Former employee Dave McKean comments on Neil Gaiman Skandale

The artist Dave McKean, who worked with the shammer Neil Gaiman from the late 1980s to the end of the 2000s, was interviewed by Fumettologica, and here is what he has to say in response to Gaiman's sexual abuses, translated from Italian:

Interviewed by Fumettologica during the Comicon Napoli 2025, the British cartoonist and illustrator Dave McKean, commented on The allegations of harassment against his long -time employee Neil Gaiman. The story was created in July 2024 when a journalistic podcast reported the statements of several women.

“I've never had a problem separating the art from the artist. But I say that because a large part of the art I like is old. And maybe it is easier to separate someone like Wagner from his music because we talk about an artist who lived 200 years ago. It is probably less easy to do that with a contemporary artist“, McKan said.” The other thing is that our collaboration is going back for a long time. I know that I drawn this work 20 or 30 years ago, so they seem very far away. I don't even look at the things I did last year, so I definitely look at the things I did 30 years ago. So it doesn't really affect me. “

“What influences me in this whole sad story is that … you know I haven't spoken to Neil for 10 years. We were good friends for a while and I thought I knew him well, “the artist continued.” Maybe he has changed over the years Or maybe I didn't really know him. That really angry me. I think you can imagine if you have a friend you believe, you know well and something, even with his past, Changes the perception they had from him. It is shocking and destabilized. I have never spoken about it in public because I never talk about anything on social media. And then I knew him when he was still with his first wife. I never met Amanda Palmer. I don't know the truth, I am waiting for a court to decide. “

“I feel a lot I'm more sorry for the fansBecause for them these works also have a meaning in the present, But for me they stay things that I did 30 years ago and I forgot them for a long time“McKean finally closed.

From the beginning, Dave McKean was one of the most important artistic presences on the way of Nel Gaiman. In fact, your longest -running and best -known collaboration in contemporary comics that last over twenty years is. It began in 1987 with violent cases, the first graphic novel written by Gaiman And illustrated by McKean, which also marked the debut for both in the British publishing scene. In 1988 the two Black Orchid created for DC Comics, a mini series that contributed to determining the tone of the future Vertigo label of the publisher. But with The Sandman (1989–1996), the collaboration reached one of her highest points: McKan created all the series and developed a style that mixed collage, painting and photography and defined the visual identity of the magazine and contributed significantly to his success.

In the following years, Gaiman and McKean worked together several times. Remarkable titles are Signal on noise (1992) ,, Mr. Punch (1994) and several illustrated books, including The day I exchanged my father against two goldfish (1997) ,, Coraline (2002) and Wolves in the walls (2003). Your last collaboration dates from 2009With the publication of the illustrated book Crazy hair.

How ironic Gaiman would send a title on the topic in 1987, which he was later accused of forced several women he met. What McKean says has not been mentioned that Gaiman has been avoided in the past ten years for allegations of “Islamophobia” against the latter in a book that he had illustrated overall, which may have been overall, which may have been canceled as a whole. But you can see this, Gaiman's reaction was completely unfair, but it is not surprising that a man of his liberal evaluation could do that.

Nevertheless, McOs's cover illustrations for the Sandman series were nothing to write about what they could write about, and did little to add an appeal to a series that was very depressing in the sound. And if there is any guilt in his statements, he didn't seem to be able to offer Gaiman's victims of his condolences. That is Who should play a role, much more than the comics or the work of art itself. Interesting McKean does not really take care of his earlier work, but maybe that is that he realizes that the stories have been overestimated. It is certainly the most meaningful how the star character Morpheus ended towards the end of the series, which only indicates that Gaiman has never really intended that the series has a long effect. Now that I think about it, the regular occupation of the series has so far rarely appeared outside of this, but several members of the DCU line -up, not least Hector and Lyta Hall, and if Gaiman had special creative control over his books, it asks the inquiries why he can use the profit characters. Not that it is important, because the type of stories that took place in the Sandman series contradicted what the flagship -dcu should exist for. It is better that the sandman did not appear in other comics.

However, of course it is a shame, regardless of the ink and paper on the writings of an author had to be wasted as terribly as it turned out to be Gaiman. This scandal can make it clear that professional artists have to carefully assess their partners, certainly if they want to turn their art and writing into matter over time. It is to be hoped that future generations of creators will take this into account, certainly when working on comics in possession of creators.

Originally published here.