The
character of
Lucien was originally developed by
Paul Levitz, now executive
vice president and publisher of
DC comics. Created in 1975 as the host of a
monthly horror comic,
Tales of Ghost Castle lasted only three issues before being
dropped.
Gaiman hypothesizes that
Ghost Castle was actually
Morpheus's stronghold during the
Dream King's time of imprisonment (in
Sandman numbers 1 and 2,
Sleep of the Just and
Imperfect Hosts). Lucien's
first appearance was in issue number 2, and he was originally drawn by
Joe Orlando. He was also loosely based on
George MacDonald's book
Lillith, which described a long,
thin man wearing a
frock coat who turns into a
raven, and is actually
Adam, the first man. While this image is not Lucien in
totality, Gaiman cites it as having
drastically affected his
vision of the Dream King's
librarian, going so far as to
pen a rather
fraught relationship between Lucien and
Eve,
queen of
Nightmares, companion of
ravens, and, indeed,
biblical character of first woman. Lucien has also, in the past, evidenced some interest in
Nuala, the faerie maid who was given to
the Prince of Stories as a bribe from Titania, Queen of Faerie.
Lucien's responsibilities are eclectic. Morpheus appears to look upon him as quite the right-hand man, a reward for Lucien's loyalty during his imprisonment at the hands of
Roderick Burgess. Lucien is, first and foremost, the librarian of the castle. His library ecompasses every book that has ever been dreamed, from
The Bestselling Romantic Thriller I Used to Dream About on the Bus That Would Sell A Million Copies and Mean I'd Never Have to Work Again to classic authors's imagined works, such as
Christopher Marlowe's
The Merrie Comedie of the Redemption of Dr. Faustus, or
The Emperor Over the Sea by
C.S. Lewis. It's travel section contains such gems as
My Year on the Dread Plateau of Leng and
Ancient Kadath for 20 Dollars a Day. There is even an annex that contains every book actually written, although, of course, it is (relative to the rest of the library) quite small.
Information encapsulated from
The Sandman Companion, by Hy Bender
The Dreaming, by Caitlyn somethingorother