Welcome to a series that I am continuing. I am going to go through Neil Gaiman’s now-classic series The Sandman
Issue # 57
Title: The Kindly Ones: 1
Artist: Marc Hempel
Collected in: The Kindly Ones
Plot: The trio are drinking tea while talking about their duties, they read a fortune cookie that says “A king will forsake his kingdom; life and death will clas and frey; the oldest battle begins once more.” 1
Lyta Hall and Carla go to buy ice cream with Daniel Hall; once they arrive they talk about Lyta´s job offer. In the Dreaming, Matthew looks for Dream and encounters the three guards at the door, Mervyn, Nuala and Lucien. Dream is creating the Corinthian again. Matthew asks him, as he asked those he met on the way, what happens to the crows after they stop being crows. Dream doesn´t tell him the answer and sends him to Eve´s cave.
In the Lux, 2 Lyta talks with Eric about the job offer, and about Lyta’s past. In the meantime, Lucifer plays the piano and Mazikeen is a waitress. After a while, Lyta feels that something is wrong with Daniel; they go to her house and Lyta enters and realizes that Daniel has gone missing
DC characters Eric Needham is the Batman villian known as Black Spider. 3
Historical references: The songs sung at Lux are “These Foolish Things”, by Jack Strachey and Eric Maschwitz, English lyrics by Harry Link; and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” from the musical “Guys and Dolls”; music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The homeless man quotes a poem by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Keep an eye on: We’ll see what happens to Harvey. Daniel has sand in his bed. We have seen Daniel enter the Dreaming before, but has Morpheus been to visit Daniel?
My take I love that even the devil hates “Memory.”
Issue # 58
Title: The Kindly Ones: 2
Artist: Marc Hempel & D’Israeli
Collected in: The Kindly Ones
Plot: Lyta and Carla talk with the police about the kidnapping of Daniel. Luke Pinkerton asks her a couple of questions and tells Carla to stay with her.
In the Dreaming, Cluracan tells the gatekeepers that he is there to see Nuala, they tell him that he can pass and they warn him to keep to the path. Clucaran opens a door and watches through a mirror, creating his nemesis. Nuala saves Clucaran from his death. Nuala takes him to her quarters, and asks him why he´s here; Clucaran tells her that it was time for her to return home. Hippolyta wakes up screaming and Carla asks her about the dream.
In her dream, the Three Witches tell her that she already met Daniel´s kidnapper, and that he is going to put Daniel in the fire. Clucaran goes to Dream´s throne room, and asks him to let Nuala go to Faerie. Dream agrees and gives a boon to her pendant, as a way for her to reach him.
Historical references The recipe the Three Witches create is right from Macbeth
Keep an eye on: Clucaran references the events of issue #52, but neither Nuala nor Dream have any recollection of visiting him.
My take I should have realized who the detectives were right away.
Issue # 59
Title: The Kindly Ones: 3
Artist: Marc Hempel & D’Israeli
Collected in: The Kindly Ones
Plot: Loki is telling a story to Puck: how he once fooled Thor into thinking he had given birth. Puck has Daniel on a string. Daniel is holding a Phoenix feather. Puck and Loki put Daniel in a fireplace.
Hob Gadling visits the grave of his late wife. He meets Dream and they discus her death. Hob senses there is something wrong.
Lyta goes through her day in a detached state. She is visited by the detectives who inform her that her son’s burnt body has been recovered. Lyta remembers two incidents where Dream has paid attention to her son. 4
Keep an eye on: Hob mentions his previous wife who died in the Blitz. Her name was Peggy, quite possibly the young girl from issue #53.
My take Why does Dream seek out Hob? I suspect he is saying goodbye.
Issue # 60
Title: The Kindly Ones: 4
Artist: Marc Hempel & D’Israeli
Collected in: The Kindly Ones
Plot: Remiel visits Lux to see if Lucifer will resume the management of Hell. Lucifer flatly refuses.
Distraught over the death of her son, Lyta wanders Los Angeles in a delirious state. She meets different mythological characters in her wanderings including Puss in Boots. She meets Stheno and Euryale, the gorgon sisters of Medusa, and eats a golden apple.
Rose Walker dreams of having sex with her ex and sees Abel spying on her. She wakes up when Carla comes over. Rose was the babysitter who fell asleep when Daniel was kidnapped.
After having a little fun with Mervyn Pumpkinhead, Dream retrieves the skull of the original Corinthian and uses it to bring the new version to life.
Keep an eye on: Vixen is a character we have seen before. And who is Rose’s ex?
My take This reread has convinced me that Dream is behind Daniel’s kidnapping. I think he knows that after killing his son, that he is vulnerable to the Kindly Ones, and he is making arrangements to have Daniel assume his new aspect This is why he meets with Hob and lets Nuala go. Also, nothing with Rose is ever a coincidence as she was once a vortex.
I also have to say how much I love Marc Hempel’s stylized art in this arc.
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