Sleep of the Just is issue 1 of the Sandman comic series, created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, and Mike Dringenberg. It was originally released on November 29, 1988.
Synopsis[]
A group of magic users seeking immortality use a spell to capture Death, but instead they capture Death's younger brother, Dream. They trap him for seventy years, during which time the world suffers greatly from various sleep-related illnesses and problems. When Dream finally escapes, he goes on a quest of revenge.
Summary[]
The issue spans over 72 years, from 1916-1988.
In 1916, Dr. John Hathaway comes to visit the Order of Ancient Mysteries at Fawney Rig, bringing with him the Magdalene Grimoire, which they were looking for. The leader of the Order, Roderick Burgess, wishes to capture and imprison Death for his own selfish purposes. On June 10th, the Order performs a ritual to summon and bind Death, but they capture Dream instead. Roderick strips Dream of his signs of power - a helm, a pouch of sand, and a ruby - traps him in a glass sphere within a binding circle, and demands immortality and wealth for his freedom. Dream refuses to answer and a stalemate ensues. His imprisonment causes people all over the world to suffer from a mysterious "sleepy sickness".
In the following years, while Dream still remains captured and silent, the Order suffers from infighting. In 1920, Dr Hathaway commits suicide and tries to confess everything in a note, but Roderick burns it with a spell from afar. In 1930, Burgess' second-in-command Ruthven Sykes flees to San Francisco along with Burgess' mistress Ethel Cripps, stealing £200,000 and Dream's artifacts. He trades Dream's helm to the demon Choronzon in exchange for a protective amulet. In 1936, Ethel leaves him, taking all the treasures with her, which finally allows all of the spells Roderick cast over the years to kill Sykes.
The Universe is seeking for a replacement for the missing Sandman. Therefore, in 1939, Wesley Dodds gets an idea to become a superhero with the same name. He fights crime by putting criminals to sleep with sleeping gas and sprinkles sand over them when his work is done.
Roderick Burgess dies in 1947, and the reign of the Order (as well as the caretaking of their unwilling guest) is transferred to his son Alex, who continues to keep Dream captive under the same terms as his father: Dream's freedom for the gifts of immortality and endless wealth. Alex doesn't practice magic as much, eventually handing the reins to his lover Paul, who sees magic as a hoax and merely a way of making money. As he grows older, Alex becomes obsessed with Dream and visits him often.
In 1988, during one of those visits, the wheel of Alex's wheelchair breaks the binding circle, and Dream's chance to escape finally comes. On September 14th, Dream tricks his guards and enters their dreams, taking some sand, and finally leaving his prison of over 70 years. He then travels through other people's dreams, getting food and clothes, and the surviving victims of the "sleepy sickness" begin waking up all over the world. Dream returns to Alex to enact his revenge. Despite pleading that it was all his father's fault, Dream curses Alex with "eternal waking" - a recursive dream where he shifts from one nightmare to another, unable to ever truly wake up.
Appearances[]
Featured Characters[]
Supporting Characters[]
Antagonists[]
Other Characters[]
- John Hathaway
- Unity Kinkaid
- Ellie Marsten
- Daniel Bustamonte
- Stefan Wasserman
- Ruthven Sykes
- Ethel Cripps
- Paul McGuire
- Choronzon
- Ernie (guard)
- Frederick (guard)
- Mort Notkin (dreamer)
- Nurse Edmunds
Objects[]
- Magdalene Grimoire
- Liber Fulvarum Paginarum
- Dreamstone
- Dream's Helm
- Dream's Sand Pouch
- Sykes' Amulet
Locations[]
Continuity Notes[]
- First appearance of all characters except for Wesley Dodds who was an earlier character from the DC universe.
- Burgess says "We can hold the ceremony at the next full moon", which was June 15th. However, the captions explicitly state "June 10th".
- A newspaper read by Frederick helps establish the exact date of Dream's escape (September 14th, 1988), which in turn sets the baseline for dating all following events.
Trivia[]
- "Sleep of the Just" is also the name of a song produced by Elvis Costello.
- Morpheus's line "Lord, what fools these mortals be" quotes Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. His affinity for this play is explored in Issue 19.