Assaracus The Unseemly (illustrated by Lukas Ketner)

In The Kindly Ones, Assaracus and his throat-sister Mailure float down a river of cold semen in a barge made of dead flesh.

Assaracus looks up and notices four ravens flying across the red sky of Hell.

He appears in Sandman # 63, on page 23, in panel 1.

Assaracus, in Greek mythology is the second son of Tros and became King of Dardania. This is likely not the same character, but it is interesting to note that there is a character in Greek mythology that shares a name with this strange character from the Sandman universe.

Lukas did a fantastic job with this portrait. In the published comic Assaracus’ features are not easily distinguished, but Lukas accepted the challenge of bringing this character to life. I love that this character is pretty horrifying. He easily seems like he would be a resident of Hell.

Island Spirit # 3 (illustrated by John Carmine)

William Shakespeare writes about imprisonment in The Tempest, his final play for Dream 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 mirrors that of Morpheus at the hands of Roderick Burgess, more than 400 years later.

This Island Spirit is one of the “more potent Ministers” mentioned in the play and appears in Sandman # 75, on page 17, in panel 1.

One thing really like about the two William Shakespeare stories from Sandman is that Charles Vess adds a lot of fun and interesting faeries and island spirits to the story. This gives the artists working on this portraits project the opportunity to draw unique and visually interesting characters.

John drew this Island Spirit and it’s pretty awesome. He used colored paper and drew over it using colored pencils. This gives a really interesting effect to the character. The whites used really help the character pop out of the page.

Man Of The Tribe # 7 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In “Tales In The Sand,” we learn the story of Nada and her brief and tragic relationship with Kai’ckul, the King Of Dreams.

Nada ruled her kingdom wisely and was well loved by her people, but she was unable to find true love with any of the men in her tribe.

This man is one of the men from her tribe.

He appears in Sandman # 9, page 6, panel 3.

This character is another incredibly obscure character from The Sandman universe. He is barely visible in the published comic, but Anna managed to give this character a personality and a life that is not in the published comic. I can’t quite figure out his expression, but I like how it feels.

Here is Man Of The Tribe # 7…

Burgess’ Servant # 3 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

When Dian Belmont and Annabel Forbes-Whitten arrives at Fawney Rig for the Burgess party they wander the mansion looking at the art hanging in the hallways.

Annabel asks Dian to give her a moment so she can remember her lover from 10 years ago.

Dian explores the mansion and sees a large man carrying a jar filled with blood. He is presumably a cook for the mansion.

This is that servant.

He appears in Sandman Midnight Theatre on page 33 in panel 5.

Max did a great job with this portrait. As always, I love the line work on his face. Max’s approach to this is a lot less disturbing than the character in the published comic, but he managed to give him a bit more humanity, which I really like.

Village Woman # 2 (illustrated by John Carmine)

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 thought he was attractive and desired him.

She appears in Endless Nights, in “What I’ve Tasted Of Desire” page 3, panel 1.

I really like this portrait from John. She’s definitely attractive and I imagine she would catch the eye of Kara’s husband. The colors used on this portrait match those from the published comic and the addition of the green really stands out.

Here is one of the women from Kara’s village…

Granny Goodness’ Minion # 4 (illustrated by Lukas Ketner)

On his quest to recover his stolen ruby, Dream finds himself visiting the Justice League.

He enters the Justice League Tower through the dreams of Scott Free, who is in the middle of having a nightmare remembering his time on Apokolips. In his nightmare, Scott is being put in to the Murder Machine with the help of Granny Goodness’ Minions.

The Minion appears in Sandman # 5, on page 5, in panel 4.

I really like this portrait from Lukas. I like the serious and loyal expression on this man’s face. He seems stern and ready to follow any orders given by Granny Goodness. Lukas added some Kirby Krackle to the background of this portrait, which I think is a very nice tough, paying homage to Jack Kirby who created Granny Goodness and likely her minions.

Serial Killer # 63 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

This is another Serial Killer who is in attendance at the Cereal Convention.

He appears in Sandman # 14, on page 32, in panel 8.

This Serial Killer is in the audience as The Corinthian is giving his speech about why his fellow killers take the lives of others. Unbeknownst to him, he is sitting directly in from of Morpheus, the King Of Dreams and witnesses the un-creation of The Corinthian.

Anna’s use of tally marks to indicate the role of the character is perfect. This character is very striking. Anna fully captured the hardness of the character. His evil stare really draws you in.