Matthew (DC Comics)

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Matthew is a character in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comic series.

Matthew is "the" Raven of Dream of the Endless. The lettering of his speech is messy at the edges, and so are the speech bubbles, as they are with all ravens. His purpose -- and the purpose of any of the Ravens that Morpheus has had previously -- is somewhat questionable. Morpheus seems to keep the Ravens around out of some sort of unspoken need for companionship. The Ravens are created by Morpheus, offering the position to people who died, usually while dreaming, and released them from service if they so wished. Matthew lives with Eve in Dream's domain. It was eventually revealed that, before his death, he was Matthew "Matt" Cable, a long-time Swamp Thing supporting character.

Matthew is irreverent and somewhat crude, with a questionable life behind him. However, he served Morpheus loyally during his short time as a Raven. His loyalty extended so far that when Morpheus was slain, he at first was going to seek release from service to Daniel, who had taken Morpheus's place as Dream. He eventually decided to stay on as Daniel's Raven. In the The Dreaming series Matthew plays a more important role and was often teamed with the Corinthian. He died twice more during the series, once as a result of being tricked by the Coyote, and for a final time by an accidental shot from Lucien during a fight with Echo and Eblis O'Shaughnessy. He came back briefly to tell Daniel to not let Lucien blame himself.

Notable predecessors as the Raven are Lucien, who was the first Raven, as well as the last white Raven and Aristeas of Marmora who, centuries later, returned to his life as a man for a year. Disturbingly, when Delirium tried to recall the other of Dream's ravens she had seen, she mentioned 'Eleven and a Half'. Other predecessors who are mentioned are Jessamy, Francois, Jehuda, Vivien, Ming-Ti, Dechtire, Hatshepsut, and the infamous Aristea of Marmora. After he died, Daniel created a new white raven, Tethys, to serve him.