Sandman Vol 2 45

"Brief Lives part 5": Ishtar stops by her coworker Tiffany's apartment, noticing that the girl still appears very sick after she spent the previous night vomiting. Ishtar has brought breakfast, but when she makes food for her friend, the smell of it causes her to vomit all over again.

"Brief Lives part 5"
Cover
Sandman Vol 2 #45
January, 1993
Executive Editor	Dick Giordano
Cover Artists	Dave McKean
Brief Lives part 5
Writers	Neil Gaiman
Pencilers	Jill Thompson
Inkers	Vince Locke
Colorists	Daniel Vozzo
Letterers	Todd Klein
Editors	Karen Berger Lisa Aufenanger
Previous Issue	Sandman Vol 2 # 44
Next Issue	Sandman Vol 2 # 46

The deal? Delirium will drive. You will advise her. I am sure you will find the experience one of great interest and variety.

— Dream

Sandman (Volume 2) #45 is an issue of the series Sandman (Volume 2) with a cover date of January, 1993.

Synopsis for "Brief Lives part 5"

Ishtar stops by her coworker Tiffany's apartment, noticing that the girl still appears very sick after she spent the previous night vomiting. Ishtar has brought breakfast, but when she makes food for her friend, the smell of it causes her to vomit all over again.

Meanwhile, Dream has allowed his sister Delirium to drive their car, and her poor driving alerts a local traffic patrolman. He pulls them over, but his outrage makes Delirium feel threatened and she sentences him to be plagued by invisible insects for the rest of his life. In order to help Delirium drive more safely, Dream has Matthew the Raven instruct her.

Tiffany recovers from her illness, and she and Ishtar prepare for work. Tiffany wonders why Ishtar never dances to her full potential. She knows she has seen her friend dance well, but on the stage, she never dances as well as she can. Ishtar responds that the audience only wants tits and ass, and the dancing comes second, so she never gives more than necessary. Getting into their car, Tiffany complains that she has never found a nice guy. Ishtar responds that she once found a nice guy, but it was a long time ago, and she had to split up with him because of family fighting and his job. She wonders where he is now.

Arriving at the club, the girls' topic changes to prostitution, and Ishtar recalls - with perhaps too much nostalgia - that there was once a time when girls would prostitute themselves outside of a temple. Their friend Nancy, who has her masters in Women's Studies, clarifies that young women would be required to wait in the temple courtyard for men from the village to pay them. Then they would be required to go with the man, and have intercourse. Ishtar heavily suggests that she was once one of those women.

Ishtar goes out on stage and does her dance, still holding back. Meanwhile, Dream, Delirium, and Matthew talk their way into the club. When Ishtar catches sight of Dream she runs offstage in horror, and hides. Dream finds his way to her, and she expresses great bitterness that he had pressured her to end her relationship with his brother Destruction. After he explains that he has not come to bother her, he asks about Destruction's possible location. She does not know. Before leaving, he warns her that some force is trying to stop them from finding Destruction by killing the people they are visiting. After Dream and his companions leave for their next destination, Ishtar walks out on stage and, for the first time in a long time, she dances to her full potential. The power of her dance kills all of those inside the club, and eventually, the entire building collapses around them. Fortunately Tiffany has already run outside to safety - albeit completely nude. There, Desire appears to her and offers its coat, muttering that Dream had been warned of the danger.

Appearing in "Brief Lives part 5"

Featured Characters:

• Dream
• Ishtar/Astarte/Belili (Real identity revealed)

Supporting Characters:

• Delirium
• Matthew the Raven
• Tiffany Calhoun (Alva Ellen Rasmussen) (Real name revealed) (First full appearance)

Antagonists:

• Tom Flaherty (First appearance) (Brainwashed)

Other Characters:

• Desire (Cameo)
• Dan (Suffragette City's bartender) (Single appearance) (Apparent Death)
• Jay Musgrave (Single appearance; dies)
• Murray Brown (Single appearance; dies)
• Nancy (First full appearance) (Apparent Death)
• Roger (Suffragette City's owner) (Single appearance) (Apparent Death)
• Shep Cayce (Single appearance; dies)
• Abby Arcane (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
• Anunnaki (Mentioned only)
• Destruction (Mentioned only)

Locations:

• The Dreaming
• Waking World
  • Mesopotamia
    • Babylon (Flashback only)
  • United States of America
    • "Suffragette City" (Single appearance) (Destroyed)

Items:

• 
  

Vehicles:

• Farrell Travel Car

Concepts:

• Magic
  

Notes

• This issue is reprinted in:
  • Sandman: Brief Lives
  • The Absolute Sandman Vol. 3
  • The Sandman: Deluxe Edition, Book Three
  • The Sandman, Book Three

Trivia

• The wife that Matthew mentions is Abby Arcane.
• Tiffany wears a tank-top advertising Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour.
• Matthew and Delirium discuss having seen the Disney classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
• The club where the girls work is called "Suffragette City" - sharing its name with the 1971 song of the same name by David Bowie.
  • Another Bowie reference is the repeated "Under Pressure" - sharing its name with the song of the same name.

See Also

• Cover gallery for the Sandman series
• Images from Sandman Vol 2 45