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.