It was only a matter of time before television producers began heavily using comic books as source material. After all, movie producers have been doing it for years.

Neil Gaiman's seminal comic book series 'The Sandman' has been floundering in film development since the mid '90s. It became obvious that the complex story lines and multiple characters arcs would play much better as a TV series. HBO and James Mangold began sniffing around the project, but never bit in.

Now The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Warner Bros. TV is in the process of grabbing the television rights for 'The Sandman' from its sister company, DC Entertainment. The company is also in talks with several writer-producers to develop the project, including 'Supernatural' creator Eric Kripke as the frontrunner. However, Kripke is expressing hesitation in tackling a project that already has such a passionate nerd following. Even the smallest details will be analyzed and criticized.

This project joins the growing list of comic book TV series, along with Steven Spielberg's developing adaptation of 'Locke & Key' and AMC's new series 'The Walking Dead.' It's a wonder this all hasn't happened earlier. Do TV producers really fear comic geek backlash for messing a series up? We haven't had an adaptation for adults since 'Smallville.'