Happily Ever After?
This epilogue (sometimes called 'Episode Infinity') wraps up the Season of Mists storyline. But just like all the story arcs in The Sandman, it plants seeds for future stories. Hell is now under new stewardship, but really isn't Hell always Hell? Lucifer, turns up in a chair on the beach of Perth watching the sunset. This unusual take on Lucifer as a complex character is what eventually leads to him getting his own series. It's not really an issue that makes much sense if you haven't read the preceding issues, but it's an important issue given the new direction it sends many of the characters in. I highly recommend reading it - but read at least a couple of the Season of Mists issues before it, including issue #27.
By this point Sandman was widely recognized as a unique phenomenon in comics.
Find out why.