The Sandman

The Sandman is a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman. The series chronicled the adventures of Dream of The Endless, who rules over the world of dreams.

The series was first published by DC Comics in 1989. Beginning with issue #47 in 1993, it was placed under the imprint Vertigo.

Some of the characters appearing in The Sandman series are of interest to furries.

Dreams and nightmares
These inhabitants of the Dreaming are often former gods, myths, and even ordinary human beings who later became dreams.

Lucien
Lucien is the chief librarian in The Dreaming, and is a tall thin, bookish man. He first appeared in Weird Mystery Tales #18 (May 1975).

In issue 68, it is revealed that Lucien's existence in the Dreaming began as serving the role of Dream's first raven.

Matthew the raven
Matthew is the raven companion of Dream of the Endless.

Matthew was originally Matthew Cable, a long-time supporting character in the Swamp Thing series, but because he died while asleep in the Dreaming, he was offered the chance to become a dream raven and serve Dream if he wished, and he accepted.

Matthew is not the first of Morpheus' ravens. Former ravens include Aristeas of Marmora, who returned to his life as a man for one year at one point, and Lucien, the first of the ravens. The purpose of the ravens is debatable. Morpheus seems to keep the ravens around out of some sort of unspoken need for companionship, though he also sends them on occasional missions.

Bast
Bast, the cat-headed goddess of cats, is a fictional character from The Sandman series. She is the DC Universe version of the goddess Bast of Egyptian mythology.

She was once a major goddess, but the loss of her believers over time has significantly reduced her powers. She is quite flirtatious with Dream, and seems to have previously developed a mutual attraction with him which ultimately came to nothing. He sometimes goes to her for advice or companionship. Dream is almost affectionate with her, and in her own words she adores him.

Bast has also appeared in issues of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, as well as in Gaiman's novel American Gods.