One of the The Sandman’s most infamous characters is making his return with star Batman writer James Tynion IV penning a new saga for the horrifying Corinthian. The latest chapter in the ever-expanding Sandman Universe that will feature its most notorious monster making a killer comeback.
Aside from being a beloved and incredibly lauded series, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman introduced some outrageously creative characters to deepen the mystical nature of its world. One such character was the Endless Dream’s creation, the Corinthian, a living nightmare with two pairs of teeth for eyes. Initially a troublesome presence for Dream, the Corinthian took advantage of his creator’s 72-year long imprisonment to run amok in the United States, killing young men and often taking their eyes. While he was eventually remade to be more helpful to his creator, the Corinthian remains a terrifying figure and a new series will examine how his “talents” could be put to good use.
In an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter, James Tynion IV revealed details about his and artist Lisandro Estherren’s upcoming comic series The Sandman Universe: Nightmare County. The series finds the Corinthian drawn into a pursuit of an even more terrifying nightmare; one not created by Dream. The adventure will bring the Corinthian face to face with the darkest parts of humanity as he himself is chased by two new characters, Mr. Agony and Mr. Ecstasy, killers ready to slaughter anything up to and including the Corinthian.
The series is billed as a spiritual sequel to The Sandman’s second arc “The Doll’s House,” which not only featured the first appearance of the Corinthian, but was a story that explored the darker nature of people. While “The Doll’s House” featured the Corinthian attending a convention for serial killers, Nightmare County promises to have the character encounter even more unseemly sides of the world, from “white supremacist militia camps” to “galleries specializing in the art of horror and more.” The Corinthian is a character who was made out of worst of humankind’s imagination and he absolutely thrives in environments where ordinary souls dare not venture. The cat-and-mouse game he’s about to enter in Tynion and Esterren’s series is a chance to examine the horrors of today through the lens of a nightmare that’s existed for years. Who knows exactly what the Corinthian is set to face, but in Tynion’s own words, “The series taught me that anything and everything was possible in the comic book medium.”
While he may have left his mark writing Batman, James Tynion IV gets a rare chance to add to the expansion of the Sandman Universe with Nightmare County. The highly anticipated comic featuring return of the Corinthian is set to be released everywhere April 12th.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter