The Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1

These three stories explore the influence of the Endless across time. In the first episode, Issue 29, Dream plays the most active role; however, the majority of the story follows Johanna Constantine, the ancestress of John Constantine. Through the lens of fantasy, the story delves into the French Revolution and shows how Dream’s plan to rescue his son’s head ultimately leads to the end of the Reign of Terror. In this way, these issues could be considered alternative history pieces since they take major real-world events and place the Endless at critical junctures to suggest these events may have happened differently had the Endless not interfered. This is also the reader’s first meeting of Orpheus, who has been discussed in past issues but not seen; he will be featured in his own story shortly. Despite the mythological overtones, the heart of this story is this bloody period of history.

In the next issue, Dream appears only briefly toward the end of the story to tie the narrative threads together. This story follows the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar and his companion. The panels are visually distinct from the rest of the book, with very little color. This creates an effective juxtaposition with Dream’s contrast-heavy appearances in Caesar’s memories. Here the narrative makes a bold choice to explain the fall of the Roman Empire as ultimately being a plot of revenge against Julius Caesar and his abuse of his nephew. Dream is not working of his own volition here; he has been asked to come to Augustus on behalf of the god Terminus, who is the Roman god of boundaries. In conversation with his begging companion, Augustus states that Terminus in the only god that Jupiter must bow to, implying that the god of boundaries creates the limits of both mortal and godly powers. Lycius briefly recounts the real-world circumstances of Augustus’s work and death: the Roman Empire was broken into a triumvirate and eventually fell because these internal boundaries weakened the empire and the madness and mismanagement of those chosen to rule caused its destruction from within. It should be noted that this historical chain of events also mirrors that of the destruction of Hell across all the previous issues of Sandman.

The next issue jumps further ahead in time to the late 19th century, where the Endless play a role in the true story of the Emperor of the United States. Dream’s ability to save the man’s life by giving him a new dream echoes his battle with the demon Choronzon; again, hope is the force that triumphs over the realm of Despair. Later his own dignity and sense of integrity is what keeps him out of the realms of Delirium and Desire. Dream doesn’t emerge victorious over his younger siblings because he has the power to save humanity but because humanity has the power to save itself. Although Dream’s rivalry with Desire has been referenced several times, this is the first time we really see it in action.

This specific event directly sets up the plan of Desire’s that the reader sees unfold in the Unity Kincaid and Rose Walker story. It also suggests that Desire may have had a hand in Dream’s imprisonment since the scene with Desire attempting to bring Joshua into their realm occurs only 41 years before Dream is imprisoned by Burgess. If Dream were not imprisoned, Desire’s plan to spill family blood could not be put into motion, but Desire has already formulated this plan before Dream’s imprisonment, which is damning evidence that Desire is at fault. This story also reiterates and reinforces the lesson Lucifer learned in Issue 4, which is that dreams provide the contrast that allows Hell to be effective. In the case of Joshua Norton, Dream proves that having a dream will keep people out of the realm of Despair and provide them an anchor to resist both Delirium and Desire. In this way, Dream situates himself as one of the most powerful and necessary of the Endless.

Each of these disconnected stories has one thread in common: they each follow real historical figures and pivotal moments in history. Neil Gaiman uses his fictional characters to explore unseen undercurrents to times of change—a turning point in the French Revolution, the fall of a seemingly immortal empire, and the first and only Emperor of the United States. This blend of fact and fiction is a cornerstone of the author’s work.