On Sat, 10 Jan 1998, x wrote:

hmm... I'd like to point out a slight hole in the plot of dire
fates... Lucifer retired and gave hell to morpheus, morpheus gave
hell back to god, and two angels now rule hell.  I know this screws
with your story a little, so feel free to ignore it and mark it for
future reference ;) 

Right, here's the deal.

Sandman continuity had, as stated above, Lucifer Morningstar
up and retire from his post, leaving two angels in charge.

Now, this REALLY messed up things in Hellblazer, because
they were in the middle of plotting a storyline with
the Devil in it.

So, they worked around that by creating the story of 'The 
First of the Fallen', he who fell from grace  -BEFORE- 
Lucifer did. Lucifer IS still the first of the fallen, in 
a sense.  Lucifer's the first angel to fall.  The First of 
The Fallen was NOT an angel.  He was something else entirely, 
and only God knows the entire truth of it.  He has no
name, only titles.

In Lucifer's  absense, and with the passive nature of 
the two angels in Hell, the First of the Fallen --IS-- 
now the dominant force in Hell. 

For more information on The First of The Fallen,
catch up on those Hellblazer back issues, the Garth
Ennis run in particular, or wait for the
forthcoming trade paperback.

Any other clashes with Sandman continuity are gleefully
ignored, since we're working with Hellblazer continuity.

-rod, who enjoys 'the dreaming' more than 'sandman'