Author Neil Gaiman is shown April 23 at his home in western Wisconsin. His The Sandman may be headed to the small screen. (Craig Lassig/Associated Press)

Neil Gaiman's comic The Sandman is to be adapted as a TV series, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The critically acclaimed comic series, which won the World Fantasy Award, has a complicated mythology set in the world of dreams. A group of powerful brothers and sisters named Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire, Delirium and Dream are the main characters.

The series began in December 1988 and ran 75 issues, ending in March 1996. It won over many readers who did not normally look at graphic novels, including art lovers.

Warner Bros. is in talks to acquire television rights from DC Entertainment, which is affiliated with comic imprint Vertigo.

British-born writer Gaiman, now based in Wisconsin, is author of American Gods and Coraline, which became an animated movie.

There have been previous efforts to adapt The Sandman to the screen, including a movie version in the 1990s and a collaboration between DC and HBO for a TV series that never reached fruition.

Gaiman is not yet involved with the project, Warner said, but he may be brought in later in the process.

Warner is reported to be trying to secure Eric Kripke, who created fantasy and horror characters for the CW series Supernatural, as writer for The Sandman.