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The Annotated Sandman
Edited by Ralf Hildebrandt and largely written by David Goldfarb
Issue 63: "The Kindly Ones: 7"
Neil Gaiman, Marc Hempel
Page 1 panel 1: The first panel of every issue in the main arc contains a
string or cord of some kind. Here, an electrical cord.
panel 2: Note the spots visible on the dice sum to 9, a multiple of 3.
panel 4: The return of a main character from "A Game of You": the
witch who called herself Thessaly. She was last seen in the last part of
that story, issue #37.
Page 3 panel 2: "Larissa" is the name of a city in Greece, in the region
called Thessaly.
panel 4: A white bird such as this is a traditional symbol of the
Holy Ghost.
Page 5 panel 1: Odin was last seen in these pages in "The Season of Mists"
chapter 6, issue #27.
Page 7 panel 4: Or perhaps he merely felt pity for another who was pent...
Page 10 panel 3: This whole scene, as Delirium has noticed, echoes the scene
in "Brief Lives" when Dream and Delirium consult Destiny near these statues.
(Specifically 47:8-12.) Note the pathway there now resembles a backwards
6 or 9. The statues have also changed; apparently they reflect the current
state of their originals.
Page 11 panel 4: A pun of sorts.
Page 13 panel 1: In issue #2 honey is among Dream's ingredients for calling
the Hecateae.
panel 6: A black lamb is another.
Page 15 panel 2: In Greek mythology at least, these would be Persephone, bride
of Hades (and since this story takes place in winter, she would indeed be
waiting beneath the earth); Demeter; and either Artemis or Hecate -- both
moon goddesses. Given that this is also a maiden-mother-crone triad, Hecate
seems more likely.
panel 4: "Trivia" is the Roman name for "Hecate" -- found by Craig Butler
panel 6: The book is "The Late Richard Dadd", by Patricia Allderidge.
Richard Dadd was an English artist of the late nineteenth century, known
for his fantastic subjects. He went mad.
Page 17: This page echoes Lyta's similar reflections in "The Doll's House"
part 3 (12:9). Compare also 61:21:4.
Page 18: The panel borders here are probably left white by mistake; logic
suggests that they ought to be grey shading to black as they are on the next
page.
panel 1: Note the claws of brass.
Page 21: The panel borders here are reminiscent of Celtic designs. As is
probably clear, the Morrigan is an Irish war goddess, an aspect of the
Three-in-One.
Page 22 panels 2-4: The damaged door lock and the wall decorations (identical
to the ones seen in "The Parliament of Rooks") suggest that Daniel and the
Corinthian are in Lyta Hall's LA apartment.
Page 23 panel 4: Well, it's clear that when the ravens leave the Tower of
London, the kingdom of England is supposed to fall. No specific refs on this,
however. Here it's a different kingdom that will be falling.
Release History:
Version 1.0 released 5 Dec 94.
Credits:
Greg "elmo" Morrow (morrow@physics.rice.edu) created the Sandman
Annotations.
Lance "Squiddie" Smith (lsmith@cs.umn.edu) identified Larissa's book,
and the name "Larissa".
Adam Huby (ajh@crosfield.co.uk) gave some more biographical information
on Richard Dadd.
Greg McElhatton (stu_glmcelha@vax1.acs.jmu.edu) pointed out Lyta's
claws of brass.
Katie Schwarz (katie@physics.berkeley.edu) also noted the claws,
pointed out Dream's ritual from issue #2, and noticed the wall decorations.
This file was last modified 27. Jan 2007 by root