Gaiman’s Illustrators

“Reading” Gaiman, it is sometimes difficult to say whether it is Gaiman himself that has the majority of the appeal, or if he should share top billing with his illustrator(s). The difficulty of separating the writer from the illustrator, or whether we should try to separate them at all, is one of the compelling questions of reading graphic novels.
Read “Coraline” and there is no doubt of Gaiman’s power to drive a narrative without the benefits of illustration (although there are illustrations on the cover and front piece and at the beginning of each chapter; 7 in all). When I read the script for Calliope for the first time, without turning back to look at the finished version, I was trying to picture the action, using only his description and blocking out what I remembered. It read like a script for a stage play or a movie, where the reader has the leeway of their imagination. I found myself wishing I had read the script for Calliope before reading the graphic treatment. Is the story affected by taking away our ability to use our own “graphics?” Is there enough of a story there to stand alone and be substantive?
Reading the script the second time as I flipped back and for between the two, I found a number of instances where the illustrators didn’t follow Gaiman’s script. The script of page 9, for example, seems to be completely disregarded except for the dialog. The panel layout, the shots of Calliope and the descriptions of the muses doesn’t fit what Gaiman asked for. Because it is labeled as the “Original Script of Calliope” there is probably a revised version that is more of a collaboration with the illustrators. There are a number of other scenes as well. I wonder how the story would have “read” if the script was followed exactly?
I think part of Gaiman’s ability to create such successful novels is in selecting the illustrator. “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the only story we’ve read where he collaborates with Charles Vess, is a good example. Vess captures the bucolic, “Prince Valiant” quality of England that I have come to associate with contemporary illustrations of that period. They establish a mood that fits the story line, even the night scenes, where a more “gothic” vision of Sandman is portrayed.
Gaiman gets top billing for the Sandman series and he should. He created the character and ideas, but he needs his collaborators to bring the fullness of his vision to the page.