The Dreaming (comics)
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 Cover of Beyond the Shores of Night |
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The Dreaming is a fictional place, the domain of Dream of the Endless in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comic book series. It is the world where people go to dream, and is a vague, shifting realm of symbol, belief, and imagination. It is named after another name for the Dreamtime, a central concept in Australian Aboriginal mythology.
The Dreaming was a monthly comic series that ran for 60 issues (June 1996-May 2001). It is set in the same universe as The Sandman and the stories occurred primarily within Dream's realm, The Dreaming, concentrating on characters who'd played minor roles in The Sandman, including The Corinthian, Matthew the raven, Cain and Abel, Lucien the dream librarian, the faerie Nuala, Eve, and Mervyn Pumpkinhead (janitor of The Dreaming). It also introduced a number of new characters, most notably Echo and a new (white) dream raven, Tethys. There were brief (but often important) appearances by The Endless during the series, including cameos by Dream (both Morpheus and Daniel), Death, Destiny, and Desire.
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[edit] Creative Team
The series was drawn and inked by a variety of artists, with covers by former Sandman cover-artist Dave McKean. Though none of the stories were scripted by Neil Gaiman, he acted as Creative Consultant for the series. Most of the series, beginning with #17 (October 1997), was written by novelist Caitlin R. Kiernan .
[edit] Issues
Stories include (written by Caitlin R. Kiernan, unless otherwise noted):
The Dreaming #1-3 ("The Goldie Factor") Goldie (Abel's pet golden gargoyle) runs away, as a result of Cain's constant abuse of his brother, and almost falls prey to Mephisto in Eden. Goldie remains in Eden and does not return to The Dreaming until issue #26. "The Goldie Factor" was scripted by Terry LaBan.
The Dreaming # 4-7 "The Lost Boy"-Fetaures an aged Johanna Constantine as well as Mad Hettie, working with Destiny and Cain. A Story of a Man losing his life and then finding a better one.
The Dreaming #8 Features the long lost brother of Cain and Abel, Seth,who wishes to uncover the truth behind the mystery of Cain's first murder of Abel.
The Dreaming #28 ("Dreams the Burning Dream") Cain's house of mysteries tries to murder its caretaker and commits suicide by burning itself to the ground.
The Dreaming #29 ("Ashes") After the House of Mystery burns, Cain and his mysteries must reside at Abel's House of Secrets. "Ashes" was scripted by Peter Hogan.
The Dreaming #30 ("Temporary Overflow") This issue shows that many of the treasures and mysteries from the recently burned house of mystery are also being stored in Lucien's library in the castle of Dream. Lucien becomes the issue's main character and encounters a mystery from his own past.
The Dreaming #40 -"Fox and Hounds, Part One: New Orleans For Free" features: Matthew the Raven, Corinthian II, Lucien, Eve and Merv Pumpkinhead. Written by Caitlin R. Kiernan, drawn by Christian Højgaard
The Dreaming #50 ("Restoration") The House of Mystery is rebuilt by Merv Pumkinhead, while Eve and Abel attempt to convince Cain to return to The Dreaming.
The Dreaming #55 Goldie and Danny Nod are featured here, interrupting historical and literal moments(no more details yet)
and a special
The Dreaming: Trial and Error which focuses on Abel accusing Cain of murdering him again and again before Judge Gallows
Two English-language trade paperbacks were published:
The Dreaming: Beyond the Shores of Night, which collects The Dreaming #1-8.
The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory, which collects The Dreaming #15-19 and #23-25.
Despite the series' long run and popularity, no additional English-language paperbacks have been released so far.
[edit] Locations
The Dreaming is vast, and its landscape varies greatly from place to place. Some of the important locations of The Dreaming include:
- The House of Secrets and the House of Mystery, Cain and Abel's homes.
- The Gates of Horn and Ivory, two gates carved by Dream; "the dreams that pass through the gates of ivory are lies, figments and deceptions. The other admits the truth..." (Gaiman)
- The Castle, Dream's abode at the center of the Dreaming. The front gate is guarded by three mythical beasts, a gryphon, a wyvern, and a hippogriff (often mistakenly drawn as a winged horse). It includes Lucien's library.
- Fiddler's Green, another heart of the Dreaming, a peaceful land of rolling green hills that sometimes likes to assume the form of G.K. Chesterton and go wandering.
