Abel (Sandman)

Abel is a fictional character that appears in DC Comics. Originally the 'host' of the 1970s EC style horror anthology House of Secrets, the character was revived by writer Alan Moore who introduced him into his Saga of the Swamp Thing comic during the 1980s (approriately Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets during the 1970s), and by Jamie Delano, who occasionally used him in a cameo role in his title Hellblazer. However it was Neil Gaiman's comic book series, The Sandman that more fully developed this 'reinvented' character into the more mature, post-Comics Code version of the DC Universe.

In Gaiman's Sandman universe, the biblical Cain and Abel come to live in the Dreaming, at Morpheus' invitation. They live as neighbours in two houses (the houses of Mystery and Secrets), somewhere in the Dreaming.

Gaiman's Abel is a nervous, stammering, but kind-hearted man, who is frequently murdered by his brother Cain. His death is not permanent, and he recovers in a few hours. Abel is quite similar in appearance to Cain, with a tufty beard and hair that comes to points above his ears. He is slightly shorter than Cain, though, and fatter, with a more open face.

Despite this abusive relationship, Abel remains dedicated to Cain, and frequently dreams of a more harmonious relationship between the two. He is delighted with the pet gargoyle Cain gives him as a gift, and which he first names Irving, but after a quick death renames as Goldie, Cain having forcefully insisted that the names of gargoyles always begin with a "G". The two frequently play key roles in the story of the series; it is they who take Morpheus in on his return to the Dreaming after his escape from capture, and they aid The Corinthian with the child Daniel during The Kindly Ones, the ninth collection of issues in the series. Together, Cain and Abel know stories of mysteries and of secrets; Abel is the teller of stories of secrets. According to their appearance in Swamp Thing, the difference is that a mystery may be shared, but a secret must be forgotten if one tries to tell it.