Island Spirit # 2 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

In the final issue of Sandman, we see William Shakespeare writing his last play for Morpheus and the final play of his career.

He writes a speech in which Prospero recounts the imprisonment of Ariel.

“Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
by help of her more potent ministers
and in her most unmitigable rage,
into a cloven pine,
within which rift
imprisoned though didst painfully remain
a dozen years."

This imprisonment is similar to that of Morpheus at the hands of Roderick Burgess, more than 400 years later.

This Island Spirit appears in Sandman # 75, on page 17, in panel 1 and is a reflection from the imagination of Shakespeare as he writes the play.

I love this portrait from Lars. This Island Spirit is so incredibly cute. I like his small stature and his oversized mustache. I also like how he is, so proudly, pounding on the drums. This is a truly wonderful portrait and is one of my favorites Lars has done so far.