The Kindly Ones

This article is about the story arc. For the characters of the same name, see The Furies.

The Kindly Ones
First Edition Cover of The Kindly Ones by Dave McKean
Volume 9
General
Publication date	February 1994 - July 1995
Issues	57-69, Vertigo Jam 1
Credits
Publisher	DC Comics
Writer(s)	Neil Gaiman
Penciller(s)	Kevin Nowlan Marc Hempel Glyn Dillon Charles Vess Dean Ormston Teddy Kristiansen Richard Case
Inker(s)	Kevin Nowlan Marc Hempel D'Israeli Glyn Dillon Charles Vess Teddy Kristiansen Richard Case
Letterist(s)	Todd Klein Kevin Nowlan
Editor(s)	Karen Berger Shelly Roeberg
Colorist(s)	Daniel Vozzo
Previous volume	Worlds' End
Next volume	The Wake

The Kindly Ones consists of The Sandman issues #57-69 plus Vertigo Jam 1.

The Kindly Ones belongs with the second collection, The Doll's House, and the seventh, Brief Lives, in that it finishes off a story that mostly originated in these collections; but includes elements of Season of Mists and the story of Orpheus, told mostly in Fables and Reflections. The most structurally ambitious of the collections, The Kindly Ones is a single storyline written as a Greek tragedy, with Morpheus as its doomed hero and an aspect of the triad of witches, the Erinyes, as the Greek chorus. It pulls together various threads left dangling throughout the series, notably the grudges against Morpheus of several characters: Hippolyta Hall; the witches themselves; the Norse god Loki; and the witch Thessaly. The Kindly Ones also continues several other stories, including that of Cluracan of Faerie and his sister Nuala; that of the Corinthian; and that of Rose Walker and her former landlord Hal.

Premise

After Daniel is kidnapped by Loki and Robin Goodfellow, Lyta, his mother convinces herself that Morpheus has killed him and resolves to destroy Morpheus; and finally persuades the Erinyes to do so. In many places, Lyta is depicted as Medusa and even encounters Medusa's two sisters, Stheno and Euryale. Unbeknownst to Lyta, Daniel is recovered alive and well by Morpheus' servants, the raven Matthew, and a restored Corinthian. At length, Morpheus yields to the Erinyes, and the main story ends with Morpheus and his sister Death on a desolate peak with a flock of pigeons; echoing a sequence from one of the series' early high points, "The Sound of her Wings" (issue #8). Death asks for Morpheus' hand, and he disappears. Immediately upon the death of Morpheus, Daniel becomes a new aspect of Dream, with white clothes and hair, and an emerald (identified, in an earlier collection, as 'the heart of Khoschei the Deathless') suspended on his neck and chest.

Issues

Issue	Title	Writer	Penciller	Inker	Colorist	Letterer	Ast Editor	Editor
Vertigo Jam 1	The Castle	Neil Gaiman	Kevin Nowlan	Kevin Nowlan	Daniel Vozzo	Kevin Nowlan	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
57	The Kindly Ones - 1	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Marc Hempel	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
58	The Kindly Ones - 2	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	D'Israeli	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
59	The Kindly Ones - 3	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	D'Israeli	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
60	The Kindly Ones - 4	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	D'Israeli	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
61	The Kindly Ones - 5	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Marc Hempel / D'Israeli	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
62	The Kindly Ones - 6	Neil Gaiman	Glyn Dillon / Charles Vess / Dean Ornston	Glyn Dillon / Charles Vess / D'Israeli	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
63	The Kindly Ones - 7	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Marc Hempel	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
64	The Kindly Ones - 8	Neil Gaiman	Teddy Kristiansen	Teddy Kristiansen	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
65	The Kindly Ones - 9	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Richard Case	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
66	The Kindly Ones - 10	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Richard Case	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
67	The Kindly Ones - 11	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Richard Case	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
68	The Kindly Ones - 12	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel / Richard Case	Richard Case	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger
69	The Kindly Ones - 13	Neil Gaiman	Marc Hempel	Marc Hempel	Daniel Vozzo	Todd Klein	Shelly Roeberg	Karen Berger