Shawn McManus - Grains of Sandman

Grains of Sandman

Randy Lander reviewed the debut issue of The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad:

This is mostly an issue to set the stage, to establish the world as one that is full of hidden magic and very abnormal things existing alongside normal life. McManus does a terrific job in depicting this type of thing. The realism of city streets or university buildings contrast nicely with the ghostly war dogs being used to hunt Thessaly, and the gore and destructive behavior demonstrated later on serves more as dark humor than disturbing violence. I also quite enjoyed the very normal designs for Thessaly and Fetch, which contrasts with their not-at-all normal lives.

McManus also drew most of A Game of You for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, and his other Sandman credits include The Sandman Presents: Taller Tales, The Sandman Presents: Thessaly, Witch for Hire, The Sandman: Fables & Reflections. Other Vertigo titles by McManus include Winter's Edge 3.

His work on the Tom Strong series (America's Best Comics) includes Tom Strong's Terrific Tales 2 and Tom Strong 3. His story "Jenny Panic & the Bible of Dreams", scripted by Steve Aylett, was collected in the hardback Tom Strong Collected Edition, Book Five, edited by Scott Dunbier.

For the June 1983 issue of Heavy Metal he collaborated with Bhob Stewart and John Coffey on "Zenobia". Six months later, McManus and Stewart teamed with Jim McDermott on "Symbiosis", also in Heavy Metal (December, 1983).