Across the various Sandman/Vertigo titles we have seen various depictions of Hell and hellish realms, where the souls of the dead go to be punished. How Hell works, how and why people end up there, the hierarchy of demons and the like are all fairly well explored across various titles.

However I’m unsure if there are any depictions of souls actually going to Heaven, what a heavenly realm looks like, and what one has to do to get there.

There’s the Silver City, but that is explicitly stated to not be Heaven, and it is an abode of angels only, not a final destination for righteous and pure souls.

Similarly most pantheons seem to have their equivalent of the Silver City; realms for the gods to reside in but not necessarily for souls of their mortal followers.

There’s mention of the Sunless Lands, but we never see them. It may be Death’s own realm but that doesn’t seem right, since Death is the guide to whatever comes next, not the destination.

There’s the Greek Underworld, but even that’s more hellish than heavenly.

There’s the Mansions of the Silence, but that seems to be more of an afterlife for immortal beings and higher powers, not mortals.

If fact most of the characters that we see go in to have a good or fulfilling after life are the ones who remain in the Dreaming and take on new roles, but the Dreaming itself is not Heaven nor even truly an afterlife realm, just a place where dreamers can be reborn as dreams if they choose (and are offered the choice in the first place).

This question also begs the question; souls go to Hell because subconsciously they believe they deserve to be punished for their sins, so does a soul have to be objectively “good” to enter Heaven, or just believe they are good? Does anyone truly believe they are worthy of Heaven, or would pretty much all souls self sabotage and drag themselves down to Hell with whatever mental, emotional and spiritual baggage they carry over from their lives?

For me personally, that last view is a little bleak, even for Vertigo! I don’t think Death would find fulfillment in her function if she was just taking everyone to Hell, some souls must go somewhere better.

I’d love to hear everyone’s take on this subject; any canon examples of heavens or afterlife realms I’ve missed, thoughts and theories on what comes next for the souls that aren’t damned, and what it would require for them to get there.