The series was initially conceived as an anthology series edited by Vertigo editor
Alisa Kwitney, and as such it was written, drawn and inked by a variety of artists. The covers were all painted by former
Sandman cover-artist
Dave McKean, and
Sandmans writer Neil Gaiman acted as creative consultant on the series - having a notional right of refusal on scripts and plotlines (which he never exercised) and suggesting developments or characters for exploration. Kwitney contacted several writers inviting them to submit stories for the new anthology, amongst them
Peter Hogan on the basis of his work for British comic
2000 AD. He suggested the story that eventually became "The Lost Boy" (Issues #4-#7). Following the completion of Al Davison's "The Dark Rose" story (issues #20 - #21),
The Dreaming underwent a change of direction: it changed from an anthology series to an ongoing series concentrating on a small group of core characters. Kwitney decided that the series needed to develop its own internal continuity, with irregular
The Sandman Presents mini-series being introduced to present stories told outside of that continuity. The series suffered from its ties to the original
Sandman series throughout its run, with Kiernan saying "from the start,
The Dreaming has been saddled with living up to what Neil Gaiman did with
The Sandman. It doesn't take long to get puking sick of hearing 'It's just not the same,' or 'It's not as good as
The Sandman,' or 'Why is it so much darker than
The Sandman,' or even 'It's almost as good as
The Sandman.' I know the comparisons are inevitable, and even logical, but it's been an uphill battle trying to get readers to look at The Dreaming as a series separate from
The Sandman, with its own tone and atmosphere and concerns." Kiernan received strong criticism for the direction she took the series in, with commentators placing the blame solely on her. However, Kiernan found the experience genuinely satisfying - despite the stress and comics not being her first love - and the series continued for 60 issues before being cancelled The Dreaming comics have since undergone a complete reboot, written by
Si Spurrier, running from November 2018 to June 2020 as part of the Sandman Universe reboot, celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Sandman. All of the events in Kiernan's The Dreaming run seem to have been either undone or retconned. Spurrier described the retcon of the original run of The Dreaming following a meeting with Neil Gaiman as "it exists as a book on the shelf in the Dreaming, where it's a different version of events." Spurrier and
Bilquis Evely's run on The Dreaming revolved around using familiar characters from Gaiman's
Sandman while introducing their own protagonist in the form of Dora whose mysterious background is explored throughout the series. A larger story arc took place throughout the series surrounding what would happen should the Dreaming once more find itself without its ruler. Evely's double splash pages were particularly praised. She was named best comics artist of 2018 by
Entertainment Weekly for her work on the series. After the series ended with issue 20, DC launched a continuation in the form of The Dreaming: Waking Hours. The maxi-series is written by
G. Willow Wilson with art by Nick Robles and slated to have 12 issues. G. Willow Wilson and Nick Robles likewise returned to familiar characters from
Sandman while introducing their own key protagonists. In the case of The Dreaming: Waking Hours, those new characters include Lindy, a new mother and graduate student studying Shakespeare as well as Ruin, one of Dream's new nightmare creations, and Heather After, the great-granddaughter of Roderick Burgess, a powerful sorceress who happens to be a
trans woman. ==Storylines==