Mervyn Pumpkinhead
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Mervyn Pumpkinhead is a character in Neil Gaiman's popular comic book series, The Sandman.
Merv (as he is better known throughout the series) is Dream's jaded, street-wise, cigarette-smoking janitor. As his name implies, he has a pumpkin for a head, though at one point during The Wake a turnip takes its place. This reflects, perhaps, that Dream creates and recreates his servants in accordance with the dominant culture of the time. It is William Shakespeare who sees Mervyn with a turnip for a head, and he would not know of pumpkins - an American plant. Turnips, on the other hand, were well-known in the England of the time. It is possible that other creatures would see other heads; after all, the Sandman is Dream's incarnation to any number of cultures and planets, although for narrative reasons we see him mainly in his interactions with humans. It seems unlikely that he would choose England of 1610, or America of the 1900s, out of all the possibilities just on Earth at that time, as the sole inspirer of his servants.
Merv drove a bus for a time during the extended absence by Morpheus. Merv seems to be in charge of the construction and demolition of the Dreaming, though he often complains that his job is superfluous since Dream can change any of it at will. More likely, he was created by Dream (né Gaiman) to serve as a representative of the working class. His janitorial duties would therefore be more a part of his character than a necessary part of the upkeep of the Dreaming; after all, what is a working class man without a job to complain about? He took up arms to fight the Furies in The Kindly Ones and was killed, but he was returned to life by the new Dream in The Wake. Mervyn Pumpkinhead may have been inspired by L. Frank Baum's Jack Pumpkinhead.
Mervyn also appeared in his own spin-off to The Sandman series called Merv Pumpkinhead: Agent of Dream, published in 2000. In this publication, Merv goes on an adventure in which he attempts to foil the schemes of a mad scientist, and along the way meets beautiful women and evil villains.
