Signifying in Comic Books: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman
By Michael Niederhausen
© 1999 Michael Niederhausen
This essay was submitted to the faculty of Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English.
Approved by:
Dr. Tyrone Williams - Faculty Thesis Advisor 
Dr. Norman Finkelstein - English Department Chair
Table of Contents

								          
Chapter 1 Introduction						

Chapter 2  Signifying							

Chapter 3 History of the Comic Book Medium			

Chapter 4  Intra-Comic Book Signifying				
	The Crossover							
	The Sandmen							
	Alan Moore							
	Other Comic Book Signifying				

Chapter 5 Literary Signifying						

Chapter 6 Signifying on History					

Chapter 7 Conclusion							

Appendix I  Personal Interview with Neil Gaiman						

Works Consulted							


Chapter 1   Introduction

	A name that has survived the long history of the comic book medium is the Sandman.  Since 1939, many characters named the Sandman have appeared in several different comic books.  The latest version is Neil Gaiman's Sandman, published by DC Comics from 1989-1996.  The Sandman is one of the most popular titles of the 1990's.  It has influenced many other titles and continues to influence the medium today.
	Since its inception, the comic book medium has relied on reader responses.  The letter column in comic books is a place where readers exchange ideas and reactions with artists and other readers.  An overwhelming majority of the readers make continuity one of the most important elements of a comic book.  The word "continuity" became a part of comic book jargon over the years as a way of explaining the general history of a character.  In other words, an incident that affected Superman in issue #13 cannot be ignored or forgotten in later issues.  For example, Superman became invulnerable to everything, including Kryptonite, his only previous weakness, in 1977.  If Superman had appeared a year later in another title and was exposed to Kryptonite and it hurt him, the writer would have committed an error of continuity.  Whatever has happened to a character in the past has to be consistent in a current issue. Continuity is of utmost importance for comic book readers and errors in continuity are the biggest reason for criticism.  In fact, Marvel Comics created a No-Prize Book for fans that noticed errors in continuity.  In the No-Prize Book, Marvel listed many overt errors in continuity. 
	A better example of continuity is the resurrection of Jean Grey, one of the original X-Men.  In issue #100 of the X-Men, Jean Grey became Phoenix, a powerful entity that could devour stars and destroy planets.  Because of her actions and the destruction of a whole planet and its inhabitants, Phoenix was condemned to death.  In the end, she voluntarily killed herself.  Later, it was revealed that Jean Grey was never Phoenix.  The entity Phoenix had merely copied Jean Grey's life and truly believed it was Jean Grey.  So, Jean Grey never killed a planet and never was the Phoenix.  So, if Jean Grey remembers an event during the Phoenix issues, then the writers are committing an error of continuity.  However, if other X-Men describe an incident during the Phoenix issues and Jean Grey has no idea what they are talking about, then continuity is consistent.  In fact, more than likely the editor will make a footnote and remind the reader why Jean Grey doesn't know about the incident.   
	Another word for continuity is history.  Comic book readers make sure that history is the primary aspect in the medium.  This history becomes problematic when these characters are thirty to sixty years old and they still appear the same age since their first appearance.  That is a central problem with continuity.  Superman fought in World War II and he looked young.  He also witnessed the Gulf War and looked young.  Readers express the difficulty of believing this is the same man.  Publishers explain the difference between the Superman of 1941 with the Superman of 1991 by creating a schism and changing characters for the more contemporary audience.  These schisms eliminate the previous character and create a new one.  These schisms happened in the mid-1950's to the early 1960's and in the mid-1980's to today.  Thus, the Superman in the Gulf War did not fight in World War II.  In fact, according to contemporary Superman continuity, the Superman of WWII never existed.
	Continuity establishes a relationship with a character’s past.  Comic book characters, however, are not solo performers.  These characters interact with many other characters over the years.  This relationship with the past tightens the bond with other characters.  For years, comic books almost never strayed away from only making connections with other comic book characters.  Every so often, a writer would make a connection with some literary character, usually a character of Greek or Norse mythology.  For example in 1987, Detective Comics, one of Batman's titles, celebrated its 50th anniversary.  That same year marked the 100th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes.  So, in the anniversary issue, the artists teamed-up Batman with Sherlock Holmes, making a connection between a detective in literature with a detective in comic books.
	The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by many different artists, is a prime example of a successful comic book that makes connections to previous comic book characters and canonical literature.  Subtly, Gaiman utilized continuity in a new approach.  Gaiman established connections with other comic books and other works of literature.  This connection that Gaiman and other comic books writers create is called signifying.  Signifying, a way to cajole others, stems from the trickster archetype.  Henry Louis Gates, Jr. found that this linguistic phenomenon occurs in African-American literature.  Through African-American texts, African-American writers signify on one another and, subsequently, create a relationship with the past.  This same connection with the past occurs in comic books.
	My hypothesis is that Neil Gaiman signifies on other comic characters as well as other works of literature.  A connection between these two mediums is not often made since comic books are stereotyped as being sub or inferior literature.  Since Gaiman signifies on both mediums, he creates a connection between "inferior literature" and canonical literature.
	Chapter two clearly explains signifying as a linguistic phenomenon and as a literary theory.  Also, it explains how the trickster archetype is a part of signifying.  Finally, it shows how Gaiman utilizes trickster archetypes all over the world and how his version of the Sandman is a trickster figure as well.
	The comic book medium, although short in years of existence, has acquired a history of its own.  This history has produced a broad range of genres in roughly three periods: The Golden Age, The Silver Age, and The Modern Age.  Chapter three will describe more fully this history of the comic book medium that has provided many movements and will explain any events that affected the medium.
	Chapter four, split up into four sections, centers around intra-comic book signifying.  The first section examines crossover signification in which Gaiman not only makes a reference to a character but makes him or her a regular character of The Sandman.  Gaiman teams-up characters from DC's 1970's horror titles, characters involved with previous Sandmen, and characters involved with dreams in some form or another into his version of The Sandman.  The second section examines the three previous Sandmen and how Gaiman signifies on each one.  The third section examines how Gaiman signifies on a predecessor of his, Alan Moore, whose works paved the way for literary comic books like Gaiman's.  Finally, the fourth section analyzes how Gaiman uses several characters from the history of comic books into his series.  Thus, Gaiman signifies with previous comic books as a way of connecting with comic books of the past.
	Chapter five, literary signification, shows how Gaiman uses characters from mythology and actual writers as characters in The Sandman.  Gaiman also signifies on children's literature, specifically, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Wizard of Oz and The Chronicles of Narnia, as a way of commenting on the stereotypes of comic books.
	Chapter six examines how Gaiman signifies on history in several issues of the series.  He shows how his version of the Sandman influenced several historical persons, ranging from Caesar Augustus to Norton I, the Emperor of the United States.
	Obviously, Gaiman is neither the first nor the last to signify on comic books as well as canonical literature.  However, he is able to pull off a complete balance between comic books and literature.  Most comic book writers confine themselves to intra-comic book signifying.  Only a few have balanced the literary and comic book references in a comic book as well as Gaiman.
	Gaiman signified on all of the above as a way to show that Gaiman's immortal character, Dream of the Endless, has made an impact on comic book characters, writers, literary characters and even human history.  To put his characters into the scheme of things was of primary importance for Gaiman (Appendix I).  Gaiman utilizes continuity, but establishes it on a broader level and, therefore, makes his character more important with credentials and validity through which he signifies.

Chapter 2   Signifying

	"Tales in the Sand" in DH depicts the relationship of Nada and Dream and how Nada ended up in Hell.  Gaiman relates the story through the legacy of oral tradition in an African tribe.  An older man always tells the same story to a younger man as part of the ritual of becoming a man.  The grandfather tells the grandson about a wonderful city of their tribe that used to exist in the desert.  "I will tell you of that city, and of how it was lost to us....And one day, if you live long enough, you will bring one other out here, and tell him the tale" (DH 2:6).  At the end of the issue, the reader is told there are different versions of the same story.  "There is another version of the tale.  That is the tale the women tell each other, in their private language that the men-children are not taught, and that the old men are too wise to learn.  And in that version of the tale perhaps things happened differently.  But then, that is a women's tale, and it is never told to men" (DH 2:24).  Gaiman subtly explains the flexibility of story telling.  Stories are told and re-told and each time there is a new re-telling; the storyteller adds his or her own aspects to the story and becomes, therefore, a part of the history of the story.  The grandfather who tells the tale remembers when his uncle told him the same story.  Now, he is able to be a part of that long lineage of storytellers.
	Many characters throughout the series relates a story to a specific audience.  For example, "The Hunt" (F&R) is about a grandfather telling his granddaughter how he met his wife.  Of course, the story involves Dream and other members of the Dreaming.  Needless to say, Gaiman does not simply narrate a tale, but allows a character to become a narrator of a story.  
	Written literature does the same thing as oral communication in terms of the flexibility of stories.  Writers respond to other writers through the stories they write.  This is signifying, a relatively new theory of literature.  However, signifying as a linguistic phenomenon has a long history.
	Signifying stems from the trickster archetype, who, by definition, tricks others for mere amusement.  "A partial list of [a trickster's] qualities might include individuality, satire, parody, irony, magic, indeterminacy, open-endedness, ambiguity, sexuality, chance, uncertainty, disruption and reconciliation, betrayal and loyalty, closure and disclosure, encasement and rupture" (Signifying Monkey 6).  Notice that this is only a partial list.  Other characteristics of a Trickster, which are important in The Sandman, include being a shape-shifter and rhetorician.  Gaiman uses and mentions many different trickster characters in The Sandman.  The most notable is Loki of Norse mythology.  Puck or Robin Goodfellow from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a known faerie trickster.  These two team up and help cause the demise of Dream.  Lucifer or the Devil has always been known as a trickster figure and he plays a trick on Dream by giving him the key to a closed Hell that can only be a hindrance.  Susano-O-No-Mikoto, a Japanese trickster, vies for Lucifer's Hell in SOM.  Even Dream himself can be considered a trickster because many call him Lord Shaper and he does change shape many times.  Also, he is the Prince of Stories and, therefore, a rhetorician. 
The trickster, as someone who brings laughter and pain, helped create the notion of signifying, which is an African tradition.  "The primary stage of signifying is embodied in the classic figure of the tradition: the Signifying Monkey.  In this trickster figure we find perfectly fused the arts of conceding and contesting racial stereotypes" (Cooke 27).
	Signification or signifying is "the verbal art of insult in which a speaker humorously puts down, talks about, needles - that is, signifies on - the listener.  Sometimes signifyin (also siggin) is done to make a point, sometimes it's just for fun" (Smitherman 118-9).  It also "refers to the trickster's ability to carp, cajole, needle, and lie" (Signifying Monkey 54).  It is, in effect, to act as a trickster.  
	In America, signifying is better known as "playing the dozens."   "Played for fun or viciousness - it can be either - the Dozens is a competitive oral test of linguistic ingenuity and verbal fluency" (Smitherman 131).   The reason for playing this game is to create an inner strength within the opponent.  This cultural ritual has been going on since some of the earliest civilizations.
	Simply speaking, the theory of signifying is the act of signifying on another with parody and pastiche in mind.  It is a way "to engage in refiguration as an act of homage" (Signifying Monkey xxvii).  This refiguration is taking a spin on another work and playing on that work.  The writer, or signifier, signifies on a work with parody, pastiche, or both and becomes a part of the history of the original text.
	Henry Louis Gates, Jr. established that signifying has occurred in African-American literature since its beginnings in slave narratives.  This pattern goes back to the Signifying Monkey, the African-American trickster.  In the same manner, signifying has occurred in comic books since the very beginning: ever since the super hero.
	Super heroes have dominated the comic book medium since the late 1930's.  Over the years, many different companies have published many different groups of super heroes.  Those super heroes, then, belong in their own fantasy world, which is usually exactly like the contemporary world of the reader, and exists separately from other company's universes.  Typically, the comic book medium describes these universes with the company name, i. e., DC universe, Marvel universe, etc.  These separate companies and universes signify on their own and each other's universes all the time.  For example, Joe Siegal and Jerry Shuster created Superman, an alien from another planet who had enormous strength, could fly, and had heat vision that could incinerate anything.  C.C. Beck created Captain Marvel who had enormous strength, could fly, and had many other powers that came from Greek and Roman gods.  Beck signified on Siegal and Shuster and created a super hero like Superman, but a little better.  This trend continues even today.  In 1997, Marvel Comics published Marvels, painted by Alex Ross.  It was a re-telling of the original Marvel comics of the 1960's from the point of view of a newspaper reporter at the time.  So, DC hired Alex Ross to paint their new title Kingdom Come that again showed super heroes from a from a mortal's point of view.  The major difference between the two was that Marvels was set between 1961-1971 and Kingdom Come was set in the future, possibly around 2010.  Then, in 1999, Alex Ross joined Marvel again to produce Earth X, a series that shows where the Marvel Universe will be in the next century.  This is a classic example of signifying.  One company publishes one story and then the other company publishes the same story, but with a few adjustments.
	History is another important aspect of signifying.  In order to become a part of a story, the writer must know the history of the story.  Gaiman does just that in his appropriation of canonical DC characters.  Gaiman does not simply throw the characters into the story without any mention of background, but researches the character and gives a true representation of the character.  Signifying is a common occurrence in the comic book medium.  Signification can occur between companies, characters, and even writers.
	In an interview, Gaiman described watching a play adaptation of one of his comic books and he emphasized the importance of not taking the original work word for word, but giving it a new translation.  "You need to recreate the story, you need to retell it" (Wiater and Bissette 192).  That is exactly what Gaiman does to the huge amount of source texts that he used for The Sandman.  He did not take original stories and retell them in the same manner.  He retold them with his own markings.
Chapter 3   History of Comic Book Medium 

The Golden Age of comic books consists of the period between the 1930's and the early 1950's.  Up until the mid-1930's, comic books were reprints of the daily newspaper comic strips (hence the name comic books).  It was not until the 1930's that publishers began to produce comic books with original material.  Most scholars consider The Funnies the first comic book.   However, other critics consider New Fun, published by Wheeler-Nicholson, as the first proper American comic book (McClue and Bloom 14).  That is, it was the first comic book to be in the modern standard size and feature new adventure stories.  The key characteristic of New Fun that made it the first official comic book is the adventure stories.  Adventure stories, particularly super hero adventures, became the primary genre in comic books.
The sixth issue of New Fun (1935) featured the first adventure hero, Dr. Occult.  Critics consider Dr. Occult an adventure hero and not a super hero because he has no super powers.  Because of these criteria, critics consider Superman the first super hero.  Nonetheless, the appearance of Dr. Occult provided the basis for the comic book medium to explore this new genre.
	Wheeler-Nicholson changed New Fun to More Fun in 1936 and started to publish a new comic book series, New Comics.  Then in 1936, Detective Comics made its debut as the first comic book series with a set policy of strictly adventure stories.  Eventually in 1939, Detective Comics would become the home of Batman.  Before that, however, Superman would make his first appearance in Action Comics in 1938.  The appearance of Superman began the most consistent run of stories in the comic book medium's history: the super hero.
	Between 1938 and 1942, many super heroes first appeared, including Batman, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and the Sandman. (A more in-depth analysis of The Golden Age Sandman will be in The Sandmen section of Chapter 4 43-51).  The super hero was not the only genre in comic books at this time.  Romance, Western, and Funny Animal comic books were prevalent, but costumed super heroes dominated most of the titles.
In 1940, the first super hero team, the Justice Society of America, appeared in All-Star Comics, featuring the Sandman, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman and the Atom.  Superman and Batman were the most popular super heroes, but did not appear in the Justice Society because that title was for super heroes who were not so popular.  In general, super heroes were in abundance and publishers continued to create more of them during the 1940’s.
	World War II affected the comic book industry in a major way.  "Artists, writers and editors were drafted into the service and paper shortages prevented new publishers from entering the field” (Superhero Comics of the Golden Age 53).  However, publishers were enjoying an increased audience from children and servicemen.  Writers had many super heroes actively fight the Nazis and Japanese.  In some comic books, the army even enlisted certain super heroes.  For example, the Army drafted Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman, and he failed his physical in a humorous way because of his super powers.  For example, during an eye exam, Clark Kent read the letters from another room with his X-ray vision instead of the eye chart in the room he was in (Uslan 43-47).
	In 1945, comic books were at the height of their sales.  DC Comics published 1,100 different comics in 1945 and published up to 1,500 in 1946.  "By the last year of the decade, there would be twice as many comic books published as in any year during the war”(Superhero Comics of the Golden Age 57).  However, the super hero was in decline.  DC Comics slowly moved away from super heroes in the early 1950's.  Less than one-fourth of DC's titles were about super heroes compared to 96% ten years earlier (Superhero Comics of the Golden Age 61).  Superman and Batman survived the declining interest in super heroes but others, like the Sandman, faded into obscurity. The only characters who remained unchanged into the Silver Age were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow.  It was not until the mid-1950's that DC rebounded with slightly new characters, which made a stamp on how artists would create super heroes for years to come.	
The Silver Age of comic books began in the 1950's and scholars have not concluded when this age exactly ended.  During the 1950's and early 1960's, the super hero came back in a frenzy.  DC Comics decided to revitalize some of their Golden Age super heroes, and Marvel Comics, a new publisher would create some of the most interesting super heroes of the time.
	Frederick Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, however, set the tone on how creators represented super heroes for the first half of the Silver Age.  Even as early as the late 1940's, people began to ban comic books because of the belief that they caused delinquency among juveniles.  Protests reached their highest when Dr. Frederick Wertham wrote his now infamous book.  Eventually, a Senate sub-committee investigated the comic book medium to see if any of Wertham's findings were true.  The comic books that they protested the most were EC comics' line of horror titles that showed gruesome images of death.  The end result of these protests and committee about comic books was the Comic's Code.  The Comic’s Code is a self-imposed code for comic book publishers to make sure that they do not produce material that is unsuitable for children.  The Comic's Code stamp on a comic book showed that the comic was up to the standards of society.  In other words, the comic book became written and marketed for children.  With this code, all of the comic books from the first half of the Silver Age became simple good vs. evil stories.  Subsequently, nothing substantially new or innovative happened because artists were too afraid to go outside the boundaries of the Comic's Code.  This new age of super heroes became simple, patriotic Americans.
	The first character that DC revitalized was the Flash.  The new Flash first appeared in Showcase #4 (1956).  Showcase was an anthology series in which different characters made his or her first appearances.  Based on sales and readership responses of their appearance in Showcase, each character could possibly receive their own series.  This particular issue is monumental because the revival of the Flash "led to a renewed interest in super-heroes that may have saved the moribund comic industry" (DC Comics: Sixty Years... 128).  Showcase later introduced the revitalized Green Lantern, Atom and Spectre.  For the most part, however, Showcase introduced brand new characters like Adam Strange, the Metal Men, and the Creeper.
	Just as the Golden Age had a Justice Society of America, the Silver Age created the Justice League of America that consisted of the new canon of super heroes: Green Lantern, Aquaman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and the Martian Manhunter.  A new age had a new group of heroes. 
	In 1961, the Marvel Comics Group produced their first comic book, The Fantastic Four, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.  In the following years Lee and Kirby would produce many influential comic books, including The Incredible Hulk and The X-Men.  Lee would produce his most popular title, The Amazing Spider-Man, with Steve Dikto.  The Marvel Comics Group became the only real competitor for DC Comics for the next thirty years or so.
During the 1960's/1970's, America was deeply involved in the Vietnam War.  The Civil Rights movement made incredible steps forward with the March to Washington, D.C.  Finally, hallucinogenic drugs became more and more popular among youths.  Comic books reflected these major changes in American society.  In the second half of the Silver Age, which I refer to as the Experimental Period of comic books, artists concocted new and socially relevant super heroes and introduced social issues into mainstream super hero comic books.
	In the late 1960's, a new movement of adult comic books called underground comic books or "comix" emerged.  The most notable of the field is R. Crumb who invented the infamous Fritz the Cat.  Art Spiegelman, who created the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus, is a member of the underground movement.
	Mainstream comic books pushed the medium as well.  The super hero duo Hawk and Dove (1968) reflected the schism between aggressors and pacifists during the Vietnam War.  One brother, Dove, refused to use violence to stop crime.  Hawk, on the other hand, felt that there was no other alternative.  In 1970, Green Arrow joined Green Lantern's series to become Green Lantern/Green Arrow.  The artists behind the series wanted to create a good cop/bad cop series.  Up until this time, neither super hero was a "bad cop" per se, so the artists of Green Arrow grew him a goatee and made him into a socially conscious super hero.  Within this series, the super heroes examined such issues as racism and drug abuse.  In a famous line in the first issue of the new series, an elderly African-American man asks Green Lantern:
I been readin' about you...How you work for the blue skins...and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins... and you done considerable for the purple skins!  Only there's skins you never bothered with--!  ...The black skins!  I want to know...how come?!  Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern!" (DC Comics: Sixty Years... 155)
In a daring move, the series also examined drug abuse.  Green Arrow finds out that his sidekick, Speedy, was a drug addict.  Marvel Comics also reacted to these issues, most notably in The Amazing Spider-Man where Spider-Man's best friend was a drug addict.  Also, in Captain America, Captain America finds the international conspirator against the world to be none other than the President of the United States.  This was an obvious reaction to the Watergate scandal.  Obviously, these comic books reacted to what people experienced and felt. 
	The Experimental Period also was a time for creative growth.  Some notable creators decided to flex their creative muscles and produced new and different titles.  One noticeable comic book, The Prez, which was about the first teenage President, also reacted to the Watergate affair, but it only lasted four issues.  It was during this time that DC produced its second incarnation of the Sandman. For the most part, however, these titles of bizarre characters did not last longer than a year each.
	Two major mainstream super heroes went through noticeable changes in the 1970's.  Wonder Woman lost her powers and added a more fashionable modern look.  Unfortunately, the experiment did not sell well and she returned to her original costume after 25 issues.  Superman, however, increased his strength and changed his occupation.  In 1971, a freak chain reaction changed all Kryptonite, Superman's only weakness, into iron.  Now Superman had no Achilles heel and was truly invulnerable.  Also, Clark Kent, Superman's human guise, became a TV news anchorman.
	The Modern Age began with the beginning of the new X-Men, the most important comic book in recent times, in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 (1975).  This reincarnation of one of Marvel’s original titles would become Marvel's best-selling title and the most popular comic book until the present.
	In 1980, DC published The New Teen Titans (NTT), the only real competitor to the X-Men.  One reason that NTT succeeded as well as X-Men is because it had a sense of history with the group.  Like the X-Men, NTT featured some of the original members, but included new characters.  Unknowingly, NTT started the trend at DC for another schism with the past age; however, this revitalization of super heroes continued the history of each character.
In the mid-1980's, DC Comics neared its 50th Anniversary.  To celebrate this anniversary, DC initiated the yearlong series Crisis on Infinite Earths.  This series would truly turn all of its characters upside down for a new age.  Some well-known, as well as, some not so well-known characters died in this cataclysmic battle for many universes.  Among the well-known super heroes that died were Supergirl and the Silver Age Flash.  The death of the Flash was quite proper considering it was the Flash who started the Silver Age.  It was almost as if DC wanted to make a definite sign that a new age began after 1985.  [DC kept almost all of their characters in a new way except for the Flash.  The new Flash series (1987) starred Wally West (Kid Flash).  In other words, unlike many super heroes that died in Crisis and came back later, the Silver Age Flash stayed dead.]
Creators changed characters, once again, for a more modern audience.  Some call it the Modern Age; however, artists did not simply modernize characters, but deconstructed them.  It is during this time that artists took characters and took them apart piece by piece and showed their weaknesses and their strengths.  After taking them apart, the artist put the characters back together in a more coherent structure.  
	In 1986, DC started the new plan to deconstruct many major super heroes, and especially marginal characters, from the past fifty years.  Originally, the plan included the deconstruction of Superman in the series The Man of Steel in early 1986 by the prolific John Byrne (Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Alpha Flight).  Then in late 1986, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli from Daredevil deconstructed Batman in the four part story “Batman: Year One” in the Batman series.  Finally, in early 1987, Wonder Woman would have a new title written and drawn by George Perez (Crisis, New Teen Titans).  Understanding the importance of these new series, DC commissioned prolific and critically acclaimed artists to deconstruct their most popular characters.  
	This was the plan, but history has a way of going in a different direction.  Before DC published The Man of Steel, Frank Miller began his famous Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DKR).  In DKR, a fifty-year old Batman, retired from fighting crime for the past ten years, decides to come out of retirement.  DKR was a huge success and literally "returned" Batman to his true natural character: a grim, cold warrior.   Miller succeeded what he planned to do in “Year One” in DKR.    
	Yet, Alan Moore truly started the deconstruction of DC’s super heroes.  After all, NTT was just a modern version that had a connection with the past.  Moore, on the other hand, would change a character so that it was completely different.  Moore, a well-known writer for the British comic book 2000 AD, came to America and started writing for Saga of the Swamp Thing in 1984.  Saga of the Swamp Thing was a new series about the 1970’s character Swamp Thing.  According to the original series, Alec Holland, a scientist, created a bio-restorative formula that allowed plants to grow at a tremendous rate.  He worked in the middle of a swamp so that no one knew about his work.  Holland wanted this formula to help starving countries.  A group known as the Conclave, however, wanted the formula for their own profit.  Holland refused to sell them the formula, so the Conclave set a bomb in Holland’s laboratory with Holland in it.  Holland saw the bomb but could not leave in time.  The bomb went off and Holland ran out into the swamp burning with the formula on him.  The next day, Holland resurrected as the Swamp Thing.  The initial series and the revitalized series revolved around Swamp Thing's search to become human again.
	Moore took over Saga in issue #20.  In issue #21, he literally deconstructed the Swamp Thing.  In that issue, Dr. Jason Woodrue, or The Floronic Man, took a frozen, captured Swamp Thing and dissected him.  What Woodrue found was simply irrefutable and amazing.  The Swamp Thing is and always was a plant.  He was never a man who turned into a plant, but rather, a plant that had modeled its anatomy from a human being's anatomy.  So, Swamp Thing was never Alec Holland and his search to become human again had ended, although not the way he intended.
	This issue changed the whole structure of the series.  Moore deconstructed Swamp Thing in a way that would make the series one of the most acclaimed series of the 1980’s.  From the success of Swamp Thing, Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons produced the definitive deconstruction super hero saga, Watchmen.  Watchmen was a twelve issue series with completely new characters.  In Watchmen, Moore showed super heroes who were neurotic, psychotic, impotent, or simply normal.  In other words, he showed what super heroes would be like in a realistic world.  Moore’s last work for DC was V For Vendetta, a series that he had started, but never finished in the early 1980’s in the British comic book Warrior.  DC asked Moore if he would like to finish the series with the original illustrator David Lloyd.  By the time DC released V For Vendetta, Moore had quit Swamp Thing and announced that V For Vendetta was his last work with DC.
	Because of the success of Moore’s titles with DC, DC opted to hire other writers and illustrators from Britain.  Throughout the late 1980’s and even into the 1990’s, DC hired a plethora of British writers and artists to continue the deconstruction of their characters which had started with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  Some of the artists from the "British Invasion" included Grant Morrison (Animal Man), Peter Milligan (Shade, the Changing Man), and Neil Gaiman.
	Gaiman met with Dick Giordiano and Karen Berger, representatives of DC Comics, in 1987.  Gaiman and his partner with past comic books, Dave McKean, offered a story on The Phantom Stranger.  Giordiano and Berger told them that a Phantom Stranger story was already in the works.  Gaiman and McKean started to throw out characters' names for a series.  Everyone they mentioned either already had a series or one was in the works.  They finally mentioned Black Orchid, which was free.  Black Orchid was a character from the Experimental Period of the Silver Age.  She was a super heroine that artists had not defined well.  In fact, she did not even have an origin yet.  Gaiman and McKean were then able to create an origin for this mysterious super heroine.  A couple of days later, Gaiman gave Giordiano and Berger an outline and McKean gave them some illustrations.  So, Gaiman and McKean had their feet in the door at DC Comics (Comics Journal #163 69-70).
	As Gaiman and McKean were working on Black Orchid, Berger contacted them and told them that DC was concerned about the project because neither Gaiman nor McKean were well known in America and super heroines do not generally sell well.  Berger suggested that each of them produce another comic book so that their names were on other American comic books.  McKean agreed to illustrate Arkham Asylum (a Batman story) with Grant Morrison.  Berger offered Gaiman his choice for a monthly title.  Gaiman mentioned some characters and Berger rejected all of them.  Finally, she reminded him of an idea he had about the 1970's version of the Sandman.  She insisted, however, that Gaiman not use the same character.  She wanted him to come up with his own character.  Gaiman made an outline that consisted of the first eight issues of The Sandman and Berger approved it.  In 1989, The Sandman #1 appeared in stores.
	By the eighth issue, The Sandman was a huge success.  In 1990, DC released The Doll’s House, the first collection of Sandman issues.  By the end of the series, DC had collected every issue in a collected edition.  In October of 1991, issue 19, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.  It was the first time that a comic book had won a World Fantasy Award.  Slowly, The Sandman became recognized as a serious, adult comic book.  Gaiman and McKean produced an eight-page comic book “Death Talks About Life" which first appeared in Sandman #46 (1991).  In the pamphlet, the character Death discusses AIDS and safe sex.  
By this time The Sandman brought enough attention to other DC comic books that were meant for mature audiences.  So, in January of 1993, DC created Vertigo, a home for non-super hero comic books and eventually a place where artists could own their work.  In the same month, DC released the first spin-off of The Sandman, Death: The High Cost of Living.  In 1994, DC released a Sandman trading card set.  In March of 1996, The Sandman ended with issue #75.
Since then, DC has released many other spin-off series: a sequel to Death, a Destiny mini-series and an on-going monthly title, The Dreaming.  In 1999, Vertigo plans to release special mini-series on other characters from The Sandman in The Sandman Presents…  Even though Gaiman finished the Sandman, DC/Vertigo still publishes comic books based on the series.  Also, they publish a series that reprints every issue of the series.  Recently, Gaiman announced that he will do another Sandman project called Dream Hunters.  It is expected to come out in fall 1999.
In the 1990’s, many changes affected the medium.  It is too early to tell what changes are important.  Nonetheless, the medium, as of 1999, consists of four mainstream publishers.  Of course, DC and Marvel prevail, but Marvel did file bankruptcy in the early 1990’s.  It is, however, slowly turning itself around and The X-Men is still number one in sales.  The other two mainstream publishers are Dark Horse and Image.  Dark Horse has been around since the early 1980’s.  By licensing Aliens, Predator and Star Wars from Fox and Lucasfilm, Dark Horse created a comic book following for those popular science fiction films.  Also, Dark Horse published many popular artists' work because they allowed the artists to own their own work.  DC and Marvel have not done this until recently.  This debate about artists’ rights helped produce Image Comics, the fourth mainstream publication company.  Six artists from Marvel who wanted more freedom and the right to own their original characters founded image.  Some of the noticeable series and creators include WildC.A.T.S., Savage Dragon and the most popular, Spawn by Todd McFarlane.  Generally speaking, it is too early to comment on the current state of the medium. 
Artists aware of history kept the comic book medium growing.  Ever since the revitalization of The Flash in 1956, comic book creators use the character’s history within the title.  In 1956, Barry Allen named himself the Flash from the Golden Age Flash that he "read" as a child.  In 1975, The Uncanny X-Men thrived as the best series of the 1970’s, 1980's and 1990’s because it had a connection with the original series from 1963.  Even today, a new version of Starman written by James Robinson has generated interest in the title.  Not surprising, the new Starman is the son of the Golden Age Starman.  Basically, any title that has a sense of history and plays off of that history succeeds.  That does not mean that an original character cannot succeed (for example Superman or Spawn), but if the character has some tie-in with the history of comic books then it tends to be popular.  Gaiman, aware of this phenomenon, plays on the enormous history that goes along with any comic book character named the Sandman.  Ever since the Silver Age, comic book artists have used the history of a character to enrich their renditions.
Chapter 4   Intra-Comic Book Signifying

The Crossover
Gaiman signifies on comic books in many ways.  He signifies on specific comic book characters, contemporary artists in the field, and earlier incarnations of the Sandman.  He also signifies on the crossover or team-up, a major technique in the comic book medium.  "Technically, a crossover is when a hero or a group of heroes meet in another hero’s or heroes’ book: Green Lantern guest-stars in the Flash…A team-up is when two heroes (or groups) meet in a special title: Batman and Green Arrow in Brave and the Bold…” (Gold 11).  Simply speaking, it is when two characters meet who do not commonly appear together.
	This has happened throughout the history of comic books.  The most significant team-up is the Batman/Superman team.  These two were the most popular super heroes under DC and bringing them together on adventures seemed perfect.  They first met in Superman #76 in 1952.  Two years later World’s Finest Comics became the home for the Batman/Superman team.  They teamed up in this series for over 30 years [except during issues #198 (1970) to #214 (1972)].
	With the success of World’s Finest, team-ups occurred more and more every year.  Green Lantern met with the Flash, the Silver Age Flash met the Golden Age Flash, and the Justice League met the Justice Society.  In 1967, The Brave and the Bold became a Batman team-up title until its final issue in 1983.  Marvel has utilized the value of the crossover ever since its birth in 1961.  As early as the first year of Marvel's original titles, characters teamed-up in other titles (X-Men in Avengers, Fantastic Four in Spider-Man).  By 1976, Superman, DC’s leading super hero, met with Marvel’s leading super hero, Spider-Man.  Since the 1980’s, and especially in the 1990’s, team-ups occur on an almost weekly basis.
Gaiman signifies on this technique by teaming up certain characters from the DC canon with his new version of the Sandman.  In general, Gaiman uses characters from DC's line of horror titles from the Silver Age, other characters related to dreams, and other Sandmen.
The DC horror titles of the Silver Age were similar to the EC horror comics that were banned and put out of business in the 1950's.  Each DC horror title had a host that presented each story, just like in the EC issues.  DC had many such characters and Gaiman used these characters as members of the Dreaming.  All of the former hosts that Gaiman used, except for Destiny, appeared in "Imperfect Hosts," the second issue of The Sandman (P&N).
 In fact, Gaiman enjoyed DC's horror titles, including Swamp Thing.  "I remember in 1971, 1972, it was definitely things like Phantom Stranger and Swamp Thing, even weird little things like House of Secrets and House of Mystery, that kind of thing.  That was definitely the stuff that I really liked" (Comics Journal #169 60).  Not surprisingly, Gaiman utilized characters from DC's horror line in his own series.  Through these characters, Gaiman signifies on his favorite comic books as a young adult.
Besides the personal significance of these characters, the hosts of DC's horror titles are appropriate in The Sandman because they told stories in their previous series.  The most popular hosts that Gaiman used were Cain and Abel from House of Mystery and House of Secrets, respectively.  According to Who’s Who, DC’s encyclopedia of characters, little is known about them, but it is speculated that they are the reincarnations of the Cain and Abel from the Book of Genesis. Also, the houses they took care of were located in Kentucky.  They appeared in one issue of Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing in Abigail Arcane's dream.  Cain was a devious man that reminded people of Vincent Price and Abel had a speech impediment, which caused him to stutter unless he was telling stories.  
Gaiman gives Cain and Abel a specific history in terms of his Sandman myths in the short story “The Parliament of Rooks” (F&R).  Abel gives a rendition of how Cain and Abel and their houses became a part of the Dreaming.  Abel retells the story from the Book of Genesis.  After their "fight," Dream asks Abel if he would take care of a house and "tell stories."  After a while, Abel gets lonely and asks Dream if he could have a companion.  Dream tells him that there is a surprise waiting for him.  Of course, Abel finds Cain and the House of Mystery waiting for him.  Presumably, then, Gaiman suggests that Cain and Abel told their stories in the 1970's from the Dreaming.  He signifies on the hosts of series that he enjoyed as a young adult. 
	Another set of hosts from DC's horror titles appeared in The Sandman, but they functioned in a different manner than they did in the Silver Age.  Gaiman referred to them only as the Hectatae, but they were the three witches of DC's The Witching Hour and The Unexpected.  Their names are Cynthia, Mildred, and Mordred and they represent the Maiden, Mother, and Crone of womanhood.  Throughout the series they refer to any woman as a relative of theirs.
	The three witches hosted The Witching Hour from the first issue to the last (1969-1978).  Then, Abel and the three witches hosted The Unexpected in 1979.  By 1981, the three witches were the only hosts of The Unexpected.
	Gaiman used the witches in The Sandman, not as former hosts of The Witching Hour, but as the Fates and the Furies.  Combining the Furies and the Fates as one is typical in literature.  After their first couple of appearances, the illustrators of The Sandman drew the witches into more creative images.  Nonetheless, their appearances in P&N and DH are just like the way they looked in The Witching Hour and The Unexpected.
	Another member of DC's horror anthology series that Gaiman used was a witch known as Eve who had a raven that always accompanied her.  Eve hosted the series Secrets of Sinister House (1972-1974).  Once it was cancelled, she accompanied Destiny in Weird Mystery Tales.  Other than those two series, Eve and her raven did not appear anywhere else.
	Lucien, the librarian, gives a description of Eve while he explains the current status of many inhabitants of the Dreaming.  "The raven woman has decayed badly.  She lives only in nightmares..." (P&N 2:14).  Gaiman referred to Eve as the raven woman only in the first storyline.  It's likely that Gaiman did so because he planned on using the raven as another former character from DC's horror titles.  Lucien's comment that she only lives in nightmares refers to how she only told scary stories.  Also, the Eve of Sinister House and Weird Mystery Tales was always an ancient woman.  Eve tends to grow older and younger throughout The Sandman.  Gaiman intended to use her as the Biblical Eve. Eve explains her origin in "The Parliament of Rooks."  She explains how Lillith was the first woman and God casted her out of Eden.  Then, there was an unnamed woman who Adam refused to touch.  Finally, God created Eve out of Adam's rib and the rest was history.  
	Lucien was the host of Tales of Ghost Castle, a short-lived DC horror title.  The series lasted for three issues in 1975.  In the series, Lucien was the librarian of a castle in Transylvania.  Obviously, Gaiman used the same role for him in the Dreaming.  Lucien takes care of the Library of Dreams, which consists of books that were only written in dreams.  Lucien was the most loyal of all the Dreaming because he never left his post when Fry captured Dream.  Lucien later reveals that he was the first raven of the Dreaming.
	Although the Endless is an invention of Gaiman's, Destiny the eldest of the family, is actually a member of the hosts of horror titles at DC.  In 1972, Destiny hosted Weird Mystery Tales.  As he explains in the first issue, "My name is Destiny, and it is my Fate to walk alone throughout eternity and observe the follies and mysteries of mankind, and to note them all in the cosmic log" (Weird Mystery Tales #1 1).  The Cosmic Log is handcuffed to his wrist and he wears a cloak with a hood that covers his face.  Midway through the series, Destiny shared hosting duties with Eve until the end of the series.  Destiny appeared again in Secrets of the Haunted House, a 1980's version of DC's horror titles.
Although Gaiman has never made any conclusive statement that he borrowed the DC character for his Endless, the fact remains that both characters look identical.  Just like the previous Destiny, this Destiny wears a hooded cloak and his book is handcuffed to his right wrist.  Destiny's appearance might be the traditional image and Gaiman might have followed suit; however, Gaiman did not follow suit with any other member of the Endless (particularly Death who is a woman).  Destiny did appear in the first storyline of The Sandman and is the first member of the Endless besides Dream to appear in the series (P&N 7:15).  So, Gaiman's Destiny is the same as the one that appeared in the 1970's.
Finally, one of the most significant members of the Dreaming is actually from Swamp Thing.  Matt Cable, a friend to Alec Holland and Swamp Thing, became Matthew the Raven in The Sandman.  Matt Cable worked for the Army Intelligence in Swamp Thing.  His mission was to protect Alec and Linda Holland, creators of the bio-restorative formula.  As mentioned earlier, Alec Holland presumably turned into Swamp Thing because of a bomb planted by members of the Conclave.  Soon after, they murdered Linda Holland.  When Cable first saw Swamp Thing, he presumed that it was the murderer of the Hollands.  Cable then avowed to avenge the deaths of his friends.
During Cable's pursuit of Swamp Thing, Cable met Abigail Arcane and soon began a relationship with her.  After many years, Cable and Arcane married.  They soon found out that Swamp Thing was Alec Holland and was not responsible for the Holland’s murders.  Cable began to live his own life with the whole Swamp Thing experience behind him.
Cable’s government bosses decided to clean up any loose ends in the Swamp Thing affair by erasing any memories of the Hollands from Cable’s mind through electro-shock treatments.  The only thing they succeeded in doing was turning Cable into an alcoholic.  By this time, Matt and Abigail were good friends with Swamp Thing.  When Swamp Thing realized he was never Alec Holland, Abigail helped him recover from the trauma of such a revelation.  Since Abigail spent so much time with Swamp Thing, Cable became jealous and drank more and more.  One night, after a fight with Abigail, Cable drove in a drunken stupor and wrecked his car by driving into a tree.
Anton Arcane, Abigail’s father and sworn enemy of Swamp Thing, came to the dying Matt Cable in the form of a fly and promised life to Matt if he accepted his proposal.  Of course, Arcane took over Cable’s body and enacted his revenge on Abigail and Swamp Thing.  After Swamp Thing drove Arcane out of Cable’s body, Cable spent the rest of his life in a coma.  He eventually died.
By 1990, Gaiman had introduced the current raven of the Dreaming.  He was, of course, Matthew.  Gaiman never specifically stated that Matthew was Matthew Cable, but little inferences, remarks and Who’s Who explained that they are the same person.  In BL, Delirium tells Matthew that he was not the first raven, but there were about twelve of them.  In fact, Dream verifies that there have been “rather more" than twelve ravens.
In most comic books, when a character teams up with another and makes an allusion to some earlier experience, the editor usually makes a footnote about where and when the incident happened.  For example, when Dream explains how he became imprisoned, the editor footnotes his story and tells the reader, See Sandman #1.  Gaiman dumps this whole system in The Sandman.  In BL, Dream asks Matthew if he knows how to drive an automobile.  Matthew responds, "Could I?  Hey, I killed myself drunk driving, didn't I?  I mean, the first time" (BL 5:6).  This comment could have been annotated with a remark to check Swamp Thing #27, but it does not.  Also in DH, Dream sends Matthew to a hospital and Matthew responds, "I don't like hospitals" (DH 6:21).  At the hospital, Matthew tells Gilbert that he hasn't been a raven very long and explains himself as a human.  "I did some rotten things, near the end.  You know how it is" (DH 6:23).  He refers to how he made a deal with Arcane and helped cause more pain for Abigail Arcane and how he died in a hospital.  The Sandman does not have annotations because it is more inter-textual than the average comic book.  "The Knight's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales mentions how Theseus won Hippolyta in battle for his wife.  William Shakespeare uses that history in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  Shakespeare did not annotate this in his play.  By dumping this system, The Sandman becomes more inter-textual than other comic books.
By continuing the story of a character from Swamp Thing (and a major one at that) in his rendition of The Sandman, Gaiman shows how much he respects the previous creators of Swamp Thing.  More importantly, he shows how significant the DC horror titles and their hosts were as storytellers.
Gaiman also utilized Lyta Hall, a somewhat new DC character, not because of any personal significance to Gaiman, but because of whom she was affiliated with.  As mentioned earlier, Karen Berger told Gaiman to come up with a new Sandman.  Gaiman believes she said this because Roy Thomas, a veteran writer at DC Comics, wanted the 1970's version of the Sandman untouched (Comics Journal #163 70).  This is because Thomas continued the saga of the Silver Age Sandman in Thomas' series, Infinity, Inc., where Lyta Hall appeared.
Infinity, Inc. started in 1984.  DC launched this new super hero team as the sons and daughters of the Justice Society of America.  Lyta Hall or Hippolyta Trevor, a.k.a. Fury, is the daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman.  Throughout the 53 issue series, Lyta began a relationship with Trevor Hall, the Silver Scarab, who is the son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.  In 1986, Lyta became pregnant with Hall's child.  Around this time, the real Silver Scarab, an ancient Egyptian entity, was latent inside Hall and took over his body and killed him.  Inadvertently, the Silver Scarab sent the dead Hector Hall to the Dreamworld of the 1970's Sandman.  There, Brute and Glob from the first Sandman series (more on Brute, Glob, and the Sandman in the next section) rescued Hall and turned him into the new Sandman.  During the transformation, Hall finds out about the history of Sanford Garrett, the first Sandman, and how he died.  By the end of the series, Hall returned to Lyta and they decided to get married despite the fact that he could only be in the waking world one hour a day.  Nonetheless, Lyta lived in the Dream Stream with her husband, Brute, and Glob.
In 1987 before Fury reunites with Hector Hall as the new Sandman, Roy Thomas changed Fury's origin.  He established that she was never the daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman.  In all actuality, she was the daughter of the Golden Age Fury who first appeared in 1987.  Roy Thomas wrote All-Star Squadron throughout the 1980's and then began The Young All-Stars, a Teen Titans of the Justice Society.  Of course, he created new characters for this series and the Golden Age Fury was one of them.  The Young All-Stars was a part of Thomas' plan to begin a major re-telling of the Golden Age of DC Comics and creating new characters was a part of that plan.
The Golden Age Fury, Helena Kosmatos, lived in Nazi-controlled Greece.  Her brother was a traitor and helped the Nazis.  She confronted him about it in front of her mother and he admitted it.  The shock of his betrayal killed their mother.  Helena swore revenge on her brother because she felt he murdered their mother.  The same night, she ran out to find him and kill him.  The Nazis found her breaking curfew and chased her.  As they were about to catch her, she stamped her foot on the ground and cursed her brother.  This action reached the Furies and they sent her to their domain.  There, the Furies gave her powers so she could kill her brother.  She then became the Fury, joined the Young All-Stars, and fought against the Nazis.  The Furies related this story to Hippolyta who searched for her origins for the sake of her unborn child in 1987.
The next time Hector Hall, Lyta, Brute, and Glob appear is in Gaiman's The Sandman.  As Gaiman tells it, the Sandman, Lyta, Brute and Glob are inside the head of Jed Paulsen.  This is the same Jed from the original series, who is under the custody of his father's cousin, Clarice, and her husband, Barnaby.
Brute and Glob give the real history of the Silver Age Sandman.  Once the Magus imprisoned Dream, Brute and Glob decided to create their own Dream King, one they could control.  Glob continues, "We hid in [Jed's] dreams, and walled it off from the rest of the Dreaming.  Then we began to make a Sandman.  First mortal we used, Garrett Sanford, he cracked up. Killed himself.  Couldn't take the strain" (DH 3:20).  Brute and Glob concluded that Sanford failed as the Sandman because he was still alive.  So, they found Hall who was already dead.  
Upon learning this, Dream banished Brute and Glob and returned Hector Hall to the dead where he belonged.  Of course, Lyta, still six months pregnant, sees Dream "kill" her husband and swears to avenge his death.  Not at all amused, Dream reminds her that Hall died two years ago.  Dream continues to inform her that since her unborn child lived in the Dreaming for so long, it belongs to him and he leaves. 
A year later, Dream visits Lyta's newborn son before he ventures into Hell.  When Lyta sees him, she screams at him to stay away from her son.  Dream responds that he wanted to see the boy before his journey because he may not return for some time.  She orders him to leave.  As Dream is leaving, he recommends the name Daniel for her son, which she accepts.
Lyta and Daniel appear in a single issue story in which Daniel visits the Dreaming during one of his naps.  They do not appear again until KO.  In that storyline, Gaiman signifies on Lyta's heritage and connects her to the Gorgons of Greek mythology.
Most of the first part of the Kindly Ones revolves around Lyta’s obsession over Daniel’s safety.  She even asserts to her friend, Carla, “If anyone hurt Daniel, I’d kill them” (KO 1:7).  On one of her first nights out since Daniel was born, Lyta fears for her son and rushes home.  She finds Daniel missing.  The babysitter, Rose Walker, had fallen asleep and only woke up when Lyta came home.  Carla comes over to help Lyta and demands that the police come at once.  Finally, Lt. Luke Pinkerton and his partner Gordy Fellowes take down information and tell her they’ll do everything they can. Later on, Pinkerton reveals himself to be Loki and his partner to be Puck or Robin Goodfellow and they have actually kidnapped Daniel.
While waiting to hear from the police, Lyta has a dream where she meets the Furies.  They inform her that they are her grandmother.  This reflects the changes Thomas made to Fury's heritage.  They tell her that she’s already met the ones that kidnapped her child and they are about to “put him in the fire.”
Lyta slowly begins to lose her grip with reality.  She never sleeps and she wanders throughout the day in a daze.  Then, Pinkerton and Fellowes tell her that Daniel’s body was found and it was burned.  After seeing the photograph, Lyta, thinking Dream killed Daniel, swears revenge on Dream for her son's death.  Of course, Loki and Puck are the ones who put Daniel in the fire.
Lyta then walks across town in a hallucinatory daze seeking revenge.  She asks many different people along the way where the Furies are.  She finds Stheno and Euryale who look like the Spider Sisters, characters from DH.  Because they miss their sister, Medusa, they want Lyta to eat the apple of life and become their sister.  Lyta stays with Stheno and Euryale and slowly grows snakes in her hair like Medusa.  Lyta fits as a new Medusa since she is mortal and Medusa is the only mortal of the three. Throughout her wanderings, Lyta appears under normal conditions and is merely hallucinating.  However, Loki explains how Lyta is really communicating with gods.  “There is a madness needed to touch the gods, yes, this is true.  Few mortals possess it, the willingness to step away from the protection of sanity.  To walk into the wild wood of madness…” (KO 5: 23).  Lyta is capable of contacting the Furies because she deprived herself of her sanity.
  Thessaly or Larissa, a former lover of Dream, finds Lyta and takes care of her.  During this segment of her hallucination, Lyta finally meets the Furies and tells them that Dream killed her son.  The Furies tell her they can go after him as long as he killed family blood.  Of course, he killed his son, Orpheus, and they can go after him.  They just needed someone to instigate them.
After the Furies first attack the Dreaming, Dream goes to Lyta.  He finds Lyta protected by Thessaly and she warns him to stay away.  Dream, therefore, is unable to stave off their attack.  Before the death of Dream, Matthew and the Corinthian are sent to find Daniel.  They eventually catch up with Loki and Puck and find Daniel.  Loki and Puck had not killed Daniel completely, only his mortal aspect.  So, the Corinthian and Matthew bring Daniel to Dream.
Right before Dream dies, he talks with Daniel and Daniel becomes the new Dream King.  Lyta, shaken up by the whole experience, does not understand anything.  During Dream's funeral, the new Dream forgives her and marks her so that no one can harm her for the death of Dream.
Gaiman signifies on the crossover or team up with Lyta Hall by taking a relatively new super hero and using her existence in the dream stream as a part of his own story of the Sandman.  In all honesty, Lyta Hall and her unborn child would have died in obscurity if it were not for Gaiman.  Gaiman continued the story of Lyta Hall and even gave her son a name and persona.  
Also, Lyta Hall is the perfect character to use in The Sandman.  First of all, she is the "granddaughter" of the Furies, the goddesses of Greek mythology that avenge familial blood murder.  Dream kills his son, Orpheus, which brings the Furies upon him.  Lyta has personal reasons to kill Dream because she feels he stole and killed her son.  The fact that she married a third incarnation of the Sandman made her perfect to use.
Lyta's super hero guise, the Fury, is never mentioned in The Sandman.  Her name refers to the one thing that the Endless fears.  As early as DH, Desire tried to manipulate Dream into killing family kin.  In "Three Octobers and a November (F&R)," Desire swears to "bring the Kindly Ones on his blasted head" (F&R 41).  Lyta Hall's presence is an open secret to readers that know her past history.  Gaiman uses that knowledge as an incredible tool of foreshadowing.
	In the first storyline of The Sandman, Gaiman intertwines Dr. Destiny, a villain from the Justice League of America, with Dream's journey to recapture items he has lost since his imprisonment.  Doctor Destiny first appeared in Justice League of America #5.  He tried to defeat the Justice League with an anti-gravity device that he used to impersonate Green Lantern.  The Justice League defeated him and sent him to prison.  In prison, he created the materioptikon, a device that made dreams a reality.  He fought the Justice League many times over the years and always lost.  As time passed on, Destiny became a shrivel shadow of his former self; he had no hair, his body was a waxy white and he was utterly mad.  He then invented a ruby version of the materioptikon and fought the Justice League again.  As of 1985, Destiny was a resident of Arkham Asylum, a mental institution for super-villains.
	In Gaiman's re-worked version of Dr. Destiny, he is the son of Ethel Cripps.  Cripps had an affair with Ruthven Sykes, second-in-command of the Orders of Ancient Mysteries.  He left in 1930 with Cripps and they took Dream's helmet, pouch of sand, and ruby with them.  Fry makes many invocations to kill Sykes, but nothing works because he traded Dream's helmet for an amulet that gave him protection.  In 1936, Cripps left Sykes and took the amulet with her.  The illustration of Cripps leaving shows the ruby around her neck (P&N 1:17).  Later in the storyline, she visits her son in Arkham Asylum.  She dies and gives him the amulet that protected her.
	When Gaiman began Dream's quest for his helmet, pouch of sand, and ruby, he integrated several characters from DC history.  Dream travels to Hell to find his helmet and runs into Etrigan, the Demon.  For the pouch of sand, Dream asks John Constantine for help.  Finally, for his ruby, Dream needs the assistance of the Justice League because the ruby is the materioptikon that Doctor Destiny used on the Justice League.  After summoning Mr. Miracle for help, Dream finds out his ruby is in a storage warehouse.  As he takes the ruby, it attacks him.  Dream falls down and Doctor Destiny is there to take it.
	Doctor Destiny escapes from Arkham Asylum to find his ruby and make the whole world insane.  He nearly succeeds until Dream confronts him.  Then, Dream takes Doctor Destiny to Arkham Asylum and lets the whole world sleep well that night.
	Once again, Gaiman takes a canonical character from the DC canon and integrates his powers with the mythos of Gaiman's new Sandman.  Destiny tells a fellow inmate of Arkham, "I'm going to get the ruby back.  The mat.  The mat.  The mat-eri-op-yi-kon.  And then I'll drive everybody in the whole wide world mad" (P&N 5:3).  During his journey to find his ruby, Destiny kidnaps a woman to drive him there.  Along the way, he tells her his past.  "I did...foolish things.  Things to gravity.  To identity.  I traded their faces with their enemies, I pretended I was one of their number" (P&N 5:13).  Destiny refers to the many things he did while he fought the Justice League of America.  Gaiman understands the power of a historical character in comic books and makes references from previous issues to unite his stories with the others.
Gaiman also changes Doctor Destiny's name.  In his initial appearance in the Sandman, Doctor Destiny goes by the name John Dee.  Dee was a magician or magus in the Elizabethan age.  Dee is infamous during his time because he was a self-proclaimed wizard.  In fact, scholars believe that he is the model for Shakespeare's Prospero in "The Tempest."  Doctor Destiny is a good reincarnation of John Dee because like Dee, Destiny is a dabbler into the occult and is known for his supernatural prowess.
Gaiman adds much to all of these characters that he signifies on.  Berger told Gaiman to come up with an original version of the Sandman.  He did so in a way that gave other forgotten or unused characters at DC a chance to continue their stories.  Of course, Gaiman used the hosts of 1970's horror titles that he read as a child.  He also continued the story of Matt Cable, an important character from one of DC's most successful titles in the 1980's.   Lyta Hall, a new character of the 1980's, had a new, tragic chapter added to her story.  Finally, Gaiman used Doctor Destiny, a villain that manipulated dreams, and gave him the name John Dee.  Gaiman did not have to include any of these characters, but he did.  By adding these characters, Gaiman added and included himself in the history of Sandmen, DC's horror titles, and the DC canon of characters. 
The Sandmen
	As mentioned in the chapter on the history of comic books, characters named the Sandman appear throughout its history.  Neil Gaiman's Sandman is just another to add to the list.  However, Gaiman, aware of the history of the name, signifies on the DC characters that used that name in comic books.
	The Golden Age version of The Sandman was Wesley Dodds.  He first appeared in New York's World's Fair Comics #1 (April 1939).  The date that the Sandman first appeared is significant because Superman was the only other costumed super hero around at the time (Batman first appeared in May 1939).  In the origin of the Sandman, Dodds explains that the main reason he decides to fight crime is because he is tired of watching the sands of time pass by him.  His costume consisted of a suit and trenchcoat with a gas mask and hat.  Dodds was a lot like Batman, a wealthy playboy who uses his wealth to make gadgets to stop crime.  The Sandman had his gas gun, which put criminals to sleep.
	The Golden Age Sandman's home series was Adventure Comics.  He appeared there from 1939 to 1946.  In 1941, the Sandman dropped his gothic costume for tights, the super hero norm.  Also, he found a sidekick, Sandy.  By the end of his tenure at Adventure Comics, the classic comic book team Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (Captain America and Boy Commandos) became the regular artists for his adventures.  Also, the Sandman was a founding member of the Justice Society of America.  So, the Golden Age Sandman, although not a known character of the Golden Age, is a primary participant in the beginning of comic books.
	The Golden Age Sandman returned in the mid-1980's with the revamped Justice Society in All-Star Squadron and appeared briefly in Crisis of Infinite Earths.  The end of all the marginal Golden Age characters happened in The Last Days of the JSA (1986).  In that issue, Sandman with the rest of the JSA went to Asgard and fought to prevent the destruction of the universe.  This battle is in a "time loop" and will apparently last for eternity.
	In May 1993, the Golden Age Sandman received his own title for the first time called Sandman Mystery Theatre.  This, of course, was due to the success of Gaiman's Sandman.  It was written by Matt Wagner and has created its own following because of the film noir genre that Wagner uses on the 1930's character.  The two Sandmen met only once in a special written by Neil Gaiman called Sandman Midnight Theatre.  Sandman Mystery Theatre ended in early 1999.  Wesley Dodds appeared in the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come in 1998 and, recently, DC revived All-Star Comics and Star-Spangled Comics starring the Sandman as a special for the Justice Society of America.
	Gaiman signifies on this character in the first storyline of The Sandman.  In the initial chapter, Gaiman explains how the Magus Roderick Burgess captures Dream in 1914.  With Dream imprisoned, some humans either cannot sleep again or cannot wake up again.  After showing some of the humans that cannot wake up, Gaiman writes, "The universe knows someone is missing, and slowly it attempts to replace him" (P&N 1:18).  Gaiman then shows Wesley Dodds and how his nightmares stopped ever since he started fighting crime as the Sandman.  The idea to fight crime came from his dream "...about the man in the strange helmet...." (P&N 1:18).  The man in the strange helmet is Dream.  Dodds used a gas mask because of Dream's helmet, which resembles a gas mask.
	Except for Moore's deconstruction of the Swamp Thing, no writer has changed a canonical character like this.  Gaiman shifts the extremes and explains how his Sandman came before and actually influenced Wesley Dodds to become the Sandman through his dreams.  In comic book continuity, it is Gaiman's Sandman who is the most important.
	Gaiman emphasized this point in Sandman Midnight Theatre.  In this story, the Golden Age Sandman and Dream meet for the first and only time.    The story takes place in the early 1940's.  A good friend of Dodd's killed himself over a letter he received from the Order of Ancient Mysteries, the organization run by Roderick Burgess.  The Sandman finds the organization and tries to see why his friend killed himself after hearing from them.  The letter was an invitation to a party at Fawney Rig, Roderick Burgess' mansion.  Apparently, Burgess' organization was blackmailing hundreds of people with compromising photographs, but had promised to end the blackmailing after the party.  The Sandman goes to England and looks around Fawney Rig to find any of the photographs or money.  Along the way, he stumbles across Dream's cage.  In a swift but moving scene, Dream says to Dodds: "You.  I know you.  There is some of me in you.  Poor creature.  It cannot be easy for you.  There is nothing you can do for me.  Now, forget" (Sandman Midnight Theatre 52).  Of course, the Sandman walks back up into the main part of the mansion and discovers who was blackmailing the people.
	Through Dream's condescending and curt attitude towards Dodds, Gaiman signifies on the original Sandman.  First, Dream pays homage as well as condescends to Dodds when he says that part of Dream is in Dodds.  Again, this reinforces the idea that the Golden Age Sandman could not have existed without Gaiman's Sandman.  Nonetheless, Gaiman pays homage to this character by the mere fact that he establishes a relationship with both characters.
	Wesley Dodds also appeared in the epilogue of the Sandman, WK.  Wesley gives a speech at Dream's funeral and in it, once again, Gaiman signifies on Dodds' dependence on Dream.  "I'm not a young man anymore.  I'm retired now.  But I sometimes think that all the things in my life that have made it worth the living have been as a result of my connection with the dead gentleman" (WK 77).  So near the end of his life, Dodds freely admits how his actions of a super hero are entirely because of the existence of Dream.
	The Golden Age Sandman appeared in Gaiman's Sandman only one other time as a reference.  In SOM, Dream had the key to Hell and Odin offers an interesting gift to Dream for the key.  Odin explains that Ragnarok is the only thing that scares him:
Some years ago, it occurred to me that it is easier to fight something one knows about.  I created a world--a notional dimension--and in it, I fashioned a tiny Ragnarok.  In my world, the last battle is fought, day in, day out, forever.  I have learned much from it.  One thing that surprised me, though, was when my little world gained further warriors--ones I had not created.  I do not know how they got there, nor why they fight, these little mortal heroes.  But look, they war alongside my wee Aesir in the battle unending.  And--this will interest you, Dream-Weaver,--one of them has some of your essence in him.  He is a vessel for a fraction of your soul.  Were you to grant me the Hell that was Lucifer's as my domain, I would give him to you.  (SOM 5:14-15)
Of course, the person with the essence of Dream is the Golden Age Sandman and the fight is what took place in The Last Days of the JSA.  Gaiman signifies on The Last Days by making that issue an experiment of Odin's.  After the benefactor of the key was decided, Dream tells Odin that he regrets that he was forced to reject the offer.  This implies that the gift from Odin was interesting to Dream.
	Wesley Dodds is a significant character in the Dream mythos.  If there never was a Golden Age Sandman, there would never have been a modern re-creation of him.  Nonetheless, Gaiman signifies on that character by insisting the opposite.  Also, Gaiman's Sandman is far superior to the other Sandman.  However, through Dream's interest in Odin's gift and Dream's respect towards Dodds, Gaiman pays some homage to one of the original costumed super heroes.  
	Gaiman signifies on Sandmen in the proper order in his series.  In the first storyline, he signifies on the Golden Age Sandman.  In DH, Gaiman signifies on the Silver Age Sandman and his successor, Hector Hall.  Gaiman's signification on the Silver Age Sandman is more ridicule than respect.  
	Gaiman admits that it is the Silver Age Sandman that caught his attention (Comics Journal #163 70).  After all, DC published this Sandman while Gaiman was young.  Gaiman could have read some of the Silver Age Sandman’s six issue series, but he never mentioned it.  Even though the Golden Age and Silver Age Sandman are nothing alike (one is a wealthy playboy who wants to fight crime and the other is a man trapped in the dream stream making sure dreams carry on), there is a connection between the two characters.  As mentioned Joe Simon and Jack Kirby produced stories of the Golden Age Sandman in Adventure Comics up until his cancellation in 1946.  In 1974, they collaborated together for the last time to produce the Silver Age Sandman.  The Sandman #1 was supposed to be a one-shot special and no more.  However, reader response encouraged DC to make The Sandman an on-going series.
	The Silver Age Sandman was Sanford Garrett, a man who directed Project Sandman at UCLA.  Garrett created the Dream Monitor, which enabled him to see dreams.  Near the end of the project, Washington, D.C. summoned Garrett because the President was in a comatose sleep.  The dream monitor was hooked up to an experimental machine that allowed someone to enter dreams.  Garrett volunteered to do so and stopped the monster that imprisoned the President in his sleep.  Unfortunately, Garrett was trapped in the dream stream and the government sent the dream monitor into the dream stream.   Garrett decided to help humanity in the dream stream and named himself the Sandman after the costumed super hero of the 1940's.  Garrett created a home, the Dream Dome, in the dream stream and his two sidekicks were two nightmares called Brute and Glob. Garrett could enter the waking world for one hour a day, though. Throughout the six issue series, Garrett befriended a young boy, Jed Paulsen, who lived with his grandfather, Ezra, in a lighthouse.
	For years, this Sandman lay dormant until Gaiman mentioned his interest in a character that lives in dreams.  Gaiman's editor told Gaiman that she liked it, but to create a new character because Roy Thomas already had a plan to use the character.  In May 1988, Thomas utilized the Sandman in his series Infinity, Inc.  Lyta Hall's boyfriend, the Silver Scarab, ended up dying after a spirit took over his body.  In issue 50 of Infinity Inc., Hall returns as the new Sandman and explains how he became him after he died:
I remember drifting...Like an eternity...Then being plucked out of a black sky by hands I couldn't see...And dragged across something they called the dream stream.  So there was I--with my friends first thinking me turned into a monster, and then deader than a doornail--strapped into a machine with more wires and attachments than Michael Jackson has buckles--being force-fed info about some guy I'd never even heard of--by my rescuers--A couple of walking bad dreams who called themselves Brute and Glob
Then he describes who Sanford Garrett is and how he went insane in the dream stream and simply dies.  Hall continues to explain his relationship with Garrett:
Sounds like quite a guy.  And it’s a good thing I do like him--'Cause when the machine spits me out, I am him!  What I mean-- his body’s been altered to receive my--well, my soul, I guess--and it's now identical to my Hec Hall body. (Infinity, Inc. #50 13-14)
Hall and Lyta reunite their love and even though Hector can only spend one hour a day in the waking world, Lyta agrees to marry him and they spend their lives in the Dream Dome.
	In DH, Gaiman introduces Brute and Glob in a different light.  While Dream rebuilds his kingdom since his imprisonment, Lucien the Librarian reports any creatures missing from the Dreaming.  Brute and Glob, according to Lucien, "vanished a few decades ago" (DH 3:13).  At the same time, Rose Walker, a major character of DH, searches for her missing brother, Jed.  Jed stayed with his father, Burt Paulsen, after he divorced his mother Miranda Walker.  After Burt's death, Jed stayed with Ezra Paulsen, their grandfather in a lighthouse. Ezra died, however, in 1985.  Of course, this is the same Ezra and Jed from the Silver Age Sandman series.
	Rose finds out that Jed is under the custody of their father's cousin, Clarice, and her husband, Barnaby.  The death of Ezra and Clarice's adoption of Jed took place in Sandman #5-6.  The modern Clarice and Barnaby treat Jed brutally.  They lock him in the basement with no furniture or facilities.  To Barnaby and Clarice, Jed is an investment for the money they receive to take care of him.  When Jed sleeps, he plays with the Sandman and his wife Lyta Hall.  Brute and Glob are there to keep things interesting.  When Dream realizes that Brute and Glob created a fake dreamworld and appointed their own Dream King (first Garrett and then Hall), he is far from pleased.  When Dream "attacks," Hall thinks that Dream is a nightmare.  Dream, irritated by Hall, says, "Little ghost.  Little ghost, get out of my way" (DH 5:13).  Hall keeps on throwing his dream arsenal at him, but nothing happens.  Finally, Dream asks Hall who he is.  Hall responds, "I am the Sandman, Guardian of the dreams of men, protector against wicked nightmares, Lord of the Dream Dome, and friend of children everywhere" (DH 5:17)!  Gaiman represents Hector Hall just like Garrett Sanford in terms of the quixotic dialogue that he says.  Dream laughs at Hall's foolishness and brings everyone out of Jed's head.  He banishes Brute and Glob, "reminds" Hector Hall that he is dead and informs Lyta Hall that the unborn child in her womb belongs to him since he lived in the Dreaming so long.
	Gaiman signifies on the Silver Age Sandman by continuing the story that Roy Thomas added to.  Like Garrett, Hall only lived in a fake Dream Stream that Brute and Glob created because of Dream's absence.  Dream's laughter at Hall when Hall calls himself the Sandman and the way Dream referred to Hall as "little ghost" is Gaiman signifying on how this version of the Sandman is ridiculous.  The Golden Age Sandman had a fraction of Dream within him, but the second Sandman is only something to be laughed at.
	Even though Karen Berger told Gaiman to create a new Sandman, which he did, Gaiman did not create a schism between the past two (or three) Sandmen.  After all, the previous creators of the Silver Age did not create such a schism when Sanford Garrett named himself the Sandman after the 1940's Sandman.  Gaiman saw his Sandman as a part of the lineage of Sandmen in DC history.
Alan Moore 
	Alan Moore influenced Gaiman more than any other comic book writer.  In the last issue of The Sandman, Gaiman singles out Moore as a large influence on the comic book medium.  "Without [Alan Moore] there certainly wouldn't have been Sandman, the Vertigo imprint, and I'd probably still be a frustrated journalist" (Sandman #75).  Also, Gaiman believes that the "British Invasion" of comic book writers in the late eighties was due to Moore's success.  "...We are to some extent in the wake of Alan [Moore]: we are the Tremeloes and the Derek and the Dominos to his Rolling Stones" (Comics Journal #155 65).  A writer of this magnitude cannot be ignored.  Gaiman does so by signifying on Moore's work at DC throughout The Sandman.
	Gaiman signifies on John Constantine, Moore's most successful original character for DC.  Constantine, a cold-hearted practitioner in magic and the black arts, first appeared in Moore's run in Swamp Thing (1984).  Constantine helped Swamp Thing learn his true nature in terms of his lineage during the "American Gothic" storyline (issues 39-50).  Constantine shows Swamp Thing that he is the most recent of a long lineage of plant elementals.  Moore's character, therefore, provided the true history of Swamp Thing; a history that the creators of Swamp Thing never considered.  After "American Gothic," Constantine appeared non-regularly in Swamp Thing.  He became quite popular and DC began Constantine's own series, Hellblazer by Jamie Delano and John Ridgeway.  By the time Hellblazer began, Moore had left DC to pursue independent projects.
	Hellblazer is the longest running series in Vertigo and Constantine became the quintessential Vertigo character.  Over the years, many writers wrote about the pessimistic black magician who still cares about humanity.  Subsequently, myths surrounding Constantine evolved over the past decade.  One aspect that writers added to the Constantine myth is that he is the most recent in a strong lineage of dabblers in the occult.  Also, every Constantine that engages in black arts usually brings destruction upon him or herself and loved ones.
	Gaiman first used Constantine in Dream's search for his pouch of sand.  The Fates tell Dream that John Constantine was the last to purchase his pouch.  So, Dream goes to Constantine and throughout the issue Gaiman makes references to the Constantine mythos.  First of all, Constantine remarks that he should "introduce [Dream] to the big green bloke..." (P&N 3:9).  He is referring to Swamp Thing.  Also, while Constantine searches for the pouch, he checks files labeled Brujeria, Plant Elemental, Crisis, American Gothic, Liverpool, and Tibet.  These are references to experiences he had in Swamp Thing and Hellblazer.  In the end, Constantine asks Dream if he could help with a recurring nightmare about Newcastle.  Newcastle is a reference to an exorcism that Constantine botched up and never forgave himself.  Finally, Constantine mentions how he used to play with a band called Mucous Membrane.  All of these things are specific references to his past in other series.  Gaiman shows how he knows Constantine and his background, which creates a connection to The Sandman and Hellblazer.   Gaiman becomes a part of the Constantine tradition.
	Gaiman also adds to the Constantine lineage by introducing Lady Johanna Constantine in DH.  In that collection, Dream meets with a mortal, Hob Gadling, once every century.  Johanna Constantine thinks that they are the Devil and the Wandering Jew and tries to kidnap them in order to gain knowledge.  Dream effortlessly fends her off and leaves.
	A century later, Dream tells Gadling that he summoned her for a task: to bring the head of Orpheus out of Revolutionary France.  The head of Orpheus is dangerous to the new republic because Robespierre, the leader, wants to eradicate all objects of superstition in order to create a new religion of reason.  Constantine succeeds in leaving France with Orpheus and gives him to the priests of Naxos who hide and protect him.
	Gaiman signifies on Moore's creation, John Constantine, by adding onto his rich history of ancestors.  Gaiman could have made the rescuer of Orpheus a new, original character, but he chose to create an ancestor of John Constantine, Moore's only original creation in DC continuity that is still around.
	Gaiman also signifies on the smiley face button from Moore's Watchmen, one of the most famous images in comic book history.   The image constitutes of a smiley face button with a splatter of blood in the left-hand corner.  It looks like the smiley face had a head wound.  In Death: The High Cost of Living, Death becomes human one day in every century.  In 1993, she spends her one mortal day as Didi.  Didi helps a young man contemplating suicide learn the value of life.  For most of the day that she is mortal, she walks around with a smiley face button on her jacket.
	The smiley button image on her jacket functions in two ways.  First, it is a reinforcement of Death's or Didi's perky attitude towards life.  Gaiman's Death is popular because she is a woman and she has an optimistic view on life.  This is quite different from the traditional Grim Reaper image of death.  Gaiman's Death is so optimistic that she was able to bring her cold, practical brother, Dream, out of his depression in P&N.
	Second, as a comic book writer, Gaiman understands the importance that the smiley face button had on the comic book medium.  The image of a smiley button with a splatter of blood in the upper left-hand corner represents the pessimism towards the world that Moore reflected.
	Gaiman uses this image and puts it on Didi.  She goes about her day and dies after 24 hours with the smiley face button.  Death walking around with a smiley face button without a splatter of blood makes a statement about life in general.  The importance of life and how even Death has a positive outlook on life is the theme of The High Cost of Living.  Gaiman, then, gives an added dimension to the smiley face image.  It no longer represents pessimism in the 1980's, but optimism in the 1990's.
	In DH of The Sandman, Gaiman shows two specific references to Moore's Watchmen.  In the third panel on the first page of chapter 5, there is an image of the bloodstained smiley face.  Also, in panels 4-5 on page 12, the phrase "Who watches the Watchmen?" is spray-painted on a wall in the background.  Protesters of super heroes spray-painted that phrase in Watchmen.  
	In the last issue of The Sandman, Gaiman gives the origin of a well-known English rhyme.  While Shakespeare is writing "The Tempest," Ben Jonson visits him.  They take a walk and they see some children burning a likeness of Guy Fawkes.  Jonson thinks England will forget the fifth of November, the date that Guy Fawkes tried to bomb Parliament.  Shakespeare recommends that they create a rhyme so that England will never forget the event.  Shakespeare starts the rhyme and Jonson finishes it:
Shakespeare: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot..."  There:  Ben, can you complete the doggerel?
Jonson: Um.  Let me see. Hmm.  No, I have it.  "I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."  There.
Shakespeare:  It'll serve.  There: Now, we'll teach it to that urchin, and he'll teach it to his friends, and it'll last a hundred years...(WK 161)
The significance of Shakespeare and Jonson creating this rhyme is that Moore used it as a source for V For Vendetta, which he finished with DC Comics in 1988.
	The main character, V, a subversive anarchist, rebels against a fascist government in England in 1997.   To hide his appearance, V wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the series. In the first chapter, V plants a bomb and destroys Parliament on November 5, 1997.  That same night he rescues a young girl, Evey, from a gang of police thugs.  After V saves her, he repeats the rhyme to her and explains that he planted the bomb.  Needless to say, Moore creates a modern Guy Fawkes in V.
	In the same manner as the Golden Age Sandman, Gaiman signifies on V by suggesting in his fiction that an act that he represents helped cause V's existence.  If Shakespeare and Jonson had never made up the rhyme about Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes would have been forgotten, and V would never have been a modern Guy Fawkes who rebels against a tyrannical England.
	The images, rhymes, and characters that Gaiman used were not inadvertent.  Gaiman sent a message that said Moore's work had a lasting effect on himself and the comic book medium.  Gaiman reminds his audience about Moore's major works with DC through these references.  When a reader realizes that Matthew the Raven appeared in Swamp Thing, he or she will want to know about the origins of the character. Moore's work at DC tends to be forgotten despite how popular they were.  Gaiman's little references help remind his audience that Alan Moore is a writer whose contributions to comic books should not be forgotten.  These connections to both writers add a new depth to The Sandman.
Other Comic Book Signifying
	Gaiman signifies on many different comic book characters throughout The Sandman.  Besides characters already mentioned, Gaiman takes several other characters from the DC canon of characters and uses them within the context of The Sandman.  Most are unknown characters lost in obscurity.  Gaiman explains how he enjoys using unknown characters.  "Every few years I will take a completely forgotten character of the kind that people laugh about...I do them partly as an experiment to see how they work, what works about them, and whether you can use these strange vehicles to say anything" (Comics Journal #169 75-76).  They function as minor characters as a part of the series.  Gaiman also uses other characters in cameo roles to add depth and richness to The Sandman.
	One of the best examples of Gaiman's signifying on a comic book character is his utilization of The Prez.  The Prez is Prez Rickard, a character from the Experimental Period of comic books.  As a teenager, Prez decided to fix all the clocks of his hometown, Steadfast, because they are all set on different times.  He does so and becomes a news sensation.  Boss Smiley, a corrupt politician and the Mayor of Central City, hears about Prez and wants to use him as a puppet politician.  Boss Smiley convinces Prez to run for Senator.  Boss Smiley assumes that Prez will do anything he tells him to, but Prez has integrity and relinquishes Boss Smiley's support.  Prez wins the election and eventually becomes the President of the United States.
	The Prez lasted four issues (1973-74) and Prez also appeared in an issue of Supergirl (1974).  Otherwise the Prez has not appeared in much else.  After all, the first issue exclaimed, "This is the story of the most powerful man on earth.  He is not super hero, but a teenager who becomes the President of the United States" (Prez #1 2, emphasis mine).    Because of this, it is hard for the Prez to appear anywhere else except in a series of his own.  He is a limited character in a medium overrun with super heroes.
	In 1993, Gaiman displayed his brilliancy at reviving old characters from the past with a re-telling of the Prez’s story.  Brant Tucker, the main character of WE, finds himself in an inn where travelers who are caught in a storm pass the time telling stories until the storm blows over.  Tucker runs into an oriental man in the inn who tells him the story of Prez Rickard.  According to the oriental man, there are many Americas in different dimensions.  The oriental man has been searching for Prez Rickard for quite some time.  As he puts it, he goes to different Americas searching for Prez.  Of course, Tucker and most of the readers had never heard of Prez Rickard because he was never President in Tucker's America.  The oriental man explains to Tucker who Prez is and why he is so special.
	The oriental man’s story begins with Prez’s birth.  Prez’s mother “understood that names have power” and named him Prez, “short for President” (WE 93).  The rest of the story by Gaiman resembles Prez #1 by Joe Simon, but Gaiman adds much to the legend of Prez Rickard.  Gaiman keeps the legend that Prez fixed all the clocks in Steadfast and that Boss Smiley came to offer Prez a life in politics. As in The Prez, Prez refuses Boss Smiley’s offer.
	As Gaiman mentioned he intended to make a synoptic gospel.  In a personal interview, Gaiman explained how the election of Bill Clinton in 1992 helped inspire him for his rendition of the Prez.  "And I thought, you know these people don’t want a politician, they don’t want a president, they want God. They just want Jesus.  Somebody to come down from the sky and make everything okay for them.  So I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to write an account of a presidential election as a synoptic gospel - a presidency as a synoptic gospel.  And the Prez seemed the perfect vehicle to do that" (Appendix I).  Gaiman takes material from the original series and makes Prez into a Christ-like figure.
	In the opening panel of the story, a star appears in the sky after Prez's birth.  This is just like the Star of Bethlehem that announced the coming of Christ.  As a teenager, Prez’s mother lost Prez in town.  “She found him some hours later, in the town hall, talking with the city leaders about civics, answering their questions with a depth and perspicacity that amazed his elders” (WE 94).  This is exactly how Mary lost Jesus of Nazareth and found him talking with his elders about religious matters (Luke 2:42-52).  Of course, in the Prez, he discusses politics with his elders, not issues of faith.
 	Prez is tempted by Boss Smiley just as Jesus was by the devil (Luke 4:1-13 and Matthew 4:1-11).  Boss Smiley takes Prez “to a high place.  Boss Smiley showed him all of America, from Disneyland to Coney Island, from the concrete mountains of Manhattan to the golf courses of Miami” (WE 95).  Boss Smiley then asks Prez if he wants to be President.  Prez answers yes and Boss Smiley says it will be done, but Prez owes him by remembering who gave him success.  Prez then refuses him. “I will be President, sir.  But I will do it in my own way, and in my own time.  No, thank you, Boss Smiley” (WE 96).  Boss Smiley shows him America and offers him the Presidency.  Prez, like Jesus, refuses the offer.
	On the day that Prez Rickard becomes President, many miraculous things happen. 
A baby was born to a couple in New Haven, CT., with a birthmark in the shape of the USA on her back, lacking only Hawaii and Alaska.  During a 42nd street screening of Hot Teenage Love Sluts, the climatic sex scene was interrupted by the couple replacing their clothes and performing highlights from Guys and Dolls to an outraged audience.  In Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, every slot machine in the building bestowed its jackpot simultaneously.  In addition, many blind people regained their sight, deaf people regained their hearing and an uncountable number of organic or hysterical illnesses, some of a terminal nature, spontaneously vanished, never to return. (WE 99) 
Miracles all over America predict Prez's election.  These miracles give Prez a savior or Christ-like status.  Prez, of course, has an unprecedented record as President.  He makes peace in the Middle East, reduces the federal deficit, the national debt, etc.  Throughout this, Prez does not know who Boss Smiley is.  The next time they meet, Boss Smiley tells Prez that he doesn’t exist and disappears.  In Prez’s second term, Prez marries his high school sweetheart.  She is inadvertently shot during an assassination attempt on the Prez.  After that, Prez becomes more subdued and finishes his term.  Nonetheless, Prez has a godlike term as President.
	Just as Prez represents a Christ-like figure, Boss Smiley represents the devil.  Boss Smiley, in the original series, is an actual politician that runs Central City.  Here, however, Boss Smiley was “the prince of the world…Most people thought him a dream, or a ghost, but they carried his likeness on them for luck or for happiness” (WE 94-95).  The phrase prince of the world was a title for the devil.  Just like the devil, Boss Smiley tempts Prez with the whole world as long as Prez worships him.  After Prez's wife's death, Boss Smiley appears on Prez's TV.  He offers Prez his wife as long as Prez serves him.  Prez again denies him.
	After Prez's term in office, Gaiman makes the Prez a true American myth.  Prez's successor wanted Prez as an advisor, but Prez refused.  Soon after that, Prez left, never to be heard of again.  "Prez sightings became as frequent as Elvis sightings" (WE 107).  There were many theories of his death, but nothing was confirmed.  
	The oriental man pauses in his story and says the rest of his story is hearsay.  The following scene involves Death and Prez.  Death leads Prez to his afterlife, which is the realm of Boss Smiley, and Boss Smiley wants Prez to be at his right hand.  Death, worried about Prez, tells Dream about his situation.  After talking to Boss Smiley, Prez realizes there are more Americas out there.  Prez would rather wander around other Americas, but Boss Smiley does not allow him.  Then, Dream comes and shows Prez where to go in order to find other Americas.  Dream identifies himself as the Prince of Stories, which puts Prez under his jurisdiction. Boss Smiley, inadvertently, explains why Prez is under Dream’s jurisdiction.  “You’re becoming a mythical figure, Prez.  You’re already a symbol of a more innocent time” (WE 111).  Again Dream, as the Prince of Stories, reigns over Prez and his mythological status.  Prez becomes an American myth.
	Gaiman signifies on the Prez, this unknown 1970’s comic book figure, by modernizing and continuing his story.  Gaiman gives the Prez Christ-like characteristics and a mythical status in American folklore.  Beyond that, Gaiman also appropriates the Prez into his own saga of the Endless.  Once again, a character, this time marginal, becomes a part of the Sandman mythos.
	The last panel of page 99 in WE shows Prez with some of his followers in a car during a parade with a smiley button bouncing off the hood of the car.  The exact same image was on the cover of Prez #1. Again, the use of that image reinforces the fact that the Prez from the 1970’s is the same in 1994, but with some minor adjustments in Gaiman’s style.
	Gaiman also adds to the career of Mr. Miracle, another character from the 1970’s.  Mr. Miracle, otherwise known as Scott Free, however, is a mainstream example of Gaiman’s signification. He starred in the third title of Jack Kirby's "Fourth World," which consisted of The New Gods, The Forever People, and Mr. Miracle.  All of these titles came out in early 1971. Jack Kirby, the most prolific artist in the comic book medium, created, wrote and illustrated all of these titles.  The "Fourth World" fits into the Experimental Period because Kirby created a whole new spectrum of characters.  In an interview, Gaiman explained how he enjoyed Kirby's "Fourth World" over his previous work (Comics Journal #155 72).
	Mr. Miracle was the longest running “Fourth World” title and ended in 1974 with Free's marriage to Big Barda, another Apokalips refugee.  In 1977, DC revived Mr. Miracle along with another New Gods without Kirby.  This chapter of Mr. Miracle only lasted until 1978.  In 1986, DC produced Legends, another major crossover event like Crisis on Infinite Earths.  In the last issue of Legends, the super heroes involved created the new Justice League (minus "of America").  Mr. Miracle was a founding member of this new Justice League.  In issue #7, Justice League changed to Justice League International because the United Nations sanctioned this new Justice League and they now had embassies throughout the world.  By 1989, Justice League International split up into two series; Justice League America and Justice League Europe.  Mr. Miracle stayed as a member of Justice League America.  Also, from 1989 to 1991, DC published another Mr. Miracle series.
	Kirby explained that the New Gods replaced the Old Gods (Greek and Roman) after they destroyed themselves.  The New Gods lived on either New Genesis or Apokalips.  New Genesis was a planet full of love and light and Apokalips was a planet filled with hatred and darkness.  One day, Darkseid, the prince of Apokalips, encouraged his uncle, Steppenwolf, to go hunting.  They found Izaya, the prince of New Genesis, and Avia, his wife.  Steppenwolf attacks Izaya and during the battle inadvertently kills Avia.  Darkseid thinks he has killed Izaya, but Izaya survives and war begins between the two planets.
	Overwhelmed by the carnage that the war brought to both planets, Izaya rescinds his weapons of war and finds the Source.  The Source is a wall of energy that flows through the universe and helps Izaya, now Highfather, to bring peace throughout the universe.  Highfather and Darkseid make a pact to exchange their sons to end the war.  Darkseid sends his son, Orion, to New Genesis and Highfather sends his unnamed son to Apokalips.  Darkseid then sends Highfather's son to Granny Goodness' orphanage, which creates cold, impersonal warriors.  Darkseid feels he won either way because he plans to make Highfather's son one of his own or the boy’s escape from Apokalips will break the treaty and begin the war again.  As a joke and to encourage Highfather's son to flee Apokalips, Granny Goodness names Highfather's son Scott Free (New Gods #7).
	In Mr. Miracle #9, Kirby explains how Scott Free left Apokalips.  As a young aerotrooper for Darkseid's elite, Scott Free elicited the help of Himon, a rebel in Apokalips who tries to give hope to the people of Apokalips.  He also teaches people how to build a mother box, a box whose energy comes from the Source and provides protection for its owner.  Himon also taught Scott Free tricks of an escape artist.  Darkseid caught some of Himon's followers and told Willik, a guard, to kill them as a message to others that thought about betraying Darkseid.  The followers who were caught were friends of Free and they included Kreetin, Zep, Weldun, Bravo and Auralie, the only female follower of Himon.
After Willik showed Scott Free the dead followers of Himon, Free started to attack Willik, but stopped.  He stopped and left because he saw Himon plant a bomb on Willik.  Once they were safely away from an attack, Himon explains to Scott Free why Darkseid hates him so much.  "I'm a dreamer!  A visionary!  A 'think-tank' who pioneered the calculating mother box and linked it with the Source!...I dream" (Mr. Miracle #9 21)!  Himon then encourages Scott Free to leave Apokalips.  These words only confuse Free.
	Then, the Para-Demons, Darkseid's personal guards, attack Free.  While evading the Para-demons, Free decides to escape.  In an area of mass gravity atoms, Scott Free crawls toward a Boom Tube set up by Himon that will send him away from Apokalips.  Before he goes, Darkseid appears and offers Free to stay and complete his training as a warrior.  Finally, Free jumps into the Boom Tube and says, "LET ME BE SCOTT FREE--AND FIND MYSELF" (Mr. Miracle #9 26).  With Free gone, the treaty was over and war began again.  Scott Free found himself on Earth and became Mr. Miracle, the best escape artist ever.  Along the way he fought Darkseid's warriors and became a super hero.  As mentioned, he had a semi-prolific career at DC, but has recently been removed from any monthly comic book.
	In DH, Dream asks the Three Witches about his ruby that is lost.  They tell him, "Ask the League of Justice about its present whereabouts" (P&N 2:21).  So, Dream tries to find this League of Justice and finds the JLI.  He enters the JLI's embassy through one of Scott Free's dreams (P&N 5:5-8).  Gaiman utilizes images and characters from "Himon" into Scott Free's dream which shows its authenticity.  The people in his dream keep asking him, "What is your name?"  He answers, "Scott Free," but that isn't the real answer.  Actually, he is a man without a name, but writers of Mr. Miracle did not discuss this point.  This man's only name, Scott Free, was a joke; he has no name.  After Mr. Miracle and the Martian Manhunter tell Dream where he might find his ruby, Dream thanks them and says to Mr. Miracle, "I hope you find your name Scott Free, Goodnight" (P&N 5:15).
	Gaiman shows a new level of Mr. Miracle through this dream.  Gaiman investigates the nightmares that Scott Free must have had over the years about his time on Apokalips.  Like the Prez, Gaiman adds onto the history of the character by addressing the importance of Scott Free not having a name.  After all, the key to his escape in the dream is by finding out his real name.  Without his real name, there is only death.  Gaiman adds to Mr. Miracle's history with this new dimension of an already rich mythos.
	"Facade" from DrC presented the end of Element Girl, one of DC's marginal characters from the Silver Age.  Element Girl first appeared in Metamorpho (1967).  Metamorpho first appeared in The Brave and the Bold (1964) where Rex Mason stumbled onto a meteorite in a pyramid that gave him the power to be any element from the human body.  He received his own series in 1965.  In issue #10, Urania Blackwell, a secret agent who was in love with Mason became Element Girl in order to fight crime alongside Mason.  Metamorpho asks Blackwell how she received the same powers.  "The same way you did, Element Man!  I entered that same pyramid in the canyons of the Upper Nile, and exposed myself to the same meteorite's power" (Metamorpho #10 4).
	Metamorpho ended with issue 17.  Element Girl appeared in most of the issues after her first appearance.  Unlike today, most titles ended without a grand finale ending.  Therefore, Element Girl never had an ending.  Metamorpho appeared later in other comic books such as The Outsiders, but without Element Girl.
	"Facade" is a prime example of Gaiman signifying on a character to continue, or in this case to end, the story of a character.  Blackwell is a retired agent for the government and she sits in her apartment doing nothing.  She is frightened to go outside because she can't make herself look normal anymore.  She only talks to an agent by the name of Mulligan who she's never met.  In Gaiman's usual style, there is a dream sequence that shows her origin and her inner turmoil (DrC 4:6-7).  Notice in the sequence, Blackwell says that her origin did not happen like it is portrayed in the dream, which is true, because she exposed herself to a meteorite.  By integrating Ra into her origin, Gaiman merges comic book stories with mythology.  Later in the issue, Death drops by to offer Blackwell some advice and they talk about life and death.  In the end, Death tells Blackwell to talk to Ra and see if he can do something about it.  Of course, Ra offers her death and the story (and Blackwell's life) ends.
	Gaiman shows credibility by mentioning characters from the original series.  While talking to Blackwell, Death mentions the death of Algon, another metamorphae that died in Metamorpho.  This is an allusion to an incident that happened in the original Metamorpho series.  This allusion establishes a link between the original issues and Gaiman's issue.  
	Gaiman signifies on Element Girl by incorporating Egyptian mythology and his own mythology into an old DC super hero.  As mentioned, Death recalls an incident that only Element Girl and Metamorpho saw; however, if Death is immortal and is at every death, then she certainly saw that event.  Also, the incorporation of Ra into the origin of Element Girl makes it a relevant story in The Sandman.  This issue is a classic example of how Gaiman merges comic book mythology with other myths.
In AGOY, Gaiman appropriates Bizarro, another canonical character from the 1960’s era of the Silver Age.  Bizarro is an imperfect copy of Superman.  “His flesh is white, the color of chalk, and his face appears faceted, as though it had been chiseled out of rock.  His black hair is matted and unkempt.  He is well meaning but witless, super powerful but pathetic.  His speech is illiterate and ungrammatical” (Fleisher 17).  Bizarro first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958).  Professor Dalton created a Duplicator Ray to create more raw materials for the world.  However, the Duplicator Ray only made imperfect copies.  After showing Superboy a test, Professor Dalton realized it was a failure.  While Superboy was leaving, Professor Dalton tripped and inadvertently struck Superboy with the ray.  The result was Bizarro.  Since Superboy remarked that the thing looked bizarre, the creature dubbed himself Bizarro.  Bizarro merely wanted to be accepted by society, but his grotesque features scared people away.  In the end, Superboy destroyed this lifeless matter and ended its misery.
	Years later as Superman (but published a year later), Bizarro came back as an imperfect copy of Superman.  Lex Luthor, Superman’s nemesis, builds another Duplicator ray based on Professor Dalton’s plans.  His intent, however, is to destroy Superman with the creature.  Luthor tricks Superman and strikes him with the ray.  Again, the end result was Bizarro.  Despite Luthor’s plans, Bizarro ignores Luthor’s commands and Superman sends Luthor to jail.
Over time, more and more Bizarro versions appeared; Lois Lane-Bizarro, Batman-Bizarro, Jimmy Olsen-Bizarro, etc.  Eventually, all the Bizarros had their own planet, Htrae (Earth spelled backwards), a square planet that looked like Earth.  The original Bizarro wore a plate on his chest which had, “Bizarro #1.”  Every first type of a Bizarro had the same type of plate.  So, Bizarros filled Htrae and every so often Superman found himself in an adventure with Bizarro.
	Gaiman appropriates Bizarro within the context of Wanda, a transvestite friend of Barbie in AGOY.  Wanda and Barbie talk about dreams and Wanda explains a dream she had as a child:
Wanda:  I once dreamed I was making out with Weirdzo Lila Lake.  You remember the Weirdzos?
Barbie:  Wanda, what are you talking about?
Wanda: The Weirdzos, from the old Hyperman comics.  They lived on this square planet somewhere in outer space, and they did everything backwards.  “Us do opposite of Earth things in Weirdzo world.”  They had these white faces, like they were made of crystal or something, and, like, were all Hyperman or his friends.  And all the women were Lila Lake…I wanted to be to be a Weirdzo, when I grew up.  Weirdzo Alvin.
Barbie: Alvin?  That’s your real name?
Wanda: Wanda’s my real name, Barbie-Baby.  Alvin’s just the name I was born with. (AGOY 1:16-17) 
Obviously, Gaiman uses Bizarro and Superman as a basis for Weirdzo and Hyperman.  Bizarros always talked in ungrammatical sentences just as Wanda demonstrated.  They had crystal, white faces, lived on a square planet and all the women were Lois Lane.  
	Later, Wanda dreams about the Weirdzos and how he is not ready to have a surgery and fully become a woman (AGOY 2:12-13).  Gaiman appropriates the Bizarro/Weirdzo character as representative of transvestites.
	At the end of AGOY, Wanda dies during a terrible storm that tears apart Wanda’s and Barbie’s apartment building.  Barbie wakes up from her “dream,” and finds Wanda dead.  The last chapter acts as the climax and an epilogue.  Barbie gets ready to see Alvin’s/Wanda’s aunt for Alvin's/Wanda’s funeral in his hometown in Kansas. As she waits, she slowly remembers how her story ended in the Dreaming.
	Barbie’s and Alvin’s/Wanda's Aunt Dora meet at a diner and talk about Alvin’s/Wanda's death.  During their conversation, Dora asks Barbie, “You aren’t some kind of weirdo, are you girl” (AGOY 6:11, emphasis mine)?  During the same conversation, their waitress asks Barbie, “Hey.  You a friend of Alvin?  The Mann boy?”
“Yes.”
“I was at high school with him.  Weird kid.  Still, we were all sorry to hear.”
“Thanks.” (AGOY 6:11, emphasis mine)
Gaiman associates the word “weird” with transvestite through the language of the aunt and the waitress.  Gaiman finalizes how this character from the 1960's represents transvestitism.
	After Alvin/Wanda’s funeral, Barbie gives a farewell speech to Alvin/Wanda.  Barbie then takes out an 80 Page Giant of Hyperman featuring tales from the Weirdzo world and throws it into her grave (AGOY 6:20). This is an exact duplicate of Superman #202, which was an "80-page Giant" of tales of the Bizarro world.  80 Page Giants were frequent special comic books from the 1960’s, which featured reprints of a similar theme.  Finally, she takes Alvin's/Wanda’s favorite lipstick and crosses out Alvin on her tombstone and writes Wanda.  Barbie has one last dream about Wanda on a bus ride home.  In the dream, she sees Wanda as a woman and then Death comes over and they wave to Barbie.
	Gaiman’s appropriation of Bizarro as a symbol of transvestitism is his way of making a strong statement about a canonical character.  After all, Bizarro always functioned as the “other.” He was something that did not belong within the nuclear society of the 1950’s-1960’s.  Alvin, obviously, identified with Bizarro’s or Weirdzo’s otherness because of the way he saw himself.  This signification of Bizarro adds another level to what the character can represent, similar to how Anne Rice appropriates vampires as homosexuals.
Most of the characters that Gaiman signifies on came from the Experimental Period of the Silver Age.  Gaiman takes old characters and rewrites in a new and improved way.  "I also know that I'm very good at what Alan Moore was very good at doing: taking obscure, forgotten, genuinely interesting characters and finding something interesting about them, creating an interesting story which makes everybody go, 'Oh, we never realized it was so interesting'" (Comics Journal #169 96)!  Gaiman does exactly that to all of these characters.  He takes a forgotten character and gives a new spin to its life. 
Finally, Gaiman signifies on Cerebus, a contemporary series that parodied Dream and the rest of the Endless.  Cerebus is a fantasy series about Cerebus, an aardvark who is the most powerful swordsman in all the land.  Cerebus is an obvious parody of Conan the Barbarian which is the most famous fantasy title in comic book history.  Dave Sim, the creator, writer, and illustrator for the series, parodied more than Conan as time went on.  Sim always portrayed contemporary parodies though Artemis, a dull-witted, but quite powerful person who always got in Cerebus' way.  Through Artemis, Sim parodied Wolverine, Spider-Man, the Punisher, etc.  Every character that Sim parodied was the most popular character at the time.  Finally, Artemis became Swoon, the god of Dreams.  Swoon talked, dressed, and acted just like Dream.  Artemis made the Albino dress up as Swoon's sister, Snuff, a parody of Death.  Sim names this family the Clueless.  Sim mentions other members of the Clueless, Sleaze (for Desire), Sulk (for Despair), Spacey (for Delirium), and Kay Sarah Sarah (for Destiny).  These parodies appeared in Women and Reads, volumes 8 and 9, respectively, of Cerebus.  Swoon first appeared in the November 1992 issue of Cerebus.  In an interview, Gaiman explained his admiration of Sim's parody.  "[Sim] actually faxed me a couple pages [of the parody] on the way to the airport.  I looked at it, and my jaw dropped.  I felt like a small bug waving its legs very slowly on the end of a needle.  Even from the few pages I've seen, it was like, 'Oh, God, he can do me'" (Comics Journal #155 72).  Gaiman responds to these parodies in kind in the August 1993 issue of The Sandman by parodying Sim's main character, Cerebus.
	As mentioned, Cerebus is a parody of Conan the Barbarian.  However, Sim did not limit the series to merely a parody.  Sim constructed a complex fantasy world in which he shows the weaknesses and ludicrousness of politics.  In volume 2, High Society, Cerebus becomes Prime Minister of Iest, a large and powerful country.  In the following two-volume Church and State, Cerebus becomes the Pope as well.
	In Cluracan's story in WE, Titania sends Cluracan to Aurelia to make sure an alliance does not occur.  As Cluracan gets there, he meets Carys XXXV, Lord of Aurelia who is also Innocent XI, Psychopomp of the Aurelian Church.  Cluracan inadvertently warns Carys of his death.  Carys takes it as a threat and sends him to prison.  Cluracan escapes with the help of Nuala and Dream.  He then spreads rumors about Carys and a revolt ensues.  In the end, Cluracan acts as Carys' aid and one of the dead psychopomp's attacks Carys and kills him.
	Like Cerebus, Carys threatens his people with death and damnation if they do not pay him. During Church and State, Cerebus said that Tarim (God) told Cerebus that the people must give all their gold to Cerebus or Tarim will destroy the world (Church and State V.1 289-292).  In the same manner, Carys taxes his people with the threat of damnation if they do not abide by him.  Also, “Carys” sounds similar to “Cerebus.”  Considering when this was published, it seems likely that Gaiman was responding to Sim's parody of the Sandman.
	 This is a prime example of signifying because writers bounce off each other as a means to signify on each other.  Many African-American writers bounced off of each other's works.  In the same manner, Sim parodies the Sandman and Gaiman parodies Cerebus.  
Chapter 5    Literary Signifying

Some scholars consider the super hero a modern myth.  Richard Reynolds' analysis of the super hero, Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology, examines how this genre has become a collection of myths comparable to previous mythologies.  The super hero, although relatively young, has captured an audience that refuses to let it die.  This occurred over the years because writers constantly associated super heroes with classical gods.  A major turning point was when Marvel published the first super hero god, Thor.  Stan Lee has said that he picked Thor as a new super hero because he was a Norse god, which meant that not as much people would know the characters.  Lee, who borrowed many other Norse Gods, created a true comic book god.
Over the years, super heroes became increasingly more powerful.  As mentioned in the history of the comic book medium, Superman eventually had no weaknesses.  So, during the deconstruction of super heroes, writers began to soften up the super heroes.  Most notably, John Byrne in his new rendition of Superman, announced that Superman would not be as powerful as before.  Neil Gaiman responded to this trend with The Sandman.  "So I wanted something that would take me anywhere and allow me to go anywhere.  It seems to me that was shortly after John Byrne and a few other people in comics cut back on the powers.  They were going into this thing back then of cutting back on the powers of super heroes.  They were complaining about how god-like powers meant there were no stories.  I thought this was nonsense.  I thought god comics would be a wonderful place to go" (Fright X 72).  Gaiman then made his "god comic" and made a new mythology. 
To incorporate these new gods, Gaiman uses mythology from all over the world in The Sandman.  The main characters, The Endless, are the highest in a hierarchy of gods.  The Endless includes Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Destruction and Delirium.  All but Destiny are original creations of Gaiman.  As noted, Destiny was a host of the DC horror title Weird Mystery Tales and Secrets of Haunted House.
	The Endless are more powerful than other gods and goddesses of mythology because whenever a god or goddess interacts with one of The Endless, the god or goddess tends to respect the Endless' power.  However, when Dream had to go back to Hell after he embarrassed Lucifer, he was frightened of possibly not returning.  He admitted to Matthew that Lucifer was more powerful than him (SOM 3:8).  Also, throughout the series, the Kindly Ones or the Furies, are spoken of as a force more powerful than any member of the Endless.  In fact, Desire, who wants to destroy Dream, swears on sending the Furies after Dream.  So, just like any other god or goddess, the Endless are more powerful than some, yet also less powerful than others.
	Gaiman creates his own mythology through other myths.  He gives value to his own mythology by showing the Endless' relationship with other gods and goddesses.  Essentially, Gaiman integrates gods and goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology, Norse mythology and the world of Faeries into his own mythos.
	Greek and Roman mythology is the most prevalent and influential mythology in The Sandman.  The main character, Dream, usually goes by the name Morpheus, the Roman god of dreams.  Dream is also associated with Apollo, the sun god and god of fine arts, medicine, music, poetry, and eloquence.  Characters confuse Dream and Apollo as the same god because Dream wedded Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, and their son is Orpheus.  Traditionally, Apollo fits into the parental role of Orpheus with Calliope.  When Dream visits Caesar Augustus, Augustus thinks it is Apollo visiting him.  Dream tells him, "I am not Apollo.  I am no sun god.  But poets and dreamers are my people, and it is not unheard of for us to be confused.  I am no little Roman dream god, no god of rhyme and madness.  I am myself" (F&R 117).  Notice how Dream refers to Apollo as a "little Roman dream god."  This shows how Dream does not fear Apollo if a conflict ever occurred.  
	In "Calliope" (DrC), the three muses reveal that Calliope and Dream once had a relationship and a child together, Orpheus.  In "The Song of Orpheus" (F&R), Gaiman retells the story of Orpheus, but in this case, the Endless appear in the story.  As legend has it, Eurydice, Orpheus' wife, died from a viper's sting on their wedding day.  Orpheus could not deal with the loss of Eurydice.  So, he went to Hades with a plan.  Through his music, Orpheus would convince Hades to bring Eurydice back from the dead.  He did so, and caused everyone in Hades to stop in his or her punishment, like Sisyphus or Ixion, and even made the Furies weep.  Since Orpheus was so adamant, Hades allowed Eurydice to follow Orpheus back, but he could not turn around and look at her.  Right before he returned to earth, he turned around too early only to see her fall back to Hades.  After that, Orpheus did not interact with other humans. Eventually, the Baccante, followers of Dionysis, tore Orpheus limb from limb.  They threw his head into a river and the Muses properly buried him.
	There are many variations of the story, but the general story stays the same.  Gaiman, as well, adds a little to make himself a part of the myth of Orpheus by adding the family of the Endless into the story.  Orpheus' parents, Dream and Calliope, join the wedding as well as the rest of the Endless.  Eurydice dies that night and Orpheus mourns her death.  Orpheus, however, visits Dream for help.  Orpheus tells Dream that he plans on getting Eurydice back.  Dream warns him not to and refuses to help him.  Infuriated, Orpheus tells Dream that he is no longer his son.
	Destruction then visits Orpheus who is contemplating suicide.  Destruction tells him to visit Death.  He shows Orpheus a way to find her and Death reluctantly tells Orpheus how to find Hades.  The incident in Hades happens the same way as in the legend.  Before the Baccante tear Orpheus apart, Calliope visits Orpheus and tells him that she left Dream because he would not help Orpheus, even though she knows Hades fears Dream.  Gaiman ends the legend a bit differently because Orpheus never dies.  His head is all that remains after the Bacchante tear him up, but he is still alive.  After the head has washed onto the shore, Dream visits Orpheus and tells him that he asked some priests on the island to take care of him.  He tells Orpheus that he will never see him again and leaves.
	Gaiman continues the story of Orpheus in a single issue story and in BL.  Even though Dream told his son they will never meet again (they do in BL), he still cares enough about his son to help him when he is in trouble.  "Thermidor" (F&R) is about how Lady Johanna Constantine saves Orpheus from death in revolutionary France.  She saved him because Dream offered her a reward if she brought his son back to the island.
	In BL, Dream and Delirium search for Destruction, the prodigal family member.  After searching to no avail, they go to Destiny.  Destiny reminds Dream that "There is, after all, an oracle who is of the family" (BL 7:10).  Despite his promise never to see his son, Dream and Delirium go to Orpheus for information on Destruction's whereabouts.  Orpheus gives Dream the information, as long as Dream gives him a boon.  Of course, the gift is Orpheus' death.  Despite knowing the implications of killing one's own blood, Dream gives Orpheus his final wish.  This death causes the death of Dream from the Kindly Ones.
	Gaiman integrates Orpheus, a known mythical figure, and adds to the Orpheus legend as well as giving value to his own mythological system.  Orpheus legitimizes Dream's and the Endless' existence as a true myth of the past and today.
	Another Greek and Roman figure that Gaiman uses that increases the mythological stature of The Sandman are the three witches, better known as the Furies or the Fates.  The three witches have appeared in The Sandman since the beginning of the series.  As mentioned earlier, they appeared as the hosts of the DC horror title The Witching Hour and The Unexpected, but Gaiman uses them as the Furies.  The three-in-one goddess appears in many forms throughout the series.  In P&N, they appear as Mildred, Mordred, and Cynthia, the three witches from The Witching Hour.  They continue with that image in DH.  Later, they appear as the Graeae in SOM.  Finally, they even appear in human form in KO as Amelia Crupp, Magda Treadgold and Helena.  It's possible that Helena is the Golden Age Fury.  
	Over the centuries, many writers had assimilated the Furies and the Fates as the same goddess.  The Furies were the avengers of deaths within the family.  As a group they are known as Erinyes, Eumenides, or Semnae.  Their names are Alecto (Unresting), Megaera (Jealous), and Tisiphone (Avenger).  The Fates are Clotho who spins the web of life, Lachesis who gives each person his or her destiny, and Atropos who cuts the thread (Zimmerman 37).  Gaiman illustrates this aspect of the three witches in KO.  Throughout the storyline, the witches slowly begin to cut Dream's string.  Gaiman adds the Graeae as another function of their character.  The Graeae are Dino, Enyo, and Pephredo and they are the sisters to the Gorgons, Euryale, Stheno, and Medusa.  Lyta Hall becomes a new Medusa during her search for the Furies.
	The three witches are an important part of The Sandman because they kill Dream.  They do so because Lyta Hall, their granddaughter, insists that they avenge the death of her son, Daniel.  However, the Furies kill Dream because he killed his own flesh and blood, Orpheus.  Lyta Hall only gave the Furies the trigger to avenge familial murder.  This appropriation of the three witches from The Witching Hour into the Furies helps create a bridge between comic books and mythology.
	Orpheus, Calliope and the Furies are just a handful of the many Greek and Roman gods used in The Sandman.  This is important for the comic book becau