The Lovebirds (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

Each of the Endless received a messenger, passing along the news of Morpheus’ death and his Wake.

They did not ask who sent the messenger. There are some things that even The Endless do not inquire about.

Desire’s messengers were lovebirds and these are those love birds.

They appear in Sandman # 70, on page 3, in panel 4.

Anna did a wonderful job with this portrait. I like that the birds are snuggling, giving us further proof that these are lovebirds. The colors she used are bight and vibrant, which I think works really well for this portrait.

Here are the lovebird messengers that were sent to Desire summoning her/him to the Wake…

Serial Killer # 26 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In “Collectors”, a host of serial killers descend upon a quiet hotel for the Cereal Convention, which is a convention for people who take pleasure in killing others.

This serial killer is one of many seen going to the hotel for the convention.

He appears in Sandman # 14, on page 1 in panel 2.

I really like this portrait from Max. When I offered this character to him I wasn’t sure how he would approach it. This character in the published comic sort of resembles V (from V For Vendetta) and I thought that Max might go that route. I am glad I was wrong because what Max did is so much better!

Max took this character who is hidden in the shadows and kept him hidden in the shadows, but was able to add to his personality. This character is frightening. I love the perspective and how he is looking down. This creates a really eerie image. I also really like the colors Max used. The character is hidden in the shadows, but the background has a lot of reds and since this character is a vicious killer it definitely adds some horror to the character.

Resident Of The Dreaming # 7 (illustrated by John Carmine)

Dream decides that he must go to Hell to rescue Nada. It has come to his attention that he may have been a bit rash in sending her to Hell for rejecting his love.

He calls together all the residents of The Dreaming and tells them what he is about to do and expresses his concern that he may not be returning since Lucifer holds a grudge against him for publicly embarrassing him when he last visited Hell to reclaim his stolen helmet.

This creature is one of the residents of The Dreaming who stood before the King Of Dreams and listened to his speech.

He appears in Sandman # 22, on page 7, in panel 4.

I really like this portrait from John. In the published comic we catch of glimpse of him amongst a group of creatures. John did a straight forward interpretation of this character, but the line work for the creature’s fur really stands out and gives the impression that he is definitely furry…sort of like a spider version of Cousin It. This is a particularly fun portrait.

Emissary # 34 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

When Lucifer retires from his role as ruler of Hell, Dream becomes the unlikely caretaker of the Key To Hell. Shortly after Dream takes possession of the key, emissaries from various cultures and pantheons gather in hopes of obtaining the ownership of Hell for their own uses.

This man 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.

This Emissary appears in throughout the Season of Mists storyline, but specifically can be seen in Sandman # 27, on page 11, in panel 4. He is in the middle.

Anna did a fantastic job with this portrait. In the published comic we see a silhouette of this character, but nothing more than a shape of who this character was. I always pictured him as some sort of knight since there were several knights who were emissaries. Anna took this character and defined him in a surprising and cool way. Instead of the tall plume on top of a helmet she made the “plume” his hair. I really like her approach to this character. This is another portrait that shows why I enjoy this project and how some of these obscure characters can be interpreted in so many different ways.

Dignitary # 23 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

Dream and the other Endless visit Mizar during an unprecedented gathering of dignitaries from various dimensions, planets and star systems.

This man is a dignitary from an unknown place who attended the parliament.

His character appears in Endless Nights, in “The Heart Of The Star” on page 6 in panel 3. He is one of the obscure background dignitaries.

This is definitely an interesting interpretation of this character. I really like it, especially given the unknown characteristics of this dignitary. I like that Max really thought about what this character might represent for the parliament.

Previous Carnifex Carys # 3 (illustrated by John Carmine)

When Carnifex Carys XXXV goes into hiding during a revolt against his kingdom he assumes the safest place would be the tomb of the previous Carnifex’s. Of course this proves to be a fatal mistake when he is confronted by the mummified remains of Carnifex Carys XXXIV.

This is one of the previous Carnifex’s of Aurelia.

He appears in Sandman # 52 on page 22 in panel 1.

John did a fantastic job with this portrait. It’s a bit gruesome and he didn’t hold back with this portrait. I like that he is predominantly bones, but there are clumps of hair still clinging to his decomposed body.

Ticket Inspector (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

Sorry for the short break. I needed time to catch up on some portraits stuff and while I didn't get caught up I did manage to make some progress. I have so many exciting characters to share with you and so I promise to try to get entirely caught up soon!!!

Today's character is the Ticket Inspector from Hazel's dream in A Game Of You.

Hazel experiences weird dreams the night George opens his chest and releases the starlings, who are servants of The Cuckoo.

She dreams that she is on a train and the ticket inspector looks at her ticket and asks her to go with him. He leads her to some stairs leading to the cellar of the train. In her dream she questions why there are cellars on trains. She goes down and finds Foxglove standing next to a box and inside the box is Hazel’s dream baby.

This man is the Ticket Inspector who checked Hazel’s train ticket and took her to the stairs leading further into the nightmare.

He appears in Sandman # 33, on page 14 in panels 3 and 4.

Anna’s use of overlapping color is very striking. I was fascinated by the purples, peaches and blues used to shade the Ticket Inspector’s face and neck. Anna is very talented in bringing the characters to life. Looking into the eyes of the Ticket Inspector, you can see his hardships and his passions.