Bacchante # 16 (illustrated by Lukas Ketner)

Happy Halloween!!!

I wanted to post something scary for my favorite holiday and this character seems appropriate. Not only are the Bacchante some of the scariest characters in the Sandman universe, but this particular portrait is pretty terrifying.

Here is another of the Bacchante, this time drawn by Lukas Ketner.

These characters appear in both Greek and Roman mythology and play a very important role within The Sandman Universe.

Roman and Greek mythology, The Bacchante are the female followers of Bacchus (or Dionysus), the god of wine and intoxication. They are often seen as crazy or wild and living in the forests. They are capable of tearing animals and sometimes people into pieces with their bare hands, as we see in The Song Of Orpheus. Orpheus encounters the Bacchante after returning from Hades, having failed to rescue 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 his mother Calliope warned him of their arrival.

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 46 in panel 5.

Lukas has a profound ability to make even the most frightening characters imaginable more frightening. This character is scary!!! I love the details that Lukas added to this portrait. There are leaves and twigs in her hair and it’s easy to see her bone structure based on her open mouthed expression. This really helps add to her a wild appearance.

Have a safe and fantastic Halloween!!!

People Made Of Thin Twigs (illustrated by Max Rugers)

Dream, like any king, has responsibilities of his realm. In an afternoon he walked through the hallways of his castle and spoke to his staff. Afterwards he spoke to the Dream Ghosts Who Left Glowing Footprints As The Only Evidence Of Their Passage and the People Made Of Thin Twigs.

This is one of the People Made Of Thin Twigs.

He appears in Sandman # 64, page 5, Panel 3.

This is a fantastic portrait from Max. Not only is the details of this character intense, but Max also attached pieces of real dried vegetation on this character. I’m not sure if it is easily visible in this scan, but the physical portrait is glorious to look at…with the texture and detailed like work and the structure of this portrait!

Here is one of the People Made Of Twigs…

Actor # 5 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

This is another actor who is performing in “The Typhoid Mary Blues,” which was written and directed by Todd Faber.

He was on stage when Janet was about to tell the cast that the play was cancelled, but Todd, reinvigorated after a particularly special dream, returned to the theater ready to move forward with his play.

He appears on the page 10 of “Fear Of Falling” in the first panel.

I like how Anna captured a bit of arrogance and confidence in this character. His high cheekbones are striking.

Actor # 4 (illustrated by Lukas Ketner)

This man is another actor performing in Typhoid Mary Blues written and directed by Todd Faber.

He is onstage as Janet begins to tell the cast that Todd has decided to quit the performance. Just as Janet is about to reveal the bad news, Todd appears re-invigorated and ready to make this play a success.

He can be seen on the final page of “Fear Of Falling” in the first panel. This story originally appeared in Vertigo Preview and was later collected in The Kindly Ones and Absolute Sandman.

Lukas did a great job with this character. He is barely noticeable in the published comic, but Lukas gave him a personality that feels very real and appropriate to this character. I like the addition of the turtle neck and the script. Little things like that add a lot of feeling into the portrait, which I really appreciate.

Actor # 3 (illustrated by John Carmine)

In Fear Of Falling, Todd Faber is directing a play and this man is one of the actors who appears in “The Typhoid Mary Blues.”

He appears in page 10 of “Fear Of Falling,” which was originally published in Vertigo Preview # 1. He is in the first panel and is third from the left.

I like how John approached this character. From the published comic, this particular actor has a “snooty” body posture and it seems that John felt the same thing when looking at this character. This character definitely seems to have a bit of a pretentious quality about him and definitely seems to think highly of himself. This is another fantastic portrait from John.

Actor # 2 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

This man is another one of the actors appearing in “The Typhoid Mary Blues” written and directed by Todd Faber..

He appears on the final page of “Fear Of Falling” in the first panel. He is the second from the left.

Max did a great job with this character. He’s barely more than a background character, but Max gave him personality and made him a real person. Also, I really like Max’s use of yellow. It’s not very often that yellow really seems appropriate within the Sandman universe, but I really like it here!!!

Actor # 1 (illustrated by Lars Brown)

“Fear Of Falling,” is a short story, which originally appeared in in Vertigo Preview and was later collected in The Kindly Ones.

This story tells of a man named Todd Faber, who is the writer and director of a play that is in the midst of rehearsals called “The Typhoid Mary Blues.” He is afraid that his play will fail.

This man is one of the actors appearing in the play. He can be seen on the final page of “Fear Of Falling” in the first panel. He is the on the left.

I like Lars’ portrait for the character. He has a great enthusiastic expression on his face and it’s a nice change from the somewhat somber characters we usually find in the Sandman universe.