From Sandman (Vol. 2) #8 (1989)
After Dream wrapped up his first story arc in the pages of Sandman, he was pretty down. His entire life had been consumed with getting revenge on those who had done him wrong and his attempts to reclaim the items of power he’d lost. Having completed his goals, he was suddenly aimless. During this time of depression, Dream’s sister came to see how he was doing. It was here that this version of Death made her first comic book appearance.
Written by Neil Gaiman with art by Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III, Death was a fun-loving, vivacious goth woman. The first thing she did was quote Mary Poppins, a film about as far removed from the traditional versions of Death as is possible. It was a breath of fresh air to a series that had, just two issues before, concerned itself with a killer who had turned a small town diner into a den of depravity and murder. Though Death’s function was to remove souls from the physical plane and move them to their next destination, her cheeriness was never dampened by her role. She was a nice contrast to Dream’s self-importance and a character who may be even more popular than her brother.
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One of my all time favorite issues of any comic ever. Such a brilliant way to portray Death and a great introduction to the character on this page.
Great character, great book. I enjoyed it all the way through to the end. With the exception of Marc Hempel’s art in the Kindly Ones story arc this was a perfect work. Makes me a little sad though because it reminds me of how someone stole the issues #1-20 from me…
Correction on the artist of issue #8: His name is Malcolm Jones III not Johns.
Thanks for the correction! It should be all fixed now.
You’re welcome. Just setting the record straight.
my favorite scene in that issue is where she goes to collect the baby. It’s such a sad moment. I love Gaiman’s choice to give the baby the ability to speak, changing from Googoogahgahs to full on sentences once it dies, asking “But is that all there was? Is that all I get?”
Such a tragic moment
I was about to post the same thing. That scene has stayed with me since the first time I read it all those years ago. “Is that all I get?” never fails to move me . . .
Me too, I found the scene with young soccer player toucibg too. I liked to imagine the 2 of them getting coffee or something before he gets taken whereever he’s going. I was surprised how empathic she was to everyone she met, even Lex Luthor a few years back.
Death always was good at deflating Dream’s more self-pitying side, even up to the end. Their final exchange in The Kindly Ones is one of my all time favorite comic moments (“You’ve been planning for this longer than you even realize . . .”).
I’m actually planning to reread the whole series soon for the first time in awhile, and can’t wait to dive back into the world of The Endless once again . . .
Same here, what a coinky dink! Are doing it to prep for the upcoming prequel in November too?
Yep, prepping for the prequel, though, it’s something that I’ve wanted to do anyway. I’ve found that parts of the series I remember quite clearly, while others have faded more. So, the prequel seemed like a good excuse. As I said, I’m looking forward to digging back into it all again . . .
Is it November that it starts? I hadn’t heard any official announcement of the starting time . . .
Same here, Again! I think I’ve ghosted on maybe 3/5 of the total story, but it’s so immersive and expansive. I know the prequel is supposed to coincide with Sandman’s 25(?) anniversary and I think Gaiman said that would be in November of this year. I really hope my LCS doesn’t sell out all the issues.
Death was one of my favorites of the Endless. If I could pick any girl from comics to date (and assuming she could clear that all-important work load) Id pick her. She just seems like a fun person. Its funny, in flashbacks Dream was the cheery one and she was the downer. Then time passed and the roles flipped. Hopefully in the upcoming Sandman prequel we get to see more of the other Endless. But something just occurred to me, did Gaiman ever explain why Dream’s siblings never tried to rescue him? I know it would ruin the plot of course, but did he ever address that?
Well, it’s been awhile since I read any of this, but I thought Dream had pretty much alienated all of his siblings to the degree that their attitude was “oh Dream, yeah, I guess I could look into that Destiny, but, really, the guy’s a p***k.” Also, I had the impression from the beginning of Season of Mists that none of these siblings really paid much mind to the others anymore . . . Like I said, it’s been awhile, so I could be off the mark . . .
Ehh, sounds reasonable. I think you remember it better than me. How did Dream alienate his siblings (if you can recall, I know we’re both foggy on the history right now), I seem to remember that when Destruction left the others lost touch because he was their “heart”. Maybe Dream’s stance at the time caused the rifts. Also Dream was pretty prideful and vindictive in the past so I’m sure that didn’t help. I can’t believe we’re talking about this, how many other comics have you read where you talk about the characters siblings and their family drama this much? Amazing book series.
If my memory serves me right, it was pretty much for the personality traits that you mentioned. After all, during this period of his life, Dream was pretty much alienating everyone around him, family, friend or otherwise.
And yes, as hazy as my memory is of some sections of Sandman, I am amazed by how vivid other sections of it are, and how much emotional depth & resonance they still have. Truly one of the all time great series . . .
Will there ever be a story as amazing as Sandman? I don’t think it is likely.
Since i’ve read Sandman i’m looking differently at comics and have been reading different things than i did before i read Sandman. It’s such a great story, And this page, just wow How many times i grabbed absolute vol. 1 to flip through it and got stuck at this page…
Beautiful times, Oh how I miss those days………..!
Gaiman’s Sandman got me fully comitted to the comics medium.
What’s more impressive is that everything about Death is so different than just about every other literately depiction. She is the most original character of the last 25 years.