Neil Gaiman, the overlord of fantasy, to talk ‘Sandman’ and ‘American Gods’ at The Bushnell

A lot has happened since bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman last visited The Bushnell five years ago.

In 2017, he was renowned for his fantasy novels, including “Stardust” and “Neverwhere”; his young adult novels, including the Newbery Medal-winning “The Graveyard Book”; his children’s books such as “Coraline,” which became a classic animated film; and, of course, his comic books — the groundbreaking “Sandman” and its spin-offs, as well as the brilliant Batman tale “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”.

In the mere half-decade since he was last in Hartford, Gaiman has conquered television. First there was “Lucifer,” based on one of his “Sandman” characters and running for 93 episodes from 2017-21. Then there was the “American Gods” series based on his 2001 novel, and then “Good Omens,” based on the 1990 book he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett.

Next, the most eagerly awaited Gaiman screen project of all, the Netflix television series “Sandman,” is finally happening this year. Also in the works: a mini-series based on “Anansi Boys,” the companion novel to “American Gods.”

So Gaiman will have a lot to talk about when he hits town May 11 for a 7:30 p.m. appearance at The Bushnell presented by The Connecticut Forum.

The bestselling novelist, comic-book creator, screenplay writer and raconteur has routinely sold out the 2,800-seat Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell for his speaking engagements. Gaiman has fans who follow him from city to city on his tours, which leads him to constantly switch the stories and readings for each performance.

In a phone conversation with The Courant in April, Gaiman explained how he was able to balance all the TV series and other projects while still maintaining a hands-on interest in them. He says the shooting schedules magically lined up so that he was able to be on the sets for each production. He has a reputation for maintaining the integrity of his works when they’re made into shows or films.

Indeed, when asked about the impending “Sandman” television series, Gaiman says one of his major accomplishments has been to avoid making bad versions of “Sandman.”

“A couple of times I had to take action to make things go away,” he says. One of the issues was that no movie could contain the narrative he had created across the 75 issues of the original comic. Now viewers are comfortable with long-form adaptations of novels as series or mini-series.

“The world has caught up,” he says.

Another adaptation of “Sandman” recently arrived from Audible, which dramatizes the comics with line-by-line precision, into two separate radio theater style “acts” that together run over 24 hours. Lord Morpheus, his supernatural siblings and the humans they befriend and torment are played by a full ensemble of famous actors, among them James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton and Bebe Neuwirth, with Gaiman as the narrator.

He explains that the radio-theater style series used his original scripts for the comics; the written-out descriptions he provided so that the artists could draw the adventures now serve as spoken stage directions.

“I found the scripts on in WordPerfect or some other ancient format, and gave them to [the project’s director] Dirk Maggs,” Gaiman recalls. Only minor tweaks had to made to the text, for instance an updating of the terminology for an ahead-of-its-time episode featuring a trans character.

“We changed some of the language there, because though we were depicting transphobia, we needed to be subtler.” A third act of the “Sandman” Audible series is in the works.

“Sandman” also inspired an entire “Sandman Universe” line of multiple separate comics series from DC’s Vertigo and Black Label imprints, launched in 2018 to honor the 30th anniversary of Gaiman’s original “Sandman” series.

The Gaiman adaptations have also spread to live theater. “Coraline” became a musical with songs by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, and Gaiman raves about a new stage version of his novella “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” created by the National Theatre and currently playing in London’s West End.

“It’s weird seeing something based on your own book that makes you cry,” he says. “I hope it’s going to come to Broadway.”

So, with all these screen, stage and audio adaptations filling the air, is Gaiman writing anything new?

He says he’s working on a new “Neverwhere” book, and he’s also corresponding with comics editors about his next projects.

Meanwhile, he’s back on the road, making good on bookings that were postponed during the pandemic.

“It’s a weird little monthlong tour that exists because COVID happened in 2020,” Gaiman says. “I’m genuinely interested to see if the usual number of people come. I’m looking forward to getting out again, reading my stories, meeting people.”

On tour, he’s become used to doing “different things every night” to please his wide-ranging and ever-growing fan base.

His favorite part of his own shows? “I love answering people’s questions.”

His audiences have certainly changed over the several decades, he says. In the late ‘80s, around the time of “Sandman 1,” he says, I could have described everyone who came to a signing as male and in their 20s. If there was a woman in the line, it was probably somebody’s mother.

“Now, it’s half men, half women, and children as young as 3 or 4 years old. Some are in their 80s. I loved getting to the point where I could no longer predict who might turn up.”

“An Evening With Neil Gaiman” presented by The Connecticut Forum, happens May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. $23-$92. bushnell.org.

Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.