Dead Man # 45 (illustrated by Jeremy Haun)

When Orpheus journeys to the Underworld to rescue Eurydice he encounters a large gathering of the dead at the thrones of Lord Hades and Queen Persephone.

He passes through them in order to stand before their thrones.

To plead the rulers of the Underworld to release his deceased wife, Orpheus sang a song about love and loss.

This Dead Man is one of the many dead men who heard Orpheus' song.

He appears in The Song Of Orpheus from The Sandman Special # 1 on page 33, in panel 1.

This portrait from Jeremy is haunting. I never dream about art and yet after Jeremy gave me this portrait I had nightmares. I remember nothing of the dream except that I kept seeing this portrait. I think the starkness of this character and the grays and emancipated look of the body gives the character a frightening appearance, one that clearly induces nightmares…in me, at least.

Happy Halloween!!!

Man From The Ancient Necopolis # 3 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In Worlds’ End, Petrefax tells a tale about is experience attending an air burial at Mount Calamon by request of his master, Klaproth.

At the air burial, each person attending must tell a story. Scroyle tells the others gathered about his conversation with a traveler regarding the origins of the Necropolis Litharge.

As told by Scroyle, when a group of strangers entered the Necropolis, which is no longer named, and asked for the cerements and for the book of rituals used for their funeral rites, the Necropolitans laughed and called them mad. According to the storyteller, who happened to be Destruction, the hearts of the ancient Necropolitans were hard and did not care for their duties.

This is the reason the ancient Necropolis was destroyed and Litharge became the new Necropolis.

This man from the ancient Necropolis appears in Sandman # 55, on page 16, in panel 2.

Anna did a great job with this portrait. I really like his strong squared face and his dark gaze. He seems like someone who would work in the Necropolis and defy the Endless when they came to perform the funeral rites for one of their own.

Cat # 24 (illustrated by Carl Sciacchitano)

This morning I would like to welcome Carl Sciacchitano to the Sandman Portraits team!!!

I met Carl last year at the Rose City Comic Con in Portland and was very happy when he agreed to do some Sandman portraits.

Carl has worked on some great comics including The Army Of Dr. Moreau and you can find more of his work on his site

His first portrait for the Sandman Universe is one of the many cats from Dream Of A Thousand Cats... One evening, a group of cats meet in a cemetery to listen to the tale of a wise storyteller cat who recounts here visit with the King Of Dreams.

This is one of the cats that listens to the storyteller cat’s tale.

He appears in Sandman # 18, on page 4.

I love this portrait from Carl. I really like the perspective of the cat to us, the viewer. It’s an interesting perspective and one that anyone can easily relate to if they have a pet. I really like the cat’s expression and the look in her eyes.

This is a fantastic portrait and I’m excited to share more of Carl’s work with other Sandman characters. Welcome to the Sandman Portraits Blog!!!

Soap Opera Actress # 2 (illustrated by Max Rugers)

John Dee has been in the diner for three hours and he asked Bette if he could watch a little TV.

Soap operas were on television and this is one of the actresses on the soap opera.

She appears in Sandman # 6, on page 7, in panel 5.

I like this portrait from Max. In the published comic this character is a very minor background character on a television show and is not well defined. Max brought this character to life and gave her personality and more depth. I love the perspective of this portrait and the blues he used for the background. I am unsure if this character is based on a real soap opera actress, but I suppose it’s possible that she is.

Aurelian Citizen # 3 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

When Clurican arrives in Aurelia he is brought before Carnifex Carys XXXV as an envoy of Faery.

As he walks through the chamber to approach the Carnifex he notices a large group of people on either side of the walkway all asking the ruler for his favor or judgment in a dispute.

This is one of those men. He has been waiting many months with his petition, hoping to get it granted.

What is the petition? That is not revealed, only that he’s been waiting an exceedingly long time.

This man appears in Sandman # 52, on page 8, in panel 1.

This is a great portrait from Kai. I really like his approach to this character. He decided that this citizen of Aurelia was a woman. I like that she is holding a document and shouting, which mirrors the character in the published comic. You can feel the frustration of the character in this portrait.

French Soldier # 5 (illustrated by Russel Roehling)

This French Soldier is one of the soldiers who apprehend Johanna Constantine as she returns to her room.

They had been searching through Johanna Constantine’s personal belongings in hopes of finding the stolen head of Orpheus, although I do not believe any of the soldiers knew what they were looking for.

He appears in Sandman # 29, on page 6, in panel 6.

Russel did an awesome job with this portrait. The details are, as always, exceptional, and I love the colors he used and how the bright blues are a stark contrast to the dusty browns of the backgrounds. I also like that the whites of his pants are tainted with the dust and have a slight brown to them. This is a fantastic portrait!!!

Dead Woman # 14 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In The Sandman Special # 1, Orpheus journeys to the Underworld to rescue his recently deceased wife.

As he stands before Lord Hades and Queen Persephone he sings a song of sadness and of love, which causes the Dead to cry.

This Dead Woman is one of the many dead men in the Underworld.

He appears in The Song Of Orpheus, on page 33, in panel 1. She is on the left of the panel.

Anna’s use of gray and blue have a very dramatic effect on this portrait. The two colors both give a sense of coldness to the portrait, which is not only accurate to the comic, but pretty effective when it comes to representing the dead residents of the Underworld. I really like this portrait.