Masks and Disembodied Faces in Sandman Vol. 3

While reading Sandman Vol. 3 I found a repetition of masks and/or disembodied faces, which basically are masks.  These faces haunted me a little bit, and I noticed that in the artwork at least, perhaps accidentally, they are present in each and every story.  More than that, they seem to have a sort of power, or at the least denote power, sometimes too much power as in Facade.

In “Calliope” the faces are on page 23, panel 6:

These faces seem to represent the power that Ric Madoc has because of his new-found muse.  As the poster shows, Ric’s creativity has earned him nominations for 3 Oscars, best original screenplay, etc.  Beyond that, however, Ric’s true self was unable to create a second novel and so he uses his muse to become a successful novelist.  In other words, he uses the mask that he brutally forces from Calliope to pretend that he has talent.  The mask, then, gives him power.

We see disembodied faces again on “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” on page 54, panel 2:

In this case these are the faces of the people who dreamed a world where humans were larger than cats.  These are the faces potentially responsible for the current power humans have over the feline species.  It could be said that these are the faces that created the current mask of reality, and I couldn’t help but see a connection because of the disembodied aspect of them, similar to the poster in “Calliope.”

“Midsummer Night’s Dream” is full of masks, but perhaps the most telling panel seems to be on page 77, panel 2:

Here we see the true Puck looking down on the human who is looking down on the Puck mask.  In terms of the story, the masks are the reason the faeries and goblins came to Earth again.  The humans are pretending to be the creatures that they are performing for, and in so doing have power in the instance of the play.  While the hobgoblins and others want to eat the humans, or hurt them in some way, they are unable to while the masks are on.  It is only after the human-Puck takes off the Puck mask that the true Puck can kill him.

Finally we come to “Facade”, where page 90, panel 2 seems to be the best representation of the masks Rainie has used:

These masks are both show Rainie’s power in that she can create them in the first place, but they also show her weakness, in her inability to throw them away.  She wishes she could keep the masks on forever, but unable to do this she instead gives a little part of herself to each and every mask she creates.  In this case it seems that the sacrifice she unwillingly made for the power she currently has is one she is unable to accept.  She is completely alone in a room full of masks that unceasingly stare at her.

Throughout these short stories masks play an important role in showing the cost of power and perhaps also the flimsiness of reality.