Endless Nights
Encyclopedia
The Sandman: Endless Nights is a graphic novel
written by Neil Gaiman
as a follow-up to his Sandman series. The book is divided into seven chapters, each devoted to one of the Endless
, a family of brothers and sisters who are physical manifestations of the metaphysical concepts Dream, Death, Desire, Destruction, Delirium, Despair and Destiny. It was published by DC Comics
in 2003. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
. It is also the first comic book to ever be on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Each tale is stylistically different, and illustrated by a different artist. Most of the tales are independent of each other; however Destruction's tale relates to and immediately follows Delirium's. Destruction and Delirium's tales are the only ones that take place after the events of the Sandman series.
In line with all the other Sandman comics, the cover, logo and book designs were created by Dave McKean
.
This story deals with the idea of quality versus quantity of life. It is split between two views: the lives of a group on an island off the coast of Venice
protected by magic from Death
versus the memories and thoughts of a young American (the conclusion suggests he is a special forces soldier) who has never forgotten his childhood encounter with her.
The story is narrated by a man in his late twenties/ early thirties who seems to be disillusioned with the world around him. He walks around Venice speaking of time, illusion and trickery before seguing into an extended flashback of his childhood trip to Venice. While playing hide and seek he gets lost and meets Death of the Endless before a locked gate. She asks him to open it, which he attempts to do until finally he is found by his cousins hours later. They return to Venice with him in disgrace. The remaining story is his return to that gate, subsequent dealing with Death, musings on the facade of reality, his obsession with Death, and his general melancholy.
The name is derived from Thomas Mann's
1912 novella Death in Venice
. The magician's desire on how to die from the beginning of the story was originally stated by Boris the bodyguard in Death: The Time of Your Life
. The events in this story seem to be heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Masque Of The Red Death".
This story is about a woman who bargains with Desire to win the hand of her love and then loses him to war.
Gaiman himself has said that the story is based on a historical anecdote told by George MacDonald Fraser
. He tells the story of a woman named Kara in what appears to be pre-Roman Britain
. She mostly tells the story to the reader in a series of asides as she interacts with the other characters.
Kara starts off the story telling the early history of her romance with Danyal: he is, by all evidence, a charming, self-sure young man, adept both in the arts of war and of love, who one day walks with a goat-girl (Kara) telling her that hours spent fishing don't count against the time of a man's life, and after that seemingly harmless but charming remark, he wanders off to live his life. Kara, however, conceives a powerful desire for this young man.
Kara consults a witch but does not want her to concoct a love potion, saying "I'd not want a man I could buy with a potion." Some consultation later, the witch tells her about a man, or woman, or both, with golden eyes who inspires "a longing that has nothing to do with your young man."
The young man goes to the coast while his father goes to meet the people from across the river to negotiate for an exchange of hostages. These negotiations go badly and Kara disguises herself as a man (not particularly well) to go to the coast and tell the Danyal that his father is dead. On the way she meets Desire
, goes to the its realm, and listens to Desire tell her many things, only two of which are directly revealed to the reader: first, that most stories are about someone wanting something, and second, that getting what you want and being happy are two entirely separate things. Desire's interest in Kara can be explained by its statement to her: "Most people want like a candle flame, but you desire like a forest fire." Desire also cuts several days off her travel time.
Kara tells Danyal the news about his father and they set off for home. That evening he finally realizes she is the woman who walked with him to see the goats all that time ago. He proposes they sleep together but she declines. They go home, he proposes marriage, but again she declines. He courts her for three months, at the end of which he falls madly in love with her and gives a torc
to Kara as a wedding gift, then she finally assents.
Hunchbacks dance at their wedding and the local girls feel that once their new chief gets tired of her, he'll go back to them. He doesn't, and instead he gives his wife a flower and sets off for the coast. One evening while he's away and all the village men are out patrolling for wolves, a group of male strangers visit the village, asking for shelter. Kara has to let them in and give them food according to custom, saying, "Hospitality to strangers and to friends. That was the way of it." While she is arranging this, the men remove her husband's head from a sack and place it on the table. Their plan is to rape her, steal everything, and flee.
Kara does a strange thing which she only explains to us later and never reveals to the strangers: she flatters each one of them, giving them each some attention and flirtation, but never too much. Essentially, she keeps each of the strangers wanting her, but also wanting her to want them, which leads to them performing contests of strength, skill, conversation, and essentially keeps the strangers distracted all night until the menfolk of the village return in the morning and kill them all.
Kara buries her dead husband, and, not wanting anything again as much as she wanted him, she spends the rest of her life waiting for Desire's sister, Death.
The title is probably taken from a line in Robert Frost
's poem Fire and Ice
.
In the far distant past, Dream and his new romantic interest Killalla of the Glow travel to a meeting of astronomical phenomena. The mortal Killalla is astonished to learn that the beings with which she is mingling and chit-chatting with rather comfortably are, in fact, the very stars, galaxies, and dimensions which comprise her universe. After an encounter with her world's own sun, Sto-Oa
, Killalla and the star fall in love, possibly thanks to Desire's powers, as the distraught and heartbroken Dream watches on.
This story showcases a number of things mentioned in The Sandman series but never before illustrated. Here, Death is a cold unmerciful character and Delight has not yet become Delirium
(though her speech-bubbles have a very faint and almost imperceptible likeness to those of Delirium). The roots of Dream's conflicts with Desire
(in the beginning of this story, they are very close) are illustrated for the first time, as are the roots of the rules forbidding the Endless
from becoming romantically involved with mortals. The first aspect of Despair
also appears in the story, being quite different in appearance and more sociable than her latter aspect.
In addition, other DC comics characters and beings are suggested in the story. The character Killalla is from the planet Oa
(Although technically, at this point in time, she should be from planet Maltus), and is an ancestor of the Guardians of the Universe
, who go on to form the Green Lantern Corps
. Her power to manipulate green energy can be seen as an evolution towards the creation of the Green Lantern's power. Despair has a conversation with a red giant
star named Rao about the creation of life on an unstable world and the possibility of a lone survivor to continually mourn the destruction of that world. This is an allusion to the history of Superman
; Rao is the red giant sun around which Superman's homeworld of Krypton
once orbited, as well as the Kryptonian God. (The colors of the stars in the story follow the DC Universe
's standards, not the actual star life cycle
.)
The story is narrated by the Sun
, depicted within the comic as a very young and clumsy star known by his Latin
name Sol
. He is telling the tale to the Earth
at a time when she is still sleeping and has no life on her. Dream converses with Sol about the possibility of life on one of his planets. Sol expresses an interest in them resembling Killalla, setting the stage for our own existence as well as providing a possible reason why Dream seems to favor Earth as opposed to any other planet in the universe.
Furthermore, other elements from "Brief Lives" are being reminisced in that story. The fact that the palace and its chambers will dissolve into light shows that "matter and light are interchangeable" - one of the reasons that made Destruction abandon his realm and responsibilities. Destruction also plays a "creator" role (and he is the one who theorized that he and his siblings had a dual nature - being both themselves and their polar opposites). Desire also turns to rejection, distrust and hatred in Dream's heart (once again, the dual nature). Whatever the entities decide, it does not matter, as, ultimately, Death will claim them (a reference to "The Illusion Of Permanence" and the fact that even those with the longest life span will only "live a lifetime" and live "Brief Lives"). Delight's speech bubbles are already those of Delirium - only less noticeable (which reminds the reader that "change is inevitable"). In both "The Heart Of A Star" and "Brief Lives", characters comment on Destiny's blindness and, in both stories, it is shown that there are question Destiny cannot answer (in the former, he cannot tell if Killalla loves Dream and, in the latter, he is unable to tell why Delight changed to Delirium).
, designed by Dave McKean
This collection of fifteen very short vignettes illustrates different aspects of Despair
, either the character itself, the emotion in abstract, or people in a state of despair. One is about an unemployed man who's feeding cats, only to have them end up eating each other to survive when he goes on an extended leave for work. Another is about a priest who's being forcibly defrocked due to a molestation scandal despite the fact that he can prove the allegations false. A third is about a woman who, after committing suicide to escape her pain, sits on the side of the road waiting for the happiness to begin.
In the book's introduction, Neil Gaiman states that he had originally planned to write twenty-five "Portraits of Despair".
This story is about several mentally unbalanced people who are brought together on a quest to save Delirium
from herself. It's possible at the end of this story that Delirium is somewhat healed in some fundamental way; at least two of the people involved in her rescue are also at least partly healed. Daniel, Dream's raven Matthew, and Barnabas, Delirium's dog protector on indefinite loan from Destruction, also appear as part of the rescue mission. One of the adventurers is based loosely on Henry Darger
.
This is a story about some archaeologists who uncover and explore a peninsula from many years in the future. Chronologically, this takes place after Delirium's Going Inside, the chapter preceding this one, featuring Delirium herself. Dialogue between Delirium and a human character indicate that the rift between Destruction
and the rest of the Endless has been partially healed. According to Delirium, the artifacts the archaeologists uncover on the peninsula are not from the future, but a distortion of reality caused by Delirium and/or Destruction. In the end, the peninsula is destroyed. The facts that Destruction may have caused the distortion of reality, that he has agreed to talk to his family again, and that the peninsula is ultimately destroyed could somehow imply that he may or may not have come back to his functions and responsibilities.
This short story is simply a wander through Destiny's
garden of forking paths. Based on the clothes of Delirium's statue in one of the panels and the posture of Dream's statue, it seems to be taking place during The Kindly Ones
. This story was originally to be illustrated by Moebius
. Neil Gaiman knew that, because of his age and health, the artist would not be able to give much of a time commitment so he designed this story to be short and full of full page pictures. In the end, sickness prevented Moebius from working on the story and Frank Quitely filled in.
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
written by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
as a follow-up to his Sandman series. The book is divided into seven chapters, each devoted to one of the Endless
Endless (comics)
The Endless are a group of beings who embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe in the DC comic book series The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe...
, a family of brothers and sisters who are physical manifestations of the metaphysical concepts Dream, Death, Desire, Destruction, Delirium, Despair and Destiny. It was published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
in 2003. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
Nominees are listed below the winner for each year.* 1998: ** Sergio Aragones' Dia de las Muertos by Sergio Aragones & Mark Evanier** Preacher by Garth Ennis** The Son of Man by Garth Ennis...
. It is also the first comic book to ever be on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Each tale is stylistically different, and illustrated by a different artist. Most of the tales are independent of each other; however Destruction's tale relates to and immediately follows Delirium's. Destruction and Delirium's tales are the only ones that take place after the events of the Sandman series.
In line with all the other Sandman comics, the cover, logo and book designs were created by Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
.
Chapter 1: Death - Death and Venice
Art by P. Craig RussellP. Craig Russell
Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...
This story deals with the idea of quality versus quantity of life. It is split between two views: the lives of a group on an island off the coast of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
protected by magic from Death
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....
versus the memories and thoughts of a young American (the conclusion suggests he is a special forces soldier) who has never forgotten his childhood encounter with her.
The story is narrated by a man in his late twenties/ early thirties who seems to be disillusioned with the world around him. He walks around Venice speaking of time, illusion and trickery before seguing into an extended flashback of his childhood trip to Venice. While playing hide and seek he gets lost and meets Death of the Endless before a locked gate. She asks him to open it, which he attempts to do until finally he is found by his cousins hours later. They return to Venice with him in disgrace. The remaining story is his return to that gate, subsequent dealing with Death, musings on the facade of reality, his obsession with Death, and his general melancholy.
The name is derived from Thomas Mann's
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
1912 novella Death in Venice
Death in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
. The magician's desire on how to die from the beginning of the story was originally stated by Boris the bodyguard in Death: The Time of Your Life
Death: The Time of Your Life
Death: The Time of Your Life is a three-issue American comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, one of many spinoffs from his series The Sandman. It was illustrated by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham, and features an introduction by Claire Danes...
. The events in this story seem to be heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Masque Of The Red Death".
Chapter 2: Desire - What I've Tasted of Desire
Art by Milo ManaraMilo Manara
Maurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...
This story is about a woman who bargains with Desire to win the hand of her love and then loses him to war.
Gaiman himself has said that the story is based on a historical anecdote told by George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
. He tells the story of a woman named Kara in what appears to be pre-Roman Britain
History of the British Isles
The history of the British Isles has witnessed intermittent periods of competition and cooperation between the people that occupy the various parts of Great Britain, Ireland, and the smaller adjacent islands, which together make up the British Isles, as well as with France, Germany, the Low...
. She mostly tells the story to the reader in a series of asides as she interacts with the other characters.
Kara starts off the story telling the early history of her romance with Danyal: he is, by all evidence, a charming, self-sure young man, adept both in the arts of war and of love, who one day walks with a goat-girl (Kara) telling her that hours spent fishing don't count against the time of a man's life, and after that seemingly harmless but charming remark, he wanders off to live his life. Kara, however, conceives a powerful desire for this young man.
Kara consults a witch but does not want her to concoct a love potion, saying "I'd not want a man I could buy with a potion." Some consultation later, the witch tells her about a man, or woman, or both, with golden eyes who inspires "a longing that has nothing to do with your young man."
The young man goes to the coast while his father goes to meet the people from across the river to negotiate for an exchange of hostages. These negotiations go badly and Kara disguises herself as a man (not particularly well) to go to the coast and tell the Danyal that his father is dead. On the way she meets Desire
Desire (DC Comics)
Desire is a fictional character from the DC comic book series The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #10 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.-Publication history:...
, goes to the its realm, and listens to Desire tell her many things, only two of which are directly revealed to the reader: first, that most stories are about someone wanting something, and second, that getting what you want and being happy are two entirely separate things. Desire's interest in Kara can be explained by its statement to her: "Most people want like a candle flame, but you desire like a forest fire." Desire also cuts several days off her travel time.
Kara tells Danyal the news about his father and they set off for home. That evening he finally realizes she is the woman who walked with him to see the goats all that time ago. He proposes they sleep together but she declines. They go home, he proposes marriage, but again she declines. He courts her for three months, at the end of which he falls madly in love with her and gives a torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
to Kara as a wedding gift, then she finally assents.
Hunchbacks dance at their wedding and the local girls feel that once their new chief gets tired of her, he'll go back to them. He doesn't, and instead he gives his wife a flower and sets off for the coast. One evening while he's away and all the village men are out patrolling for wolves, a group of male strangers visit the village, asking for shelter. Kara has to let them in and give them food according to custom, saying, "Hospitality to strangers and to friends. That was the way of it." While she is arranging this, the men remove her husband's head from a sack and place it on the table. Their plan is to rape her, steal everything, and flee.
Kara does a strange thing which she only explains to us later and never reveals to the strangers: she flatters each one of them, giving them each some attention and flirtation, but never too much. Essentially, she keeps each of the strangers wanting her, but also wanting her to want them, which leads to them performing contests of strength, skill, conversation, and essentially keeps the strangers distracted all night until the menfolk of the village return in the morning and kill them all.
Kara buries her dead husband, and, not wanting anything again as much as she wanted him, she spends the rest of her life waiting for Desire's sister, Death.
The title is probably taken from a line in Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
's poem Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice (poem)
"Fire and Ice" is one of Robert Frost's most popular poems, published in December 1920 in Harper's Magazine and in 1923 in his Pulitzer-prize winning book New Hampshire. It discusses the end of the world, likening the elemental force of fire with the emotion of desire, and ice with hate...
.
Chapter 3: Dream - The Heart of a Star
Art by Miguelanxo PradoMiguelanxo Prado
Miguelanxo Prado is a Spanish comic book creator. He was born in A Coruña, Galicia in 1958.-Biography:Prado studied architecture, wrote novels and painted before his career in comics....
In the far distant past, Dream and his new romantic interest Killalla of the Glow travel to a meeting of astronomical phenomena. The mortal Killalla is astonished to learn that the beings with which she is mingling and chit-chatting with rather comfortably are, in fact, the very stars, galaxies, and dimensions which comprise her universe. After an encounter with her world's own sun, Sto-Oa
Oa
Oa is a fictional planet that lies at the center of the DC Comics universe. Since its inception, Oa has been the planetary citadel of the Guardians of the Universe and the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps...
, Killalla and the star fall in love, possibly thanks to Desire's powers, as the distraught and heartbroken Dream watches on.
This story showcases a number of things mentioned in The Sandman series but never before illustrated. Here, Death is a cold unmerciful character and Delight has not yet become Delirium
Delirium (DC Comics)
Delirium is one of The Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.-Fictional character history:Delirium, known to the Greek culture as Mania, is the youngest of the Endless, yet still older than the rest of existence. She is usually quite short, and thin, and...
(though her speech-bubbles have a very faint and almost imperceptible likeness to those of Delirium). The roots of Dream's conflicts with Desire
Desire (DC Comics)
Desire is a fictional character from the DC comic book series The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #10 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.-Publication history:...
(in the beginning of this story, they are very close) are illustrated for the first time, as are the roots of the rules forbidding the Endless
Endless (comics)
The Endless are a group of beings who embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe in the DC comic book series The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe...
from becoming romantically involved with mortals. The first aspect of Despair
Despair (DC Comics)
Despair is one of the Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series, The Sandman.Despair is the twin sister of Desire. She is squat, flabby and pale-skinned, with black hair, gray eyes, and pointed teeth. Her voice is little more than a whisper, and she has no odor, but her...
also appears in the story, being quite different in appearance and more sociable than her latter aspect.
In addition, other DC comics characters and beings are suggested in the story. The character Killalla is from the planet Oa
Oa
Oa is a fictional planet that lies at the center of the DC Comics universe. Since its inception, Oa has been the planetary citadel of the Guardians of the Universe and the headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps...
(Although technically, at this point in time, she should be from planet Maltus), and is an ancestor of the Guardians of the Universe
Guardians of the Universe
The Guardians of the Universe, alternatively known as the Guardians or Oans are a fictional extraterrestrial race in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #1 , and were created by John Broome and Gil Kane. Here they do not reveal their existence to Hal, bringing his...
, who go on to form the Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
. Her power to manipulate green energy can be seen as an evolution towards the creation of the Green Lantern's power. Despair has a conversation with a red giant
Red giant
A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...
star named Rao about the creation of life on an unstable world and the possibility of a lone survivor to continually mourn the destruction of that world. This is an allusion to the history of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
; Rao is the red giant sun around which Superman's homeworld of Krypton
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
once orbited, as well as the Kryptonian God. (The colors of the stars in the story follow the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
's standards, not the actual star life cycle
Stellar evolution
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star undergoes a sequence of radical changes during its lifetime. Depending on the mass of the star, this lifetime ranges from only a few million years to trillions of years .Stellar evolution is not studied by observing the life of a single...
.)
The story is narrated by the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, depicted within the comic as a very young and clumsy star known by his Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name Sol
Sol (mythology)
Sol was the solar deity in Ancient Roman religion. It was long thought that Rome actually had two different, consecutive sun gods. The first, Sol Indiges, was thought to have been unimportant, disappearing altogether at an early period. Only in the late Roman Empire, scholars argued, did solar cult...
. He is telling the tale to the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
at a time when she is still sleeping and has no life on her. Dream converses with Sol about the possibility of life on one of his planets. Sol expresses an interest in them resembling Killalla, setting the stage for our own existence as well as providing a possible reason why Dream seems to favor Earth as opposed to any other planet in the universe.
Furthermore, other elements from "Brief Lives" are being reminisced in that story. The fact that the palace and its chambers will dissolve into light shows that "matter and light are interchangeable" - one of the reasons that made Destruction abandon his realm and responsibilities. Destruction also plays a "creator" role (and he is the one who theorized that he and his siblings had a dual nature - being both themselves and their polar opposites). Desire also turns to rejection, distrust and hatred in Dream's heart (once again, the dual nature). Whatever the entities decide, it does not matter, as, ultimately, Death will claim them (a reference to "The Illusion Of Permanence" and the fact that even those with the longest life span will only "live a lifetime" and live "Brief Lives"). Delight's speech bubbles are already those of Delirium - only less noticeable (which reminds the reader that "change is inevitable"). In both "The Heart Of A Star" and "Brief Lives", characters comment on Destiny's blindness and, in both stories, it is shown that there are question Destiny cannot answer (in the former, he cannot tell if Killalla loves Dream and, in the latter, he is unable to tell why Delight changed to Delirium).
Chapter 4: Despair - Fifteen Portraits of Despair
Art by Barron StoreyBarron Storey
Barron Storey is an art teacher and artist. He is famous for his accomplishments as an illustrator and fine artist, and for his influence on several professional illustrators and writers, including Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, Simon Bisley, Bill Koeb, Kent Williams, George Pratt...
, designed by Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
This collection of fifteen very short vignettes illustrates different aspects of Despair
Despair (DC Comics)
Despair is one of the Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series, The Sandman.Despair is the twin sister of Desire. She is squat, flabby and pale-skinned, with black hair, gray eyes, and pointed teeth. Her voice is little more than a whisper, and she has no odor, but her...
, either the character itself, the emotion in abstract, or people in a state of despair. One is about an unemployed man who's feeding cats, only to have them end up eating each other to survive when he goes on an extended leave for work. Another is about a priest who's being forcibly defrocked due to a molestation scandal despite the fact that he can prove the allegations false. A third is about a woman who, after committing suicide to escape her pain, sits on the side of the road waiting for the happiness to begin.
In the book's introduction, Neil Gaiman states that he had originally planned to write twenty-five "Portraits of Despair".
Chapter 5: Delirium - Going Inside
Art by Bill SienkiewiczBill Sienkiewicz
Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...
This story is about several mentally unbalanced people who are brought together on a quest to save Delirium
Delirium (DC Comics)
Delirium is one of The Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.-Fictional character history:Delirium, known to the Greek culture as Mania, is the youngest of the Endless, yet still older than the rest of existence. She is usually quite short, and thin, and...
from herself. It's possible at the end of this story that Delirium is somewhat healed in some fundamental way; at least two of the people involved in her rescue are also at least partly healed. Daniel, Dream's raven Matthew, and Barnabas, Delirium's dog protector on indefinite loan from Destruction, also appear as part of the rescue mission. One of the adventurers is based loosely on Henry Darger
Henry Darger
Henry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...
.
Chapter 6: Destruction - On the Peninsula
Art by Glenn FabryGlenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry is an Eisner Award-winning British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.-Biography:...
This is a story about some archaeologists who uncover and explore a peninsula from many years in the future. Chronologically, this takes place after Delirium's Going Inside, the chapter preceding this one, featuring Delirium herself. Dialogue between Delirium and a human character indicate that the rift between Destruction
Destruction (DC Comics)
Destruction is one of the Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.-Fictional Biography Within The Sandman:...
and the rest of the Endless has been partially healed. According to Delirium, the artifacts the archaeologists uncover on the peninsula are not from the future, but a distortion of reality caused by Delirium and/or Destruction. In the end, the peninsula is destroyed. The facts that Destruction may have caused the distortion of reality, that he has agreed to talk to his family again, and that the peninsula is ultimately destroyed could somehow imply that he may or may not have come back to his functions and responsibilities.
Chapter 7: Destiny - Endless Nights
Art by Frank QuitelyFrank Quitely
Vincent Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The...
This short story is simply a wander through Destiny's
Destiny (DC Comics)
Destiny is a DC Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson, first appearing in Weird Mystery Tales #1 , and was regular host of that series for the first fourteen issues, after which he hosted Secrets of Haunted House. He is one of the Endless in Neil Gaiman's comic book series,...
garden of forking paths. Based on the clothes of Delirium's statue in one of the panels and the posture of Dream's statue, it seems to be taking place during The Kindly Ones
The Sandman: The Kindly Ones
The Kindly Ones is the ninth collection of issues in the DC Comics series, The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston and Kevin Nowlan, coloured by Danny Vozzo, and lettered by Todd Klein.The...
. This story was originally to be illustrated by Moebius
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
. Neil Gaiman knew that, because of his age and health, the artist would not be able to give much of a time commitment so he designed this story to be short and full of full page pictures. In the end, sickness prevented Moebius from working on the story and Frank Quitely filled in.