The Netflix mystery series Dead Boy Detectives includes multiple Easter Eggs and DC Comics references, such as the cameos by Despair and Death.

Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives includes numerous Easter Eggs and DC Comics references that can enhance the viewing experience. Based on the DC comics written by Neil Gaiman, the supernatural mystery show follows two teen ghosts who investigate supernatural crimes. Since its release, Dead Boy Detective reviews have been overwhelmingly positive due to the show’s tone and the lovable characters.

This series also has great world-building that ties directly into the Sandman Universe on Netflix. Because both series originate from DC Comics, The Sandman and Dead Boy Detectives include references to the source material. These parts of the show amplify the experience for fans of the comic books. Additionally, there are Easter Eggs related to other TV shows and literature. While it’s not necessary to watch The Sandman, read the comics, or know pop culture to enjoy Dead Boy Detectives, the references and Easter eggs add extra excitement for viewers in the know.

12Doom Patrol #118

The Cover Of Doom Patrol #118 Is On A Shirt

Doom Patrol has a connection to Dead Boy Detectives because the pair make an appearance in Doom Patrol Annual (Volume 2) #2 as a part of the arc The Children’s Crusade.

An easy-to-miss Easter egg within Dead Boy Detectives is the cover of Doom Patrol #118 which appears on the t-shirt of the teenage boy who Charles, Crystal, and Edwin interview at the school in order to help solve the case of two jocks’ deaths in Dead Boy Detectives episode 5, “The Case of the Two Dead Dragons.” This DC comic writen by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani came out in April 1968, featuring Madame Rouge and Videx.

Doom Patrol has a connection to Dead Boy Detectives because the pair make an appearance in Doom Patrol Annual (Volume 2) #2 as a part of the arc The Children’s Crusade. In this story, The Dead Boy Detectives Agency crosses paths with the Doom Patrol members while trying to help children who are getting killed and wrapped in bandages.

11“The Sack Of The Gods” By Rudyard Kipling

Death Recites “The Sack of the Gods” By Rudyard Kipling

In Dead Boy Detectives episode 1, “The Case of Crystal Palace,” Death comes to help a World War I soldier move on to the afterlife once Edwin and Charles save him. As he asks about the afterlife and reincarnation, he tries to say the last stanza from “The Sacks of the Gods” by Rudyard Kipling. Death helps him, reciting:

“They will come back – come back again, as long as the red Earth rolls.

He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls?”

This Easter egg is a nod to Neil Gaiman’s childhood appreciation for the writings of Rudyard Kipling. According to an interview in Publisher’s Weekly, Gaiman first came up with the idea of his award-winning novel The Graveyard Book in 1985 as a pastiche of Kipling’s The Jungle Book. As such, he mentioned owing the author an “enormous debt” in the acknowledgments. In Neil Gaiman’s online journal, he confirmed that Kipling was his literary hero when he was young.

10Thomas The Cat King’s Name

Thomas The Cat King’s Name References A Forgotten DC Character

The recurring Dead Boy Detectives character Thomas the Cat King, called the Cat King throught the series, is an original character, not having a parallel in the comic books. The queer trickster cat diety’s name is an Easter egg reference to a long-forgotten, pre-Crisis DC Comics character from Earth-Two – Cat King, better known as Karl Kyle. Karl Kyle is the roguish brother of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. Like his sister, the thief commits cat-themed crimes in Gotham City.

At this time, Selina Kyle has reformed from her days as Catwoman, but she refuses to help Batman and Robin catch the Cat King, realizing it is her own brother. After getting caught and turning himself in, Karl Kyle spends time in prison. Later, he’s seen walking his sister down the aisle at her wedding to Bruce Wayne in the Bronze Age comic Superman Family #211.

9Ruth Connell As The Night Nurse

Ruth Connell Plays The Night Nurse In Dead Boy Detectives And Doom Patrol

One of the most interesting characters in Dead Boy Detectives is the primary antagonist, Night Nurse, who works as middle-management at the Lost and Found department. The casting of Ruth Connell as Night Nurse is an Easter Egg and one of the few carryovers from the series Doom Patrol.

Connell told Comicbook.com that the introduction of the Dead Boy Detectives Agency and the Night Nurse in the Max series Doom Patrol served as a secret backdoor pilot for the Dead Boy Detectives series. The DC drama spinoff was originally sold to Max, tying into the superhero series Doom Patrol. However, the series moved to Netflix in February 2023. Dead Boy Detectives was largely recast and tied into Netflix’s The Sandman, a fitting choice considering that Edwin and Charles were first introduced in Sandman (Volume 2) #25.

8The Nurse’s Naughty Boy Line References

Ruth Connell’s Rowena Says This Line In Supernatural

While most of the Easter eggs in Dead Boy Detectives pertain to DC Comics or The Sandman, Ruth Connell’s Night Nurse says a quote throughout the series that nods to another beloved series – Supernatural. In the CW series, Connell plays the powerful witch Rowena, an antagonist in Supernatural seasons 10 and 11. She refers to the Winchester brothers as “naughty boys.” The Night Nurse also repeatedly called Charles and Edwin the same thing.

In an interview with TVLine, Steve Yockey revealed that the showrunners of Dead Boy Detectives intentionally kept Supernatural references to a minimum because of the series’ similar premises; however, he allowed Connell to slip the Supernatural reference into the script because he was a fan of the actress. This was probably the most clever way of nodding to her previous role without it being overkill.

7Despair, The Endless

Despair From The Sandman Makes A Cameo In Dead Boy Detectives

Despair is shown reveling in the suffering of Edwin’s former classmate, Simon, and getting under the skin of Edwin – displaying her more sinister and cruel side.

Only two characters from The Sandman make cameos in the spinoff series Dead Boy Detectives. Despair, the Endless twin sister of Desire, appears in Dead Boy Detectives episode 7, “The Case of the Very Long Stairway.” Despair only appears as a prop in her twin’s plots in The Sandman, but she has a chance to develop as an individual character in her cameo.

Despair is shown reveling in the suffering of Edwin’s former classmate, Simon, and getting under the skin of Edwin – displaying her more sinister and cruel side. Additionally, she shows a form of vulnerability to the teen ghost. The last thing she says is that they are now friends, and she will call on Edwin when she needs him. This provides a potential storyline and connection between the characters that can be used to tie together Dead Boy Detectives and The Sandman.

6The Talking Cats

The Talking Cats Reference The Cats In The Dead Boy Detectives And Sandman Comics

Edwin and Charles interact with multiple talking cats in Dead Boy Detectives. The choice to include these characters is a nod to both the Dead Boy Detectives and Sandman comics. Talking cats frequently go on missions with Edwin and Charles, helping them along the way, in DC Comics. Unlike what’s shown in the Netflix show, these cats work independently from one another rather than working under one ruler or deity.

Additionally, talking Cats appear in the Sandman comics, most memorably Sandman (Volume 2) #18, “A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” This issue was adapted into an animation for Netflix’s The Sandman. It was also made into an episode of the Audible Sandman audio drama, starring author Neil Gaiman as the narrator. Ultimately, the talking cats are a nice tie-in to the bigger Sandman Universe.

5The Gray Realm

Dead Boy Detectives Episode 7 Shows Despair’s Grey Realm

When Edwin comes across a mirror in Dead Boy Detectives’ Hell, he travels through it into a place never shown before in the Sandman Universe – The Grey Realm. First shown in the Brief Lives arc of the Sandman comics, The Gray Realm is Despair’s domain. Just like the rest of the Endless’s spaces, her realm reflects the concept that she personifies. The Gray Realm has no color and is filled with mist and mirrors.

The gray-scale colors match the emotions of depression and despair. The weight of the mist matches up with the heaviness that many people feel when they are in a negative headspace. The biggest difference between the comics version of The Gray Realm and what’s shown in Dead Boy Detectives is the lack of rats in the space. Despair and the rats are the only living things that can exist there.

4The Nine Circles Of Hell

Edwin’s Journal Drawing References The Nine Circles Of Hell In DC Comics

The Night Nurse confirms to Charles when speaking about going to Hell that the lowest circle of Hell is the fiery place run by Lucifer Morningstar, shown in Netflix’s The Sandman.

When Charles goes to help Edwin escape from Hell in Dead Boy Detectives, he uses the drawings and diagrams within Edwin’s journal in order to help him get in and out safely. One of the pages shows the nine circles of Hell, which is most famously part of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy. However, this part of Hell also exists within DC Comics, both pre- and post-Flashpoint.

Souls who go there are sent to different circles based on the Earthly sin with which they most align. Because of how the afterlife works, the Nine Circles of Hell only exist because people believe in them. The Night Nurse confirms to Charles when speaking about going to Hell that the lowest circle of Hell is the fiery place run by Lucifer Morningstar, shown in Netflix’s The Sandman.

3Tragic Mick

Tragic Mick First Appears In Dead Boy Detectives #6

A relatively minor character from the Dead Boy Detectives comics has a fairly large role in the Netflix series. Tragic Mick first appeared in Dead Boy Detectives #6, and he appeared in a total of five individual issues. The character Tragic Mick is the owner of a magic shop in the comics and TV show. In the comic books, he is a human-walrus hybrid with the same curse origin story. However, the TV adaptation makes the character a walrus trapped in a man’s body.

The location of Tragic Mick’s shop changes in the show from England to Port Townsend, Washington. Sadly, the agency is going back to their London, England office at the end of Dead Boy Detectives season 1, putting almost half a world between Tragic Mick and the other characters. As such, it seems unlikely that the beloved character will appear in Dead Boy Detectives season 2

2Charles’ Mention Of Orpheus

Orpheus Is Dream’s Son In DC Comics

One deity in Dead Boy Detectives who is only mentioned but never appears is Orpheus. Charles asks whether Charles confessing his feelings is an “Orpheus and Eurydice thing.” These names will likely sound familiar to Greek mythology fans, but they also connect back to the Sandman comic books. Within DC Comics, Orpheus is the son of Morpheus – also called Dream – and the goddess Calliope – the muse daughter of Zeus.

Like in the ancient myth, Orpheus falls in love with a woman named Eurydice who dies at their wedding from a snake bite. The tragic love tale plays out extremely similar to the myth, except that when Orpheus returns to the land of the living, he is turned immortal. Then, he’s torn to pieces by Maenads, becoming a living, decapitated head. He has yet to appear onscreen in the Sandman Universe, but he’s rumored to appear in The Sandman season 2.

1Death, The Endless

Death From The Sandman Plays An Important Role In Dead Boy Detectives

In The Sandman, Death is the kindest and most compassionate Endless, despite the difficulty of her job.

The biggest cameo in Dead Boy Detectives is one of the Endless, Death, who appeared in both DC’s Sandman comics and Netflix’s The Sandman. Edwin and Charles spend their time running from Death and her Lost and Found department in Dead Boy Detectives. While she only appears in a single scene, her presence is felt long afterward. In The Sandman, Death is the kindest and most compassionate Endless, despite the difficulty of her job. She helps Dream find a way to let go of his vengeance for being captured.

Death’s portrayal in DC Comics is extremely similar, personality-wise, to what appears onscreen. The character looks like a goth girl in the comics. In addition to visiting souls upon their demise, The Song Of Orpheus reveals Death also sees them at their births as well. Death will appear again in The Sandman season 2 and likely Dead Boy Detectives season 2 as well.

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