Sandman - The awakening

The Awakening (OT: The Wake ) is the tenth and final collection of the DC comics series The Sandman . The stories were written by Neil Gaiman , illustrated by Michael Zulli , Jon J. Muth and Charles Vess, and lettered by Todd Klein .

The editions of this collection first appeared in booklet form in 1996. The collection was published in paperback and hardcover in 1996.

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The Wake is an epilogue to the series, the main story of which ended with Morpheus' death in the previous collection.

The first part of the plot tells of Morpheus' wake, his funeral and his successor Daniel Hall, who takes over his kingdom with great caution and sensitivity. During the actual wake in particular, many characters from the series reappear, sharing their view of things, especially their view of Morpheus.

This is followed by three independent stories. The first, Sunday Morning , is again about the immortal Hob Gadling and his new girlfriend who are attending a Renaissance festival in England today. Gaiman shows Gadling getting drunk out of nostalgia because he knows what it was like in 15th century England . By chance he meets a bookbinder who owns a book that Gadling himself made 500 years ago in his career as a book printer. Then he meets Death, who offers to take him with her. But after a moment's thought, Gadling does not want to die yet, although he knows that his friend Morpheus is dead.

The second story, Exiles , is similar to the Soft Places story of Fables and Reflections . It is about an old adviser to the Chinese emperor who fell out of favor with him because his son was involved in a conspiracy against the emperor. On his journey, he saves a kitten and takes it with him. During a sandstorm he gets lost and, led by the kitten, gets into dreamland, where he meets both aspects of Dream: Morpheus and Daniel.

The third and final story of the collection and of the series in general is about the second play Shakespeare wrote in return for his talent for Morpheus. The first was A Midsummer Night's Dream (see The Sandman - Traumland ). The second play is The Tempest , Shakespeare's last play. Again Gaiman interweaves parts of the play with the life story of Shakespeare. The epilogue of the play becomes a commentary on Shakespeare's career when he returns the gifts he acquired in the trade with Morpheus.