This is a very lukewarm defense, but this subject is something of a trope that shows up in various artists’ works. On the top of my head, I can say that it is a subject in a short story by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, as well as in Osamu Tezuka’s “Ayako”, both published way before Gaiman’s “Sandman” story. So I personally do not attribute too much importance to his story. His actions speak for themselves.
Aside from it being kinda tropey, can’t really say that every author is “practicing what they preach” so to speak. Stephen King had a child orgy scene in “It”, and lord knows all the other wacky shit he’s written about in the other 50+ books he’s put out in his career and he’s an entirely normal well adjusted dude from what I’ve seen. Similarly, Junji Ito is a buttercup IRL but reading some of his stuff you’d think he was a serial killer, or at least someone who should be heavily medicated.
This is a very lukewarm defense, but this subject is something of a trope that shows up in various artists’ works. On the top of my head, I can say that it is a subject in a short story by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, as well as in Osamu Tezuka’s “Ayako”, both published way before Gaiman’s “Sandman” story. So I personally do not attribute too much importance to his story. His actions speak for themselves.
Aside from it being kinda tropey, can’t really say that every author is “practicing what they preach” so to speak. Stephen King had a child orgy scene in “It”, and lord knows all the other wacky shit he’s written about in the other 50+ books he’s put out in his career and he’s an entirely normal well adjusted dude from what I’ve seen. Similarly, Junji Ito is a buttercup IRL but reading some of his stuff you’d think he was a serial killer, or at least someone who should be heavily medicated.
Did you check with their girlfriends?