The Annotated Sandman Edited and largely written by David Goldfarb Issue 60: "The Kindly Ones: 4" Neil Gaiman, Marc Hempel, Disraeli 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 goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (Internet) or goldfarb@UCBOCF.BITNET. This material is posted by the editor directly to rec.arts.comics, 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 1: Every Hempel-drawn issue has a string or cord in this panel. This issue: an electrical cord going into a manhole. The man is the angel Remiel, who was last seen at the end of "The Season of Mists", issue #28. Note the shadow: his feet do not quite touch the ground. Page 2 panel 3: A reference to [Bible quote]. panel 4: See the annotations for issue #24 for more information on Remiel and Duma. Page 5 panel 6: Reportedly this speech is paraphrased from Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh, however, said "regrets" rather than "consequences". Pp. 8-9: I don't recognize either of these characters. Page 10: This is "Puss in Boots". I don't have on me a specific reference to her story. Page 12 panel 3: Note the Tori Amos poster on the wall. The other poster is most likely Iggy Pop, but could conceivably be for the comic strip "Ziggy". panel 4: The poster is the character "The Man", from the series _Breathtaker_, written by Mark Wheatley and drawn by Marc Hempel. Page 13 panel 9: This is the first of a number of references to Rose's looking younger than her true age. There's been speculation that she's stopped aging because of giving away her heart at the end of "The Doll's House"; in many tales a being who takes out their heart and hides it gains immortality. Gaiman's own character Mad Hettie (see issue #3, and the "Death" miniseries) has done so. Page 14 panel 3: Those wishing to learn more about Rose's family tree are directed first to issue #1, then to the "Doll's House" story. panel 5: Montel Williams is an LA-area talk show host. "Vixen LaBitch" is fictional, as far as I know. Her dialogue refers to accusations of child molestation leveled against pop star Michael Jackson: one of his hit songs from the mid-'80s, "Billie Jean", had a line, "The kid is not my son"; "Beat It" was another hit song from the same album, but LaBitch is using the phrase as a slang term for masturbation. Page 15 panel 2: Carmilla Bristol seems to be fictional. Page 16 panel 4: An echo: these two women are dressed the same as Chantal and Zelda, two characters from "The Doll's House". panel 7: Stheno and Euryale were two of the three Gorgons, hags from Greek myth with snakes for hair and faces so terrifying that merely to look upon them was to be turned to stone. The third was Medusa, who was slain by the hero Perseus. Page 17 panel 5: These three are the Hesperides, another trio of women from Greek myth. Retrieving apples from their garden was one of the labors of Hercules. In some tales the Gorgons did in fact live near this garden. Page 18 panel 2: In most versions the guardian of the apples was called Ladon, and had as many as a hundred heads. The three-headed Geryon was slain by Hercules, but in a different one of his labors. No doubt Gaiman has brought Geryon in here so as to have yet another occurrence of the number three. panel 5: In Greek myth, the apples of the Hesperides did not confer immortality. Norse myth does feature golden apples in this role, though. Page 20 panel 4: We've seen this chest before, in 27:20:1-2. The contents are the same: a pocket watch (perhaps Prez's?); Haroun al-Raschid's magical Baghdad; the demon Azazel, pent in a bottle; and the skull of the Corinthian. Page 21 panel 2: According to Brewer's _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, Abudah was "A merchant of Bagdad, haunted every night by an old hag; he finds at last that the way to rid himself of this torment is to 'fear God and keep his commandments' -- _Tales of the Genii_." Release history: Version 1.0 released 29 September 94. Credits: Greg "elmo" Morrow (morrow@physics.rice.edu) created the Sandman Annotations. Andrew Farrell (afarrell@maths.tcd.ie) referenced Sir Walter Raleigh. Jeff Raglin (gt4724d@prism.gatech.edu) gave information about the Greek characters and identified Rose's posters. Mike Kelly (mkelly@doc.helios.nd.edu) made the connection between Rose's youth and her having lost her heart.