The Annotated Sandman Edited and largely written by David Goldfarb Issue 64: "The Kindly Ones: 8" Neil Gaiman, Teddy Kristiansen 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: For the first time, the recurring strings are replaced with a literal string, and one not part of the surrounding scene. And a string very close to being cut... panel 2: These children are reminiscent of the stories of E. Nesbit. No specific reference, though. panel 3: Arabic(?) myth gives the name "salamander" to elemental fire spirits, reptilian in form. Page 2 panel 1: "The snows of yesterday" is a reference to the French poet Francois Villon, who wrote, "Where are the snows of yesteryear?". panel 2: At the end of "The Season of Mists", Dream's old love Nada was reborn into the body of a boy in Hong Kong. This may be the same boy. The art style here is much more Japanese than Chinese. panel 5: Presumably Dream is the standing figure, looking much as he did in issue #9. Note an Afrikaner tribal god as well as a native one... and note that the actual decision is left quite ambiguous. Page 3 panel 1: Dream is in the process of creating this nightmare in 11:10. panel 4: "Via lacrimae" is Latin for "road of tears". Quite what the significance is I'm not sure. Page 4 panel 1: Continuing the pattern of having a dwelling place in the panel with the title and credits. panel 3: As seen in 63: 5-8, of course. Page 5 panel 2: A fairy-tale has seven princes transformed into swans. They are restored using jackets made of nettles; but there aren't enough nettles to complete all of the jackets, so the youngest brother is left with a swan's wing instead of an arm. Page 6 panel 1: It is of course impossible to tell whether this young woman is Foxglove, of "A Game of You" and the "Death" miniseries. panel 3: The sign's language is unidentified. It is similar to Hungarian, but not identical. (Hungarian for "Do not feed the pigeons" is "Ne etesd a galambokat".) panel 6: This house seems similar to the one in Florida where Rose stayed during "The Doll's House". It doesn't seem to be identical, however. Page 9 panel 5: Domesday Book: A census of British holdings taken by the Normans shortly after their conquest in 1066. Page 10 panel 1: This snow is awfully deep considering that the ground was bare only a few days ago... Page 11 panel 3: An echo of "Brief Lives" part 4 -- 44:20. Page 13 panel 2: Ruby's death in "Brief Lives", of course, and the destruction of Nada's city. Page 15 panel 2: Note, again, the claws of brass. panel 3: Interesting that it is the Maiden who delivers death by age. Page 18: According to report, Hecate was shown in statues as a trio of women; one holding a whip, one holding a sword, and the center holding a torch. Page 21 panel 2: Tony Curtis delivered Matthew's quote in the movie, "The Black Shield of Falworth" (1954). Page 22 panel 2: Lamb stew, eh? Well, once you've let the animal's spirit free, no sense in wasting its body, I suppose. "John Bauer" is most likely the artist from around the turn of the century, known for illustrating Swedish fairy tales such as "In the Troll Wood". Page 23 panel 2: And then again, perhaps it was that she was heartless. Release History: Version 1.0 released 7 Feb 95. Credits: Lance "Squiddie" Smith (lsmith@cs.umn.edu) identified Matthew's quote and John Bauer. Jane Carlton (Jane@tortshel.demon.co.uk) gave the Hungarian. Katie Schwarz (katie@physics.berkeley.edu) noted the inconsistent weather. Medusa (avongvis@nmsu.edu) mentioned the Hecate statues. Greg "elmo" Morrow (morrow@physics.rice.edu) created the Sandman Annotations.