I like this too-brief piece for The Guardian in which writer Neil Gaiman recounts the beginnings, and the "end," of The Sandman and artist Dave McKean recalls the evolution of the comic's distinctive covers.

"I'd been keeping it secret that the story would one day end. But, around issue 30, I began dropping hints," says. "And it was explained to me that this couldn't happen: with a successful monthly, when a writer leaves, a new one comes in. I decided not to argue. But in every interview I did, I said I hoped they would stop it when I left, because if they did I would keep on working for them. That percolated into the world and one day I got a call from Karen [Berger] saying: 'You know, we really can't keep this going after you're done.' That was the biggest thing Sandman changed: DC's most successful comic was stopped because the writer was done. Otherwise, the brand would have been tarnished."

As a nice bonus, there's also a gallery of McKean's favorite Sandman covers, complete with commentary. The Sandman: Overture, by Gaiman and J.H. Williams III, with variant covers by McKean, debuts Oct. 30.