Rose Walker

This is a list of characters appearing in ''The Sandman'' comic book, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. This page discusses not only events which occur in ''The Sandman'' (1989–1994), but also some occurring in spinoffs of ''The Sandman'', such as ''The Dreaming'' (1996–2001) and ''Lucifer'' (1999–2007), as well as characters from earlier stories which ''The Sandman'' was based on. These stories occur in the DC Universe, but are generally tangential to the mainstream DC stories.

The Endless

The Endless are a family of seven anthropomorphic personifications of universal concepts, around whom much of the series revolves. From eldest to youngest, they are:
* Destiny
* Death
* Dream (formerly Morpheus, succeeded by Daniel)
* Destruction ("The Prodigal")
* Desire
* Despair
* Delirium (formerly "Delight")
All debuted in the ''Sandman'' series, except Destiny, who was created by Marv Wolfman and Berni Wrightson in ''Weird Mystery Tales'' #1 (1972). Constantine first appeared in ''The Saga of Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben.

Dreams and nightmares

These inhabitants of the Dreaming are often gods, myths, and even ordinary human beings who later became dreams.

Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel are based on the Biblical Cain and Abel, adapted by editor Joe Orlando with Bob Haney (writer) and Jack Sparling (artist) (Cain), and Mark Hannerfeld (writer) and Bill Draut (artist) (Abel). They were depicted together in Abel's first appearance, and parted to their respective Houses at the end of the story. Although Cain would abuse Abel, he was not shown killing him until ''Swamp Thing'' vol. 2 #33. In ''Elvira's House of Mystery'' #11, Cain expresses shock at having killed his brother in recent times. In the same issue, a contest-winning letter establishes that Cain and the House exist both in the dream world and the real world, and that only in the dream world does Cain continue to harm Abel. In ''The Sandman'', Cain is shown to kill Abel quite often. In issue #2, Lucien calls this unusual, and recent.

;Before ''The Sandman''
Originally they were the respective "hosts" of the EC-style horror comic anthologies ''House of Mystery'' and '' House of Secrets'', which ran from the 1950s through 1983—Cain debuting in ''House of Mystery'' #175 (1968) and Abel in ''DC Special'' #4 and ''House of Secrets'' #81 (both 1969). During the 1970s, they also co-hosted the horror/humor anthology ''Plop!''. They were also both recurring characters in DC's ''Elvira's House of Mystery'' (1986–88).

In 1985, the characters were revived by writer Alan Moore, who introduced them into his ''Swamp Thing'' series in issue #33, retelling the Swamp Thing's original origin story from a 1971 issue of ''House of Secrets''. Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin included them in the pages of '' Blue Devil'' in 1986. Jamie Delano also occasionally used them in a cameo role in his title ''Hellblazer''.

;In ''The Sandman''
In Gaiman's ''Sandman'' universe, the biblical Cain and Abel live in the Dreaming at Dream's invitation. This is based on the verse in the Bible which says that Cain was sent to live in the Land of Nod. They live as neighbors in two houses near a graveyard: Cain in the broad House of Mystery and Abel in the tall House of Secrets. According to their appearance in ''Swamp Thing'', the difference is that 'a mystery may be shared, but a secret must be forgotten if one tries to tell it'.

Gaiman's Cain is an aggressive, overbearing character. He is a thin, long-limbed man with an angular, drawn face, glasses, a tufty beard, and hair drawn into two points above his ears. He has been described by other characters as sounding "just like Vincent Price".

Gaiman's Abel is a nervous but kind-hearted man. He also has a stammer. He is somewhat similar in appearance to Cain, with a tufty beard and hair that comes to points above his ears, though his hair is black rather than brown. He is shorter and fatter than Cain, with a more open face. It is eventually learned that the only time he does not stutter is when he is telling a story or when he is dead.

Cain kills Abel frequently and in many brutal ways, whereupon Abel later returns to life. He often expresses hope for a more harmonious relationship with his brother.

Cain and Abel own a large green draconic gargoyle named Gregory, who also made his debut in ''House of Mystery'' #175. In the first appearance of the characters in ''Sandman'', issue #2, Cain gives Abel an egg that soon hatches into another gargoyle, a small golden one. Abel names the gargoyle "Irving". but Cain insists that the names of gargoyles must always begin with a "G.", and Abel (after another death and resurrection) renames the gargoyle "Goldie", after an invisible/imaginary friend to whom Abel told his early ''House of Secrets'' stories. A letter in issue #91 was attributed to Goldie, who claimed that it was herself depicted on the cover of issue #88.

They shelter Dream until his strength is restored following his 72-year-long imprisonment. In the fourth story arc, ''Season of Mists'', Cain is sent to Hell to give a message to Lucifer because Cain is protected by a curse that would deter Lucifer from harming him. Cain and Abel also aid The Corinthian with the child Daniel during '' The Kindly Ones'', the penultimate story arc of the series. Abel is one of the victims of the Furies in this series, and is brought back to life by the new Dream.

Corinthian

The Corinthian is a nightmare created by Dream, of human appearance but with two small additional mouths in place of his eyes. He enjoys eating the eyeballs of people he kills.
The first version of the Corinthian is destroyed by Dream for spending several unsupervised decades on Earth as a serial killer (in Dream's view, a waste of his potential), and it is shown in '' The Sandman: Overture'' (2013) that Dream intended to do this before his imprisonment. Near the end of the series Dream creates a second Corinthian, altering his personality to be obedient and useful rather than homicidal. In a later story in ''The Dreaming'', the second Corinthian is haunted by the actions of the first.

Eve

Fiddler's Green

Fiddler's Green is a place in the Dreaming which all travellers (specifically sailors) dream of someday finding, which sometimes assumes human form and goes wandering, under the alias Gilbert; a kindly, portly man who, in appearance and behavior, resembles G(ilbert) K. Chesterton. As 'Gilbert', Fiddler's Green accompanied Rose Walker to find her brother Jed, and gave her the means by which to summon Dream to rescue her from danger; and thereafter returned to the Dreaming. He was killed by the Three in '' The Kindly Ones'', and refused to be resurrected by the new Dream. Here, it is implied that he was "in love, a little" with Rose.

Stephen Fry portrays the character in the television series ''The Sandman'' on Netflix.

Gate Keepers

A wyvern, a griffin and a hippogriff are the guardians of Dream's castle. The hippogriff has a horse's head instead of the traditional eagle's head.
They derive all their power and authority from Dream, so when Dream was captured and lost his power, they could no longer guard or protect the Dreaming.

After the griffin was destroyed by the Furies, the new Dream did not remake him, but asked the gryphons of Greek myth to send one of their own. (#71)

Gregory

Goldie

Goldie is a fictional character in ''The Sandman'' comic book series by Neil Gaiman.

Goldie is a pet baby gargoyle, given to Abel by his brother Cain in '' Preludes and Nocturnes''. Abel originally intends to name him Irving, but Cain insists that gargoyle names must all begin with a "G". Cain then proceeded to murder Abel over this. Abel soon returns, as he is murdered by Cain all the time. He then agrees to name the gargoyle Goldie, after "an old friend", though he tells Goldie in private that he will continue to think of him as Irving.

Goldie appears for a short scene in '' The Doll's House'' in which he is sitting upon Abel's shoulder as Lucien asks Abel about the inhabitants of the house. He later appears throughout the "Parliament of Rooks" story in '' Fables and Reflections'', and briefly at the beginning of ''Brief Lives''. He also accompanies Abel in '' The Kindly Ones'' and is with him when he gets murdered by the Furies, crying when his master is killed. He is later seen playing with Daniel Hall.

Goldie later takes on a pivotal role as the guardian of the tree of life in the ''Sandman'' spin-off series ''The Dreaming''. On his/her quest to the tree, a search party forms. He was retconned into a female gargoyle for the new series.

Goldie is named after the "'imaginary' friend" to whom Abel would tell his early stories in the pages of '' House of Secrets''.

In issue 39 of the 2008 reboot of the ''House of Mystery'' comic series, it is revealed that Goldie is "Gigi", a waitress at the House of Mystery and a bit player in the series. Goldie was transformed by Lotus Blossom, another character in the series, at Goldie's request in exchange for a book of magic spells. Goldie was not enthralled with the idea of growing up to be a gargoyle, and instead wanted to be a human girl. The newly reborn Gigi joined Lotus Blossom on her exploits in the series, often serving as an enforcer for her. It is revealed that Abel knows Gigi's true history, but if his brother Cain knew, it was not shown.

Lucien

Lucien is the chief librarian in The Dreaming, and is a tall thin, bookish man. He first appeared in ''Weird Mystery Tales'' #18 (May 1975) and was apparently killed in ''Secrets of Haunted House'' #44 (January 1982).

Like Cain and Abel, Lucien, created by Paul Levitz, Nestor Redondo

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases