The Corinthian is a fictional character in Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman. His first appearance is in the second story arc, The Doll's House. DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... Vertigo logo Vertigo is an imprint of comic book and graphic novel publisher DC Comics. ... In comic books, first appearance refers to the date or issue of a characters first appearance. ... The Sandman was a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is a British author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many graphic novels. ... Death, from The Sandman #8, drawn by Mike Dringenberg Mike Dringenberg is a French/American comics artist best known for his work on DC/Vertigos Sandman series with writer Neil Gaiman. ... Clairvoyance from late 17th century French [clair (clear) & voyant (seeing)] - is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by visual means. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is a British author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many graphic novels. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... The Sandman was a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. ...

The Corinthian is a creation of Dream. His most notable physical feature is his lack of eyes: in their place, two rows of small jagged teeth line each eye socket. The Corinthian often wears sunglasses to cover this up. Cover of The Sandman #1, by Dave McKean. ...

Abilities

The Corinthian does not appear to suffer in any way from his lack of eyes, and indeed claims to be able to see perfectly well. He also has certain powers concerning the eyes of other creatures. He is able to quickly remove eyes from their sockets without damaging them. By placing eyes into the mouths where his own eyes would be, he can observe the last thing witnessed before the death of the eyes' owner. It's suggested that he can also use the eyes for himself, at least temporarily. Each of the mouths in place of the Corinthian's eyes appear to be fully functional, capable of speech and breath. He also appears to simply enjoy eating eyes through his mouth-sockets, and will happily take eyes from any source, be it human, animal or god. He seems to be a sort of eyeball aficionado, showing joy at the opportunity to eat particularly rare or choice eyes (such as those of a god.) The Corinthian is extremely skilled at hand-to-hand combat, though it is unclear if he possesses any supernatural physical quality in that regard. The first incarnation of the Corinthian displayed an excellent memory, stating "I don't forget things." The Corinthian's second incarnation has not demonstrated many of the abilities of the first, such as possession, though this is likely because he has yet to encounter an opportunity to use them.

Appearances

The Sandman

The Corinthian is AWOL from the dreamscape following Morpheus' escape from capture; however, Dream eventually catches up to him shortly after saving Rose Walker from harm. Corinthian was Morpheus' masterpiece: "A nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront." Instead, Dream finds his creation has walked the earth for about 40 years, playing the role of a serial killer who removes his victims' eyes. Dream had created the Corinthian as a nightmare that would show humanity its own dark nature. Dream judged him a failure, however, because in 40 years time, the Corinthian did nothing other than commit gruesome murders, which fell far short of Dream's original, much grander intent. As punishment, Dream "uncreates" him into sand. He then remarks that the next time he creates the Corinthian, he, "shall not be so flawed and petty." Rose Walker is a fictional character from the Sandman series written by Neil Gaiman. ... In common current usage, the term nightmare refers to dreams of particular intensity, with content that the sleeper finds disturbing, related either to physiological causes, such as a high fever, or to psychological ones, such as unusual trauma or stress in the sleepers life. ... Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ...

Dream does eventually recreate the Corinthian in The Kindly Ones. This new, more reliable Corinthian helps rescue and protect Daniel just before Morpheus dies. In the process, he battles, defeats and eats the eyes of Loki, who, along with Puck, was holding the child hostage. The Kindly Ones (1996) is the ninth collection of issues in the DC Comics series, The Sandman. ... This article or section may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript, shows Loki with his invention - the fishing net. ... Puck is a mischievous pre-Christian nature spirit. ...

The Sandman Presents: The Corinthian

A 3-issue miniseries called The Corinthian: Death In Venice tells the story of how the first Corinthian entered the waking world and learned how to murder human beings. In the series, the Corinthian displays his talent for possessing the bodies of the living, a process which causes the possessed body's hair to turn white and the eye sockets to bleed as the eyes are replaced (eaten?) by The Corinthian's teeth. The story takes place in Venice, in the year 1920, and includes such tangential plot elements as police corruption and anti-communist violence and paranoia. The story also features Charles Constantine (a member of the same infamous family as John Constantine), a World War I veteran who has repeatedly struggled with his inability to kill. During the war, Charles refused to bayonet a helpless young German soldier named Stefan Wasserman. In retribution, Charles' own commanding officer shot Charles in the groin, castrating him, and shot the young soldier in the head. Wasserman's body, however, had been inhabited by the dormant spirit of The Corinthian, who has haunted and pursued Charles, both in dreams and in reality, ever since. This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... John Constantine (born May 10, 1953 in Liverpool, England) is the fictional protagonist of the comic series Hellblazer. ... {{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict = World War I |partof = |image = |caption = Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks...

The Corinthian wants someone to teach him "how to kill", and finds himself frustrated with Charles' inability to do violence even in self-defense. He eventually develops a rapport with Charles' traveling companion, a wealthy, traveling heiress who is degenerate and possibly insane. The woman claims that she cannot die, that she is the living incarnation of Pestilence, and refers to herself (and asks others to refer to her) by a new name each day, changing identities as she travels about. After she fatally shoots The Corinthian, and he survives by possessing the body of her young Italian lover, Amedeo, the woman recognizes The Corinthian as something other than human who can "become someone else." The two form a pact in which the woman agrees to teach The Corinthian how to murder, and The Corinthian agrees to teach her how to "stop being you." A pestilence is an epidemic or even a pandemic of a virulent and highly contagious disease. ...

The pivotal moment in the story comes while the characters are all attending the Venetian Carnival in costume. The woman, now calling herself Columbine and The Corinthian Arlecchino, murders another celebrant, but The Corinthian finds himself unable to take part, cursing himself. However, he eventually finds a way to fulfill both her promise to him and his promise to help the woman "stop being [herself]", by slitting her throat. Charles Constantine, happening upon them while dressed in his own carnival costume, finally steels himself and kills The Corinthian, who offers no resistance, with his own knife. The tale draws to a close with Charles leaving the country and The Corinthian beginning his murder spree, starting with Amedeo's young lover and the policeman guarding her in jail. Venetian festivals are held in cities in Europe and North America. ... For other things of this name, see Columbine (disambiguation). ... Arlecchino (also known as Harlequin in English, Arlequin in French) is the most popular of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dellArte. ...

The Dreaming

The new Corinthian appears again in The Dreaming spinoff, returning to earth for the three-part "Souvenirs" storyline. Later in the series he hunted down Echo, who was previously a murderer who cut out the eyes of her victim, as per the instructions of his boyfriend Gabriel who was one of the first, and only surviving, victims of the first Corinthian when he went on his murdering spree. A result of this was the accidental death of Matthew the Raven. As punishment he was turned into a mortal and Echo was given his position. As a mortal he developed compassion for humans and was eventually deemed fit to comeback and serve as the Corinthian, with Daniel Hall finding another place for Echo. The Dreaming is a fictional place, the domain of Dream of the Endless in Neil Gaimans The Sandman comic book series. ... Matthew is a character in Neil Gaimans The Sandman comic series. ... This article or section may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ...

Name

The origin of The Corinthian's name is unclear. In a later story arc of Sandman, The Kindly Ones, Puck politely refuses to ask whether his name is taken from "the letters, the pillars, the leather, the place, or the mode of behavior." The Kindly Ones (a translation of the Greek Eumenides, kind-hearted) is a euphemistic reference to the Furies in Greek mythology. ... Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeares play A Midsummer Nights Dream. ...

• "The letters" is most likely a reference to the Letter to the Corinthians, or First Epistle to the Corinthians. This is also the passage containing the "dark mirror" reference, see below.
• "The pillars" is a reference to the Corinthian style of pillars.
• "The leather" is possibly referring to the "fine Corinthian leather" phrase used in the advertising of Chrysler cars.
• "The place" is probably referring to Corinth, Greece. (Other places named Corinth include Corinth, Mississippi, and Corinth, Vermont.)
• "The mode of behavior" (Corinthian behavior) is indulging in luxury and licentiousness.

In the Death In Venice miniseries, a beggar (who is not entirely reliable) claims that he exchanged one of his eyes for one offered to him by The Corinthian, and that he called him by the first thing he saw when he opened his new eye - a Corinthian pillar. The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ... The Corinthian order as used for the portico of the Pantheon, Rome provided a prominent model for Renaissance and later architects, through the medium of engravings. ... Corinthian leather was a phrase invented for marketing use to describe the leather used in certain Chrysler luxury cars in the 1970s. ... The Chrysler Corporation was an American automobile manufacturer that existed independently from 1925–1998. ... Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... Corinth is a city located in Alcorn County, Mississippi. ... Corinth, Vermont Corinth is a town located in Orange County, Vermont. ...

It is also likely that the name is a reference to the Biblical verse 1 Corinthians 13:12, which is the source of the phrase "through a mirror darkly". This is clearly related to the Corinthian's "Black Mirror" nature. For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... (Redirected from 1 Corinthians) See also: Second Epistle to the Corinthians and Third Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ...

According to an interview with Gaiman in "The Sandman Companion", The Corinthian takes his name from the mode of behavior; specifically, "a Corinthian" was another term for a rake: a devil-may-care, ne'er-do-well.

Trivia

• An exact double of the Corinthian's skull appeared in the treasure chest of Daniel Hall during his brief Justice League of America appearance. Dream appeared to duplicate the skull before infusing it into the new Corinthian, and this is likely the source.
• Keen-eyed viewers may spot a brief Corinthian reference in Alice Cooper's video clip for "Gimme".
• A character named White Rabbit who appeared in the Shadowpact ongoing series looks similar to the Corinthian save that he is an albino.