A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The Dead Boy Detectives are on the case. When several children go missing in a small English town, a series of strange and unexpected twists take them to Free Country, a place that dates back a millennium, where children never grow old and are free from the abuse and tyranny of adults. But Free Country is failing, and what it needs is the strength of five innately powerful children-including the young sorcerer Timothy Hunter-to restore their uncanny world to what it once was. Collects THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #1 and THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #2, written by Gaiman (who also pens a brand new introduction) with co-writers Alisa Kwitney and Jamie Delano. A brand-new middle chapter written by DEAD BOY DETECTIVES writer Toby Litt and drawn by artist Peter Gross (THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, THE UNWRITTEN) completes this compelling tale of ancient history, stolen dreams and lost children. This graphic novel also features ties to essential Vertigo titles such as Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Black Orchid , and Books of Magic, as well as a new cover art by DEAD BOY DETECTIVES artist Mark Buckingham. Neil Gaiman is the New York Times best-selling author of American Gods and Coraline and the creator of the critically acclaimed Vertigo series, THE SANDMAN. His other books include the novels Anansi Boys, Neverwhere and Stardust (winner of the American Library Association’s Alex Awards as one of 2000’s top ten adult novels for young adults) and the short fiction collections M is for Magic , Fragile Things and Smok e and Mirrors. With Roger Avary, he is the screenwriter of the motion picture Beowulf (Paramount, November 2007), directed by Robert Zemeckis. His illustrated novel Stardust was released as a major motion picture in Summer 2007 starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. With Terry Pratchett, he is the author of the novel Good Omens . He is also the author of the children’s books The Wolves in the Walls and The Day I Traded my Dad for a Goldfish . Among his many awards are the Eisner, Hugo, the Nebula, the World Fantasy and the Bram Stoker. Originally from England, Gaiman now lives in the United States.