson & Dan Watters (2018 – 2020)

This was part of the 2018 relaunch of the Sandman Universe. It would collect House of Whispers (2018) #1-22 and material from The Sandman Universe (2018) #1.

Sandman Universe: Lucifer by Dan Watters (2018 – 2021)

This was part of the 2018 relaunch of the Sandman Universe. It would collect Lucifer (2018) #1-19 & material from The Devil At Heart trade (effectively, issues #20-24), and material from Sandman Universe Special (2018) #1

Sandman Universe: The Dreaming by Si Spurrier & G. Willow Wilson (2018 – 2021)

The Dreaming was the main title of the relaunched Sandman Universe. It focused on the broad supporting cast of The Dreaming, with only sparse appearances from Sandman himself.

This would collect The Dreaming (2018) #1-20, The Dreaming: Waking Hours (2020) #1-12, and material from The Sandman Universe (2018) #1.

Hellblazer by Spurrier, Campbell, & Bellaire (2019 – 2024)

This Hellblazer revival penned by Si Spurrier ran under the Sandman Universe banner. After an unjust cancellation of an original series that was hauling in critical acclaim, DC brought the entire team back for an encore in 2024 (that included several tantalizing appearances by Dream himself).

This would collect Books of Magic (2018) #14, The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer (2019) #1, John Constantine, Hellblazer (2019) #1-12, and John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America (2024) #1-11.

Sandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives & Nightmare Country by Pichetshote & Tynion (2022 – 2023)

The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (2022) #1-6, The Sandman Universe: The Dead Boy Detectives (2023) #1-6, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country – The Glass House (2023) #1-6, & The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly (2023) #1