Italian Woman # 7 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In Endless Nights, Sergei visits Venice, Italy and returns to one of the islands in the Venice lagoon.

As a child he had visited one of the islands and had a brief encounter with Death, who asked him to try to open a rusted gate, which he was unable to do. As an adult, he returned to the island and once again met Death. This time he was able to open the gates and let Death into Alain’s court.

His entire encounter with Death felt like a dream and when he awoke and arrived back into the city all of the people seemed paper thin and unreal. He wondered what happened behind their eyes and in their heads.

This woman is one of the Italian citizens that Sergei saw when returning to Venice.

She appears in Endless Nights, on page 22 in panel 6.

This is a great portrait from Max. I love how Max drew this woman. She is incredibly beautiful and I like how her hair hangs down over her shoulders. The pink and purple background really adds a high level of contrast to the Italian woman.

Faery Reveler # 9 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

In The Kindly Ones, Nuala leaves the employee of Morpheus and returns to Faery. She feels disillusioned with the glamour put on by the other Faeries.

One evening while a group of Faeries are having a celebration two significant events occur. The first is that Puck returns to Faery. The second is that Nuala enters the celebration without her glamour and claims that she feels more comfortable without the pretense, which offends Titania.

This Faery is at the festivities and talking with Cluracan and Menton.

He appears in Sandman # 66, on page 9 and 10.

Corpse From Rachel’s Dream # 4 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

In the Destruction story from Endless Nights, Rachel has dreams of the world ending. Sometimes it’s by fire, sometimes by ice and sometimes the deaths are caused by some disease.

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.

This is a fantastic portrait from Kai. I really like that he is face down and is not obviously recognizable. It is a unique approach to a portrait. I really like how Kai positioned the body and the line work on his hands and hair. The little details really make this portrait stand out.

Citizen Of Barbie’s World # 59 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

After Barbie smashes the Porpentine against the Heirogram on the Isle Of Thorns, Dream is summoned to destroy her world and welcomed the citizens of Barbie’s world back into the dark folds of his cloak.

This character is one of the many citizens of Barbie’s world.

He appears in Sandman # 36, page 34, panel 2.

I absolutely love this portrait!!! This is one of the many characters that is barely more than a shape as it enters The Dream King’s cloak. Max looked at this panel and drew a character that fits in perfectly with the other characters we have seen within Barbie’s world. I love the gruff looking appearance of this creature and yet the eyes contrast its appearance by showing us a more gentle side. The strange and unnatural colors work perfectly with a child’s impression of how a magical world would be and the types of extraordinary creatures that would inhabit this land.

Bar Patron # 3 (illustrated by Andy Fish)

Dream and Death visit a pub in England sometime between 1362-1370.

During this excursion into the waking world Death offers Hob the opportunity to never die and never grow old. He accepts and Dream agrees to meet him once a century to discuss his life, immortality and friendship.

This man is one of the bar patrons in the pub during Dream and Hob’s initial meeting.

This Bar Patron appears in Sandman # 13, on page 1, in panel 1. He is sitting at the table with a group of other men. Is he a monk? Why is he wearing a hooded robe indoors? I’d really like to know more background about this character.

Bacchante # 11 (illustrated by Te’Shawn Dwyer)

In The Sandman Special # 1, Orpheus encounters The Bacchante, who are some of the most terrifying characters in the Sandman universe.

In Greek mythology, The Bacchante are crazy, wild women living in the forests. They are capable of tearing animals (and sometimes people) into pieces with their bare hands. They are sometimes called Maenads, but regardless of their name they are ferocious and insatiable in their desires and violence. In Roman mythology, The Bacchante are the female followers of Bacchus, the god of wine and intoxication.

In The Sandman universe Orpheus is torn apart by a group of Bacchante after returning from Hades, failing to rescuing his wife from the land of the dead.

This particular Bacchante is one of the first that Orpheus encounters. She is standing toward the back of the initial gathering. She can be seen in The Sandman Special # 1 (The Song Of Orpheus), page 43.

Island Spirit # 7 (illustrated by Carl Sciacchitano)

In the final issue of Sandman, we get a glimpse of William Shakespeare writing his final play for Morpheus.

As Shakespeare falls asleep at his desk he finds himself walking along a beach with the King of Dreams. There are island spirits flying around them as they talk. They discuss the play that he is writing for Morpheus.

Shakespeare asks him why he is writing this play for him:

Shakespeare: Why do you want the play? Why do you need me to write it? Why am I doing this?
Morpheus: Why? Because we made a bargain, Will Shakespeare. Two Plays.
 Shakespeare: Yes. The first play I wrote as a gift for….your friends…but this is…your play. For you.
Morpheus: Yes. 
Shakespeare: Why THIS play?

Before Morpheus can respond, Shakespeare is woken by his wife.

This is one of the Island Spirits that appear on the beach as Morpheus and Shakespeare talk.

He appears in Sandman # 75, on page 22, in panel 5.

Greek Citizen # 4 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

The wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice was a much celebrated event and many people attended the ceremony.

This man is one of the many guests at the wedding.

This Greek citizen appears in one panel of The Sandman Special # 1. He is on page 3 in the first panel.

He is standing on the steps of the temple as Orpheus sees Eurydice on the day of their wedding.

Faery # 44 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

This Faery is one of the faeries that attended the first performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on June 23rd 1593 in Wilmington, England near The Long Man of Wilmington.

This Faery appears in Sandman # 19, on page 7, panel 1. He can be seen, barely, near the front of the audience. He is spying on the performance from behind a large bush.

Book Release Party Guest # 8 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

When Richard Madoc’s book “And My Love She Gave Me Light” was released in May 1987 a book release party was held.

This man was one of the people who attended the party. He is standing near the sign featuring the cover of the novel.

This man appears in Sandman # 17 on page 12, in panel 1. He is standing near a group of people and is reading a copy of the book.

Cat # 17 (illustrated by Andy Fish)

In “A Dream Of A Thousand Cats” a group of cats gather in a cemetery to listen to a mysterious and wise cat who tells a tale of a dream that she had and how she hoped to change the world.

This cat is one of the cats who attended the gathering.

This cat appears in Sandman # 18 on page 4.

Demon # 471 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

This demon is one of the few demons that appeared in a Sandman published comic, but did not actually appear in a Sandman story.

In the P. Craig Russell version of Dream Hunters, this character appears on the title page of the fourth issue.

While there is some question about whether this character should be included in the portraits project because he is not in the actual Sandman story, I decided to include him because demons are awesome and he does appear in the published comic.

I love this portrait from Max. This demon looks completely bizarre and quite frightening. The red/orange color of the demon’s skin is a very striking contrast to the beautiful green background.

Raven # 20 (illustrated by Te’Shawn Dwyer)

In The Kindly Ones storyline ravens gathered in The Dreaming prior to The Kindly Ones enter the realm.

It is not known where they came from or how they were called to The Dreaming, but they came.

They are described as larger than eagles and older than Gods. They waited in the shadows for the dead to start filling the fields.

This Raven appears in Sandman # 64 on page 13, panel 5.

Village Woman # 1 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

In “What I’ve Tasted Of Desire,” a story from Endless Nights, Kara tells the story of her relationship with her husband and ultimately the story of her life.

Prior to falling in love with Kara, her husband, the son of the leader of the village, was a bit of a ladies man and all the women from the village loved him and wanted to be his true love, even if it was only for a night.

This woman is one of the many women who had sex with the son of the village leader. She was seen by Kara’s sister who spied them as they made love under a fruit tree.

She appears in Endless Nights, in “What I’ve Tasted Of Desire” page 1, panel 1 and 2.

This is my favorite portrait from Kai so far. I love her facial expression, which expresses the ecstasy she is feeling as she makes love to the leader’s son. Kai drew the shadows of the leaves on her face, which is absolutely perfect and makes this exceptional. This is a gorgeous portrait.

Emissary # 35 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

When Dream becomes the caretaker of the Key To Hell, Emissaries from various cultures and pantheons gather in hopes of obtaining the ownership of Hell for their own uses.

This creature is one of those emissaries.

Who does he represent and why does he want the Key To Hell? These are questions that are never answered, nor do we even get a very clear view of this interestingly unique character.

He appears in Sandman # 27, on page 12, in panel 1.

Dignitary # 219 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

Dream and his lover, Killalla Of The Glow, travel to the palace to attend the parliament concerning zones of responsibility and the merits of obligation for creation.

Dignitaries from various planets, realms and realities gather to be a part of this important meeting.

This Dignitary is one of many who gathered at the palace. He is in the background crowd as Killalla speaks with Sto-Oa.

He appears in the background in Endless Nights, in the story, The Heart Of The Star, on page 14 in panel 4.

This is another great portrait from Max. I really like how he envisions these dignitaries. They are not the typical humans one would expect. While the character in the published comic seems very “human” (although not well defined) Max’s interpretation is very much not. I like this character’s wild hair and the detailed line work that makes up his face. The blues of the background are vibrant and really reflect the sky in the published comic.

Demon # 358 (illustrated by Te’Shawn Dwyer)

In P. Craig Russell’s adaptation of Dream Hunters, a Fox and a Badger make a wager to see who can make the Monk leave his small temple.

They each try a variety of methods to convince the Monk to leave and nothing seems to sway him.

One evening the Badger created an illusion in which an army of demons surround the temple and shout that if the Monk doesn’t flee they will eat his flesh.

The Monk exits the temple and expresses his unhappiness with these tricks and chases the “demons” away with a torch. Where the demons once stood a badger remained. The Monk threw the torch and singed the tail of the Badger.

This was the last time the Badger attempted to trick the Monk into leaving his temple.

This Demon is one of the Demons that the Badger created in order to scare away the Monk.

He appears in Sandman: Dream Hunters # 1, on page 15, in panel 1

Baseball Fan # 31 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

After the death of Kathy, Prez Rickard spent more time in the white house and was seen less by the American people. He became despondent and did not have the same zest for his job as he once did.

One particular night, Prez turned on the television and was watching baseball. Boss Smiley appeared in his television, once again offering Prez anything he wanted, even his deceased wife, if he would only serve him.

This Baseball Fan in the crowd at the stadium during the baseball game. He was on the television prior to Boss Smiley hijacking the program.

He appears in Sandman # 54, on page 14 in panel 8.

Citizen Of Alain’s Court # 7 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

On the night of Alain’s masked ball a flotilla of boats arrived in the bay and dispatched several masquerading women.

This woman was on the dock, waiting for the women and was one of the people speculating on their identity. She suspected that these women were Noblewomen, while others thought that they may be courtesans or nuns from a nearby monastery.

She appears in Endless Nights, in “Death In Venice” on page 12, in panel 7.

She is standing at the far left of the panel, watching, as they walk past the group of men.

I originally felt that this character was male, but Anna viewed the character as female. Looking back at the panel, I can definitely see why Anna thought she was a female, and there are other women in the group, so it makes sense given the style of clothing the character is wearing.

Roman Citizen # 131 (illustrated by Andy Fish)

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 and personal legacy.

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.