Demon # 233 (illustrated by Lukas Ketner)

In Preludes And Nocturnes, Dream goes to Hell to retrieve his stolen helmet.

Standing before a gathering of all the demons in Hell, Dream searches for his helmet and finds it with Choronzon.

This demon is standing near Chronzon when Dream finds his stolen helmet.

This Demon appears in Sandman # 4, on page 14, in panel 6.

This is a completely fascinating portrait from Lukas and I absolutely love it. In the published comic, this demon looks like…a strange mushroom looking creature. Lukas took the idea of him looking like a plant or fungus and turned him into this. He’s certainly not horrifying, but he’s fun to look at in a horrifying way. The bulbous nature of this creature’s skin is disturbing and visually interesting. It adds a unique texture to this character and I can almost envision how this creature would feel if it were a living breathing demon and for some reason I imagine he would smell like overcooked broccoli. I can honestly say I’ve never been able to imagine how a character smells by a piece of art. This is a fantastic portrait from Lukas.

Here is Demon # 233…

Bacchante # 13 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

This is another one of the Bacchante from The Song Of Orpheus.

Orpheus encounters the Bacchante after returning from Hades without his beloved wife, Eurydice. He is profoundly grief-stricken and in mourning after losing his one true love. He chooses not to flee from the Bacchante, even though he was warned of their arrival by his mother, Calliope.

The Bacchante arrive, wild and drunk and they eventually kill Orpheus, eat his body and throw his head into the river.

This woman of the Bacchante appears in The Sandman Special # 1, on page 43 in panel 6.

Anna did a wonderful portrait of this horrific character. I wanted to push Anna to draw a character that is more disturbing that she would typically draw. While she definitely did not make this character and gruesome as they are portraited in the published comic, I definitely think she captured the wild and natural characteristics of these women. I really like this portrait.

Customer At Lux # 15 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In The Kindly Ones, we catch a glimpse of one of the things Lucifer has been doing since renouncing his throne and leaving Hell. Lucifer is a night club owner and spends his evening playing the piano.

On the night Lyta Hall has dinner with Eric Needman there are several other patrons at the night club.

This woman is one of them.

She appears in Sandman # 64, on page 22, in panel 1.

This is an absolutely fantastic portrait and is easily one of my favorites that Max has done so far. I love the contrast between the darkness of the character and the background. I also love the texture of the blackness in the silhouette. This portrait is sexy and it’s a perfect portrait for a completely obscure character.

Venice Citizen # 2 (illustrated by John Carmine)

Around 1271, Marco Polo began his expedition to China with his father and uncle.

As they began their several citizens of Venice watched the caravan leave the city. This man is one of those who watched the travelers leave.

This character appears in Sandman # 39, page 13, panel 3.

This is another wonderful portrait from John. In the published comic this character is barely more than a human shaped outline in the far background. John basically designed this character based on the shape of the character in the comic and gave him personality and a life that isn’t really there in the comic. I also really like that he drew the background. I love the gate and think it fits perfect with the time period of this portrait.

Aurelian Emissary # 3 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

When Cluracan was sent to Aurelia by Titania he was forced to sit though a council meeting, listening to the various Aurelian Emissaries discuss the alliance between the cities.

This Emissary is at the council meeting.

He was there to witness Cluracan’s predition that the dead would being to rise to collect the debts owed to them.

He appears in Sandman # 52, on page 12, in panel 5.

Anna’s use of thick lines and bright colors make this seemingly uninteresting character stand out. The multiple shades of greens and blues on his head scarf are lovely.

Demon # 315 (illustrated Max Rugers)

This demon is one of the many demons who reside in Hell when Dream comes to reclaim his stolen helmet.

This demon appears as Dream is speaking to Lucifer and the demons and telling them that without dreams Hell would be powerless because “what power would Hell have is those here imprisoned were not able to dream of heaven.”

This demon appears in Sandman # 4, on page 21, in panel 4.

Max did a wonderful job drawing this frightening and incredibly obscure demon from Preludes And Nocturnes!!!

Scotland Yard Records Clerk (illustrated by John Carmine)

In Sandman Midnight Theatre, Wesley Dodd, disguised as The Sandman, goes to England to try to solve a mystery that began with the suicide of his old friend, Linus Benchley.

His investigation leads him to Scotland Yard. He sneaks into the Records Room. At the same moment Wesley is looking through the files, the Records Clerk passes the door and finds it odd that the room is not locked. He enters the room. Wesley uses his sleeping gas to subdue the records clerk as he continues to search through the Scotland Yard files.

This is the Scotland Yard Records Clerk.

He appears in Sandman Midnight Theatre on page 23.

John did a great job with this portrait. I really like the perspective of this portrait and I like that he appears to be looking out through the corner of his eyes, as if he’s suspicious of something. That’s a nice subtle touch that really adds a lot of personality to this character.