The Annotated Sandman Edited and largely written by Greg Morrow Issue 27 Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, and Dick Giordano Season of Mists Chapter 5 In which the vexing question of the sovereignty of Hell is finally settled, to the satisfaction of some; the finer points of hospitality; and in which it is demonstrated that while some may fall, others are pushed. Not yet reprinted in any other form Disclaimer: Sandman and all related characters are copyrights and trademarks of DC Comics Inc. Sandman and this annotation are intended for mature audiences only. Notice: Commentaries and additional information should go to morrow@fnal.fnal.gov (Internet) or morrow@fnal.BITNET. This material is posted by the editor directly to rec.arts.comics and COMICS-L, and is licensed to appear on Compu$erve and GEnie. It is also available via anonymous ftp from theory.lcs.mit.edu in pub/wald/sandman. Please contact the editor if you see this material on any other forum. Reproduction in any form without permission of the editor (as agent for the contributors) is forbidden. Page 1 panel 2: It is assumed that the reader recognizes the significant characters, and recalls the significant events, of this storyline. Panel 3: Seneferu is the founder of the 4th Dynasty of Egypt, the father of Cheops. This dynasty is remembered primarily for building the great pyramids of Egypt. A number of folktales about these god-kings exist; interested readers are invited to look in M. Lichtheim's _Ancient Egyptian Literature_, vol. 1, and Simpson, Faulkner and Wente's _Literature of Ancient Egypt_. [Note the inventive titles!] Page 2 panel 4: Bast claimed to know the exact whereabouts of the Prodigal Endless. Panel 6: We saw the bloke in the pointy hat and the faceless guy briefly last issue. According to _Wonder Woman_, the Greek gods have forsaken this plane for another, unknown destination, although similar circumstances did not prevent the folk of Faerie from sending representatives. Page 3 panel 1: "Veratyr" is an appelation for Odin meaning "Lord of Men". Kvasir is a dwarf, who was referenced in the annotation to _Sandman_ #24. Page 4-5: This is a two page splash panel spread. Note the cherubs spreading the tarpaulin. Beyond those figures gathered below that we have already seen, we may note a figure in a fur cloak and wooden mask, possibly African; a figure in Greco-Roman armor, who resembles _Wonder Woman_'s depiction of the Greek god Ares, and who may therefore be the Roman god Mars; an American Indian in chief's headdress; and a serpent-headed being of unknown provenance. The pictures and designs on the ceiling do not appear to have any obvious significance. Note that the armored figure may be the same figure that appeared briefly in the previous issue. Page 6 panel 1: Thor has a hangover, which has manifested itself as a storm cloud above his head in deference to his nature as God of Thunder. Panel 4: Note that, unsurprisingly, Dream does not sleep. Page 9: The flip panel effect of Dream and Duma is somewhat odd, since Duma apparently disappears from panels 2 and 3. I reconstruct the sequence as follows: Panel 1: Duma floating above and to the right of Dream, his feet about 30" above the level of Dream's hair. Panel 2: Pan down, so that only Dream is visible. (Note that the scale actually suggests that Duma's toes should be visible at the upper boundary of the panel.) Dream and Duma have not moved. Perspective is skewed, since we do not get a different view of Remiel. Panel 3: Pan further down. Dream is almost entirely visible. Our view of Remiel still has not changed. Panel 4: Camera still, but Duma dropping very quickly. Panel 5: Duma lands. Note that Remiel has rebelled, thus condemning him to Hell, a nice piece of irony on the Creator's part. (That's a pun, boy, couldn't find your nose if'n it wasn't screwed on :-) [Note for Bill Sherman: Creator = creator, Neil Gaiman] There is no indication that Remiel has landed. Page 10: Remiel's speech on this page is a swipe of a speech preached upon the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, the sequence in the Bible where Jesus asks his father if he may avoid the suffering that he will face in the next day. "Let this burden pass" and the cup metaphor are exactly taken from that soliloquy. Page 11 panel 1: Thor's joke depends on a lisp, a speech impediment in which a person pronounces /s/ and /z/ like an unvoiced and voiced /th/ sound. Panel 3: In the primary Norse myths, Niddhogg was a nasty serpent or dragon that lived in Hel's domain and spent its days gnawing at one of the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Ash. Nidhogg (also spelled Nidhoggr, Nithogg) is described as a flying, corpse-eating dragon in other accounts. His name means "Hateful". Page 15 panel 4: "Got the balls" is an idiom for "courageous enough". "Balls" is, of course, slang for testicles. This sounds odd coming from a demon. Page 19 panel 4: Did anyone _not_ see this conclusion coming from a couple of light-years away? Page 20 panel 1: The skull in Dream's souvenir chest is that of the Corinthian, from _The Doll's House_. Note the bottled city: Kandor? Note the penny: There is a giant penny in Batman's Batcave, a souvenir of one of his early cases, although it is unlikely that Dream would have a copy. Is the pocketwatch Dr. Manhattan's? Page 22 panel 8: Loki's remark will be expounded upon next issue. Page 24 panel 2: Matthew's remark has ominous reverberations. Contributors include: Bill "Peach Melba" Sherman, , corrected my New Testament recollections, recalled a point of similarity between Faerie and Olympus, and hadn't seen the revised edition of 24, which explains Kvasir. He also spotted the Corinthian's skull amongst other treasures. Mark A Biggar (mab%wdl39@wdl1.wdl.loral.com) also corrected my New Testament scholarship. Glenn Carnagey identified Seneferu. dennis c hwang referenced Nidhogg. Michael Bowman checked Veratyr, Niddhogg, and corrected one of my page numbers. Jim W Lai spotted a previous appearance of Faceless, Thor's headache, and the Corinthian's skull.