The Annotated Sandman

Edited by Ralf Hildebrandt

Issue 72: "The Wake: 3 In Which we Wake"

Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli

As each member of Dream's family delivers their eulogy, notice how the flowers around the bier change (especially Delirium and her lawn flamingos!!)
Page 3
- Panel 5
  Further evidence for the theory that the current Destiny is not precisely the same personification (or 'point of view', as Cain aptly puts it) as the character from before the reality storm - 'But which book?'. Since it is entirely unnecessary, not to mention unGaiman, to include some form of hyperbolic 'da-da-da-DAH' dramatic effect in a mere reference to Destiny's book, which we've become familiar with, on and off, for the last nine books, and since there is no alternative book mentioned anywhere, I think this should be taken as a definite hint that the book is, this sentence has gone on far too long. I think you see what I'm getting at.
  Pam Winkler notes:
  Well, actually there is another book in the picture.
  Eblis O'Shaughnessy's book, in the lower right corner of that panel. Thus implying that the formula for the funeral, even down to the mourners is in the funeral book. Not sure if it makes much of a difference, but it does clear things up a bit.
Page 4
- Panel 2
  We see Destiny's eyes!
  Yet in one of the Brief Lives issues (i forget, they're in the car) they specifcally say Destiny is blind and has no eyes.
  As a matter of fact we never see his eyes any time beyond this i think. What's going on here (I may seem to be a bit picky, but Destiny has always been my favourite character).
  When we see him actually, he seems well, young, sensitive, not innocent but not the fatalistic persona we usually see him as either. Now this may be the change in artistry we see so often and changes in personal types seen just as much, but whenever we HAVE seen him up close (Orpheus, Seasons of Mist Intro, Necropolis of Despair's and Brief Lives) he has remained the same. An old man with closed eyes, now this, once again, whats going on here?
  Matthew Noel's thoughts: It seems to me that the reality storm that took place with the conflicting Destiny's might have something to do with this. In the Kindly Ones, when all the Destiny's come together or cease to exist or whatever, the annotations mention certain things about whether the Destiny who now exists is in fact the original that we all knew and loved. For instance, there was talk about the scene of the new Dream facing the Corinthian with the blood on his throne, and how it was deliberately drawn differently than it was when Destiny saw it in his book. In the annotations, there is mention that perhaps this is because this Destiny that we now see may not be the same as before.
  Well, this would seem to continue to work with this new view of Destiny. Perhaps the Destiny that remained after the reality storm is a younger Destiny who is maybe warmer (I don't know about anybody else, but it always seemed to me that the 'regular' Destiny seemed to take some enjoyment in telling people, specifically Dream, things about his destiny that he didn't really want to know... while this Destiny seems at least a bit sad for his brother...), younger (the new Dream would affect anything that could dream, right? Maybe that gives the whole universe a fresher look at their lives and destiny?), and one who has eyes that could see (also an effect of a new Dream, perhaps?).
  Interesting on the Dialogue of the Family while others are waking Death says it's not for eating its a table decoration, and ealier Mathew said that's what the all the food is there for.
Page 7
- Panel 4
  Darkseid and emperor Joshua The First Of America from "Three Septembers and a January".
Page 11
Wesley Dodds is the Golden-Age Sandman. He met Morpheus in Sandman:Midnight Theater and his adventures are presently being chronicled in Matt Wagner's Sandman:Mystery Theater.
He is also referenced in Issue 1 of Sandman (Page 18, Panels 4-6).
Page 14
Mazikeen has a heart tattooed on her left breast.
Page 15
- Panel 2
  After Matthew, you see the following deliver their eulogies, although you don't get to hear them: The Alderman (last seen in Brief Lives, and still disguised as a bear), Odin, Shivering Jemmy (the small child with the balloon and the T-shirt, last seen in Seasons Of Mists ), the travel agent fellow (can't remember his name) from Brief Lives (Tell him we drank wine together in Babylon.), and Alianora, the same love of Morpheus's who formed the pact that created the Game Of You skerry (identifiable by the scar on her right cheek).
  In the top right, just behind what appears to be Jed Walker, you can see Gaiman (in sunglasses) and Zulli (a definite match with his self portrait in the back of The Wake trade paperback/hardcover issue). Everyone's eyes are blue.
- Panel 5
  The god whom you reference is Pharamond, going under the mortal name of Farrell.
Page 17
I believe the young oriental boy throwing the blue roses in honor of Dream's passing barge is actually the reincarnated Nada. The age is about right.
As Morpheus's funereal barge goes over the waterfall, the figurehead keeps changing. Notice when it becomes the hand holding the Ruby, it's being clutched very violently, reminiscent of the end of the Preludes and Nocturnes storyline when Dr. Dee crushed the Ruby with his bare hand, returning its power to Morpheus. In The Wake trade paperback, this sequence is expanded to stretch over three pages, and when that particular form of the barge is drawn, Zulli gave it two hands, and they're cradling the ruby much more gently. Also, in the trade, Zulli saw fit to include a version of the barge with Morpheus's visage as the figure head, with short hair, which appears between the Helm-barge and the Ruby-barge.
Perhaps these figureheads correspond to various important points in Morpheus's existence (his falling-out with Orpheus, his imprisonment, the destruction of the ruby and the beginning of this chronicle)?
- Panel 3 and 4
  The child might well be Nada, although somehow it reminds me of the Cambodian ox-drover from Brief Lives: 7: p. 14, panel 3, with a haircut.
Page 19
That glorious "first adversary" of this series, John Dee a.k.a. Doctor Destiny.

You can notice, on page 71 of "The Wake" trade paperback, flanking Mad Hettie and Hob Gadling, on the left, I believe is the fairy, Peaseblossom (check "Midsummer Night's Dream", I could be mistaken....), and in the middle is the good old Borghal Rantipole, the nightmare last seen in the company of Delirium in her quest to find Barnabas in "The Kindly Ones", and who actually had been turned into a fish by Delirium as a disguise ("Kindly Ones", pt.12, page 6, panels 2, 3, 4). Funny, though, how the Borghal Rantipole disappeared when Morpheus died ("Kindly Ones", part 13 page 7 panel 5). One presumes that he either returned to the Dreaming, or the new Dream remade him, as he did so many others.....

Thanks to:

-- Lord Vetinari

© by Ralf Hildebrandt
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This file was last modified 27. Jan 2007 by root