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127,497
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in: Dick Giordano/Executive Editor, Dave McKean/Cover Artist, Neil Gaiman/Writer,
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Sandman Vol 2 5

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"Passengers": At Arkham Asylum, John Dee makes his escape. Naked, he wanders out into the street and, with a revolver, forces a woman passing by to drive where he wants.

Quote1 I am a passenger. I am moving through your dreams. I am riding in your dreams. Quote2
— Dream

Sandman (Volume 2) #5 is an issue of the series Sandman (Volume 2) with a cover date of May, 1989.

Synopsis for "Passengers"

At Arkham Asylum, John Dee makes his escape. Naked, he wanders out into the street and, with a revolver, forces a woman passing by to drive where he wants.

Scott Free wakes from a vivid nightmare of his past, growing up on Apokolips under the care of Granny Goodness. He realizes that he is safe in the Justice League Embassy, but is surprised to see Dream sitting at the foot of his bed. The pale man explains that he is seeking a certain ruby.

Rosemary Kelly turns to face John Dee, warning that if he touches her, her husband Harry - who she claims is a mafia hitman - will kill him. Dee apologizes for frightening her, and admits that he has escaped from Arkham. He explains that his mother died, and it inspired him to escape. Despite his appearance and behaviour, Rosemary begins to take pity on the man who has her at gunpoint.

Scott Free uses the embassy's computers to search their files for the ruby, and he finds that the J.L.A. had recovered it from a Doctor Destiny. They kept it in the satellite's trophy room. Unfortunately, the satellite was destroyed, and Scott doesn't know what happened to it. He racks his brain until he realizes that he knows someone who might know.

John Dee explains that he was once Doctor Destiny, and that he had been a scientist. As a nurse, Rosemary is concerned about John's appearance, and wonders if maybe he has AIDS. Dee has no knowledge of the disease, having been locked in Arkham's basement for five years. He had been placed there and forgotten by the Justice League, after he tried to pretend he was a costumed hero.

Scott Free and Dream wake up Martian Manhunter, who instantly recognizes Dream as the martian god of dreams Lord L'zoril. J'onn admits that the ruby Dream seeks is in storage since the satellite's destruction. It now lies in a warehouse in a town called Mayhew near Gotham City. Dream thanks them both and heads on his way, leaving J'onn and Scott to hit the kitchen and raid the stash of Oreos.

John Dee explains that his mother was ashamed of his plans to become a super villain, and demanded that he use a different name. Still, as a doctor of science, he had used science to render the ruby he found unusable by anyone but him. He continues to describe the ruby as Rosemary drives the car toward Mayhew.

Dream arrives at the storage facility first, but upon finding the Dreamstone, he experiences a negative reaction, and collapses. Meanwhile, John Dee and Rosemary arrive at the facility, and after killing Rosemary, Dee steals the ruby back, leaving Dream crumpled on the floor. Dee wanders into a 24 hour diner, and waits for the end of the world.

Appearing in "Passengers"

Featured Characters:

  • Dream/Lord Z'oril (Also in a dream sequence) (Also as an illusion) (First appearance as Z'oril)

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Arkham Asylum guards (Cameo)
  • Auralie (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)
  • Bette Monroe (First appearance; unnamed) (Voice) (Cameo)
  • The Lowlies (In dream sequence only)
    • Bravo (Single appearance) (Appears only as a corpse) (In dream sequence only)
    • Weldun (Single appearance) (Appears only as a corpse) (In dream sequence only)
    • Zep (Single appearance) (Appears only as a corpse) (In dream sequence only)
  • Merv Pumpkinhead (First appearance; unnamed) (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)
  • Rosemary Kelly (Single appearance; dies)
  • Aimee Kelly (Mentioned only)
  • Demons (Mentioned only)
  • The Endless (Mentioned only)
  • Ethel Dee (Mentioned only)
  • God (Mentioned only)
  • Gotham Organized Crime (Mentioned only)
  • Green Martians (Mentioned only)
  • Harry Kelly (Mentioned only)
  • Jessie Kelly (Mentioned only)
  • Joker (Mentioned only)
  • Justice League of America (Mentioned only)
  • J.L.I. (Mentioned only)
  • Zombies (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Bus (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)
  • Rosemary's Car (Single appearance)
  • Tall Ship (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)

Concepts:

Notes

Trivia

  • The Marquee at the theatre that Rosemary and Doctor Destiny drive past lists "Zomby Woof" as a backup film to Night of the Living Dead - it is not a real film, but it is the title of a song from Frank Zappa's 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation, which parodied horror film cliches.
  • In this issue we learn that Doctor Destiny's dream machine, the Materioptikon, was actually powered by Morpheus's Dreamstone. The machine itself plays a role in Doom Patrol (Volume 2) #25, published shortly after this story.
  • The episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that Arkham Asylum guards are watching, is known as "Don't Interupt" and revolves around passengers on a train and an escaped asylum inmate trying to get in.
  • According to Gaiman, the original script for this issue featured the Joker in the Scarecrow's role; this was changed to accommodate the Batman titles' post-"A Death in the Family" status quo, which had the Joker missing and presumed dead after his attack on the United Nations.
    • A few months after this issue, Gaiman would write Secret Origins Special #1, which obliquely depicts the Joker's return to Gotham City.


See Also

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