Saturday, September 30, 2017

Wandsworth (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

Wandsworth is one of Death’s fish.

Wandsworth appears in Sandman Special # 1, on page 21, in panel 3. He also appears in Death: The High Cost Of Living # 1, on page 21 in panel 4-5 and page 22, in panels 2-3.

Friday, September 29, 2017

The Innkeeper (illustrated by Kai Martin)

After Cluracan escaped from his Aurelian prison with the help of Morpheus the citizens of Aurelia started hearing some startling things about their current Carnifex.

An Elderly Priest told a group of Aurelian Citizens that he had seen the Cernifex Carys XXV “sodomizing a virgin child in front of the statue of the Holy Twins” and that he had heard him say that administering the blessed sacrament meant as little to him as wiping his anus and had performed both actions at the same time.

A young noble claimed that he was hired by the Carnifex to murder the heir to the throne in a staged street brawl.

A foreign soldier told an innkeeper than the Carnifex was intending to sell the free citizens of Aurelia into slavery to cover the debts of the church treasury.

Of course, the Innkeeper was quick to repeat this information to his customers and citizens of Aurelia.

This is the innkeeper who spoke to the foreign solder.

All of these rumors were instigated by Cluracan.

The Innkeeper appears in Sandman # 52, on page 20, in panel 4.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Emissary # 13 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

Dream visited Hell in hopes of rescuing Nada. Instead of returning to his kingdom with his ex-lover, he returned with the Key To Hell, given to him by Lucifer.

Immediately upon his return to The Dreaming a host of Emissaries journeyed to his castle hoping for an audience and an opportunity to claim the key for their own dominion.

This emissary is one of the people hoping to win Dream’s favor and leave with the Key To Hell.

He appears in Sandman # 24, on page 23, in panel 4.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Fredericks’s Dream Girl # 1 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

While Dream is trapped in his glass prison he is guarded by at least two men employed by Alex Burgess to watch over the king of dreams.

On the night of Dream’s escape, those two guards were Ernie and Frederick.

Frederick fell asleep and began dreaming of a vacation on a warm sunny beach. There were a group of beautiful women playing volleyball in the sand. This is one of Frederick’s dream girls.

She appears in Sandman # 1 on page 27, in panel 5.

I really like Lars portrait for this character. I can easily imagine a girl like this playing volleyball at the beach or even sitting laying on a blanket in the sand getting a tan.

Here is one of Frederick’s dream girls….

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Bicycle Rider # 4 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In Death: The Time Of Your Life, Foxglove dreams of building a flying machine and soaring over the beach.

People come to the beach because they’ve heard she built a flying machine and as she soars above them she can see them riding their bicycles.

This is one of the bicycle riders hoping to catch a glimpse of Foxglove and her flying machine.

He appears in Death: The Time Of Your Life # 1, on page 3, in panel 2.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Astrologer # 2 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

In Baghdad, in the time of Haroun al Raschid, there were many wonders and splendors. There were the greatest musicians and poets and scholars. There were concubines adept at the arts of pleasure and the greatest teachers of Hebrew and mysterious enchanters.

There were astrologers within his palace.

These men could interpret the will of Allah from the by the movement and placement of the stars.

This astrologer can be seen in Sandman # 50, on page 4, in panel 1.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Roman Citizen # 56 (illustrated by Xaveria)

Today I would like to introduce a new member of the Sandman Portraits Blog.

Xaveria is from The Netherlands and was introduced to me by long time Portraits artist Max Rugers.

Since she was a child she's loved the art of drawing. While growing up, life got in the way and it sort of faded into the background, but it never disappeared completely. Over the years she kept finding herself drawn back in.

She is a self-taught artist and she is extremely interested in the process of creating a piece. She says that it’s satisfying to see something slowly come to life and loves to experiment during this process, trying out different things, discover new materials and new ways of working.

It will be very exciting to see what she brings to each of her portraits. You can see more of her work here and here.

Her first character is a Roman Citizen from August, in Fables And Reflections.

Augustus Caesar and the dwarf Lycius spend the day sitting on some steps near the marketplace dressed as beggars. As citizens pass they discuss politics, power, personal legacy and dreams.

This citizen is spending the afternoon in the Roman market near the steps where Caesar and Lycius are sitting.

He appears in one of the panels that contains a large number of other Roman citizens, which is visually amazing, but incredibly crowded with Roman Citizens.

This panel is in Sandman # 30, page 13, and is panel 4.

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Dead Man # 109 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In The Song Of Orpheus, told in The Sandman Special # 1, Orpheus entered the Underworld, hoping to rescue Eurydice, his recently deceased wife. When he approached the throne room of Hades and Persephone, he encountered a large gathering of the dead.

In hopes of convincing Lord Hades and Queen Persephone to release his deceased wife, Orpheus sang a song about love and loss. This song caused the dead to weep.

This Dead Man is one of the many residents of the Underworld, who wept and were lifted from the ground in sadness.

He appears in The Song Of Orpheus, on page 35, in panel 2.

Friday, September 22, 2017

The Emperor’s Man # 4 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

In Dream Hunters, a Badger and a Fox make a wager and attempt to force a young Monk to leave his temple.

The Badger disguises itself as a group of men, claiming to have been sent by the Emperor to request the presence of the Monk at the Imperial court.

This man is one of the “men” who appeared as one of the Emperor’s Men.

The monk refused to leave his temple and asked why the Emperor would send a badger to tell him to come to the imperial court.

The badger sulked away in defeat.

This man appears in P. Craig Russell’s version of Dream Hunters, in # 1, on page 8, in panel 4.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Emissary # 17 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In the Fifth chapter of Seasons Of Mists, Morpheus hosts a banquet for the emissaries who come hoping to obtain the Key To Hell.

As each guest implores, and sometimes threatens the King Of Dreams the others talk amongst themselves and enjoy the feast before them.

This emissary is one of the people at the banquet.

He appears in Sandman # 26, on page 7.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Woman # 113 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

Dream and Delirium decide to seek advice from their older brother, Destiny, in their search for Destruction.

Instead of calling upon Destiny in either of their respective galleries, they decide to visit Destiny’s garden.

They go to an amusement park and go through the Crazy Maze, which is a labyrinth and all labyrinths lead to Destiny’s garden.

His woman is standing in front of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride and is waving to one of the people on the ride.

She appear in Sandman # 47, on page 5, in panel 5.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Reveler At The Burgess Party # 8 (illustrated by Nicole Ingram)

Wesley Dodds visited Endland in 1939, trying to solve the mysterious death of one of his old friends, Linus Benchly. While there he attended a party thrown by Roderick Burgess, hoping to unravel the mystery. Dian Belmont, his lover, was also at the party trying to help her friend Annabel solve a mystery of her own.

This man is one of the people attending the party.

He appeared in Sandman Mystery Theatre # 1 on page 36, panel 1.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Japanese Woman # 5 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

One evening the dynasty of The Onmyoji was destroyed when his house was burned to the ground and his wife and mistress were both killed in the fire.

The next morning The Onmyoji was found sitting in the wreckage of his destroyed house.

He was homeless, crazy and missing an eye.

Some people spoke in whispers, wondering what caused his condition. Some blamed the loss of his wife and house. Others believed it was the loss of his eye. Nobody spoke of a solitary fox taking her revenge for the loss of her lover.

This woman is one of the many people who whispered rumors regarding the Onmyoji’s insanity.

She appears in the P. Craig Russell adaptation of The Dream Hunters in issue # 4, on page 24 in panel 4.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Folk From Across The River # 2 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

In the Desire story in Endless Nights, Kara was in love with the son of the chief of the village.

The Chief and a group of village elders tried to negotiate grazing rights, for amber and for the ransom of prisoners between their tribe and the folk from across the river, but negotiations went badly and ended with the death of the village chief.

Kara retrieves the song of the village chief and he assumes the role of leader of the village. He also marries Kara and spends the winter in the village.

In spring, Kara’s husband and a group of soldiers go to meet with the chiefs of the other villages.

One day, a group of men arrived at the village, asking for hospitality. These were the folk from across the river and they had killed Kara’s husband and brought his head to threaten and scare the women of the village.

Kara remained calm and served the men food and wine until the soldiers who were on wolf-watch returned and slaughtered the invaders.

This man is one of the folk from across the river.

He appears in the “What I’ve Tasted Of Desire: from Endless Nights, on pages 15-19.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Bondage Boy # 9 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In Brief Lives, Delirium is lost and wanders into a bondage club.

In the club she encounters a woman named Lisa who looks a little like Death. Once she realizes that this woman is not her sister she becomes agitated and starts screaming that she wants her sister.

Desire comes to the aid of his/her sister.

This man is one of the people in the crowd as Desire comes to Delirium’s aid.

He can be seen in Sandman # 41, on page 11, in panel 4.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Corpse From Rachel’s Dream # 9 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

In the Destruction story from Endless Nights, Rachel has dreams of the world ending. Sometimes it’s by fire, sometimes by ice and sometimes by an unknown disease. The dreams always end the same…with death.

In one of Rachel’s dreams, she sees the corpse of this man, along with many others, while walking through a shopping mall. It seems apparent that this man died from an unknown disease.

He can be seen in Endless Nights in the Destruction story, “On The Peninsula” on the first page in panel 4.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Baghdad Musician # 2 (illustrated by Te’Shawn Dwyer)

In “Ramadan” we learn about the city of Baghdad and its many splendors.

The court of Haroun al Raschid was one of the wonders of the world and al Raschid ruled his kingdom with wisdom and compassion. Under his rule the city flourished and prospered.

There were the greatest teachers and scholars in the entire world. There were the most beautiful women and boys in the harems. There were astrologers, enchanters and sorcerers. There were men with heads of animals and animals that could speak like men. There were mechanical creatures that seemed life-like and there were musicians and poets that were experts in their skills.

This man is one of the musicians in Bagdad during the rein of Haroun al Raschid.

He appears in Sandman # 50, on page 3, in panel 4.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Man # 8, Woman # 9, Boy # 16 & Girl # 2 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In Worlds’ End, Brant Tucker, along with his companion Charlene Mooney, are stuck in a Free House, while a storm rages outside.

Brant encounters a man known only as The Seeker, who is searching for the reality where Prez Rickard becomes President Of The Unites States.

The Seeker tells Brant about Prez and his legacy and ultimately his tragedy.

After Prez becomes the President he does a lot of things in an attempt to make the United States and the world a better place.

One of those things was that he wanted to reduce the nuclear weapons that the US has. On live television Prez states “Right now, the US alone has enough nuclear weaponry to destroy the world a hundred times over. I mean, that’s dumb, you know. So we are not going to make amy more nuclear or biological weapons – simple as that. And we’re figuring out a ways to get rid of the ones we’ve already got, safely.”

This family was watching the television broadcast when Prez made his statement and declaration of intentions.

They appear in Sandman # 54, on page 10, in panel 7.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Alain’s Wife (illustrated by Ron Chan)

Alain, whose court and people lived one long day, over and over, decided that he wanted to be crushed to death by a bull elephant with two beautiful virgins at the moment of orgasm.

He struggled to decide whether this act should be at either the beginning or the end of the night’s festivities.

His wife felt that his spectacle would be best suited as the climax of the night.

He planned a party for the festivities and when the time came, he was indeed crushed to death beneath an elephant while having sex with two virgins. Alain’s wife appears in Endless Nights, in the Death In Venice story on page 2 in panel 3.

Monday, September 11, 2017

Demon # 423 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

After the death of The Monk, the Fox vowed revenge against the Onmyoji.

The Fox appeared before her rival, as a beautiful woman who immediately captured his heart.

He visited her house and she invited him to dine with her.

He expressed his love and desire for her, but she said that she could not be with him because he has a house and wife and mistress and even if she gave herself to him he may one day leave her to return to his own house. The Onmyoji promised to “take care of” the house, removing it as an obstacle.

She said that she also would never be able to trust him if she knew that he commanded Tengu and Oni and had in his possession the scrolls that could change her into a bird if she displeased him. To win the heart of this woman the Onmyoji knew that his books and scrolls also had to be destroyed.

This demon is one of the creatures she referenced when talking about the creatures that he could command.

He appears in the P. Craig Russell version of Dream Hunters, in issue # 4, on page 18, in panel 1.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Despairing Man # 7 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In The Wake we, once again, get a glimpse into Despair’s domain.

Despair lives in a world of mist and mirrors. Each mirror is a gateway into the soul of a despairing creature.

This man is one of the people that have succumbed to Despair’s touch.

He appears in Sandman # 70, on page 2, in panel 1.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Young Noble ((illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

After Cluracan escaped from his Aurelian prison with the help of Morpheus the citizens of Aurelia started hearing some startling things about their current Carnifex.

An Elderly Priest told a group of Aurelian Citizens that he had seen the Cernifex Carys XXV “sodomizing a virgin child in front of the statue of the Holy Twins” and that he had heard him say that administering the blessed sacrament meant as little to him as wiping his anus and had performed both actions at the same time.

A foreign soldier told an innkeeper than the Carnifex was intending to sell the free citizens of Aurelia into slavery to cover the debts of the church treasury.

Finally, a young noble claimed that he was hired by the Carnifex to murder the heir to the throne in a staged street brawl. He told this to a groups of whores while drinking his wine, pretending to be drunk and speaking a little too loudly, so others undoubtably could hear.

These rumors were instigated all instigated by Cluracan, who disguised himself as various people throughout the city.

Cluracan, disguised as a young noble, appears in Sandman # 52, on page 20, in panel 3.

Friday, September 8, 2017

French Citizen # 8 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In the Fables And Reflections story “Thermidor,” Johanna Constantine is put in jail because she is suspected by St. Just and Robespierre as having the head of Orpheus, which they hoped to destroy any link to mythology in an age of reason and the existence of Orpheus posed a threat to his idealogy of “pure reason.”

While in prison, she was able to look out over the courtyard where several French Citizens gathered to watch the corpse puppet show.

This is one of the French Citizens watching the puppet show.

She can be seen in Sandman # 29, on page 12, panel 3.

This is another wonderful portrait from Max. The textured background once again adds a lot of depth to the character and makes him stand out. I like the brightness of his read shirt in contrast to the darkness of his fair and the deep black lines on his face.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Undercut Patron # 80 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

Didi and Sexton attend Foxglove’s first concert at a club called The Undercut.

At the club, Didi meets a man called Theo who offers to take them to a “place a lot cooler” than The Undercut. Sexton does not trust Theo, but Didi gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and decides they should go with him.

This man is at the show and watching Foxglove as Didi, Sexton and Theo leave.

He appears in Death: The High Cost Of Living # 2, on page 17, in panel 6.