Death: The High Cost of Living

I used to read "Sandman", in its early days. I thought Death was a pretty cool character (if a trifle over-imitated by Gothling chicks). There are several incarnations of Death as imagined by people -- one of them is the well-known "skeletal guy with the scythe". Another is the "Gay Deceiver", which is more how I see this Death -- handsome, personable, approachable. Gaiman, who has shown himself to have an exquisite handling of leitmotifs, does his usual good job here. The story is well-told, with few false notes.The story is simple and does not assume any previous knowledge of "Sandman". Didi, a Gothling, saves the teenaged Sexton's life when he figures out at the last second that he really doesn't want to die. Though Didi's existence is quite explainable (she has neighbors who know her, and photos of her family in her apartment), she claims to be only a few hours old -- and she says she is the incarnation of Death. Sexton, a cynical grunger, doesn't believe it at all, but he ends up hanging around anyway. Didi has a lust for life and all sensations it holds, from the good taste of food to the pleasure of "a really good party". She also has major problems in the form of a few supernatural folks looking for her, including a creepy old mage looking for her ankh necklace (thinking that she puts her power into it, like Dream did his toys), and a British bag lady who's lost her heart and thinks Didi can find it. After 24 hours, Didi dies, having changed Sexton's outlook permanently. He never knows if she is what she claimed.It is a sweet story, with none of the superhero bombast pervading comics today. Death has a nice day out and shows a very human side of her personality. When she dies, she whispers "No. Please." She doesn't want to die. She doesn't want to leave this magical, wonderful life she's tasted so briefly. But that, she is told, is what gives life its value. Her conversation with her alter ego, after her death, is what made the whole story for me.The art isn't bad, but it has a clumsy, blocky feel to it that detracted some from the story. I also thought the ending insert, a b/w piece featuring Death talking about AIDS, had shoddy art and poor movement -- it looked like a fanfic piece. But these both take second place behind an excellent story and a likable heroine.

Meet Sexton Furnival. Sexton is a well-spoken, intelligent lad, whose best friend is the mute, wheelchair-bound kid in the apartment down the corridor from he and his mother's (an unfortunately not quite burned-out hippie) and a dead ringer for Kurt Cobain (both physically and in attitude). Here's what Sexton isn't: in love with anyone, or hating anyone. In other words, his life ain't feeling particularly Hollywood right now. He doesn't feel the point to Life. So, in typical short-sighted 90's-youth fashion, he's going to take his own life. In a garbage dump, of all places. And for his trouble, he gets pinned under a fridge.Enter his savior, a young gal by the name of Didi, who we (being the faithful fans of Gaiman's Sandman that I know we all are) instantly recognize as the one and only Death of the Endless, looking slightly less pale, more chipper (if that's possible) and a little younger (about 16) than usual. She's spending her one day-per-century as an orphanedgirl living alone in NYC. Sexton takes the information in stride. ("Uh... right. So. I suppose you must do a lot of drugs.") Problems ensue, of course. Mad Hettie, who has popped up in Sandman (Preludes & Nocturnes, for the uninitiated), holds Sexton at gunpoint (well... pointy broken wine bottlepoint), demanding that Didi go off and fetch her heart for her. She's hidden it, you see, and forgotten where she left it. And a chap by the name of "The Eremite" is after Death's signature ankh she wears about her neck.Here's what Death: The High Cost of Living isn't: Plot-heavy. All the better for it. Both plots sort of fizzle, but in good ways. This story's not about would-be masters of life and death (that plot ends with Eremite being kicked out of a restaurant by the owner) or an old woman getting her heart back (but a sweet moment it is indeed); it's about a kid regaining interest in Going On. It isn't Hollywood, and all the melodrama which that word summons up. What there ARE, are lots of Gaiman moments. Understated, fleeting, quiet, human moments that make you fall in love with bit characters. Especially in the sequence at The Undercut club. Foxglove sings a ditty about that poor Judy girl who died in the aforementioned Sandman vol.1 and Hazel, her very-pregnant lover, who relates the pain of nicotine-withdrawal during pregnancy. Theo, the thuggish, unsuccessfully double-crossing acolyte of the Eremite, meets with a bitter end, but his passing shows us more about Death's passion for life than anyone knew. My favorite is the anonymous soul at Undercut, who relates her "friend's" brush with childhood sexual abuse and subsequent attempted suicide to Sexton, only to have him give her the brush-off. Sexton and Didi shine together, whether locked in a warehouse, playfully tossing around a Russian doll; perusing the merits of hot dogs' chemical aftertaste; or discussing her Day in the Life by a water fountain in Central Park.(I could be wrong, but isn't t

The woman you are about to meet isn't called Death just because the tuff-sounding name compliments her heavy eye make up and black jeans. She really is Death, the reaper, the one who takes you away when you have had it. It turns out the cloak and the scyth thing were just bad press; there's nothing grim about her after all. Neil Gaiman fashions Death after the story in the Caballa where the Angel of Death is so beautiful that upon finaly seeing it (him or her)you fall in love so hard, so fast that your soul is pulled out through your eyes. He didn't want a death that agonized over her role, or who took grim delight in her job, or who didn't care. He wanted a Death that you'd like to meet, in the end. Someone who would care. I think he succeeded. Though there is a family resembalce between her and her younger brother Sandman she is in many ways his opposite, sensible, delightful, and nice. This novel version of the three part mini series that helped launch DC-Vertigo follows Death through the streets of New York in 1993. It's turns out one day in every century Death takes on mortal flesh, better to comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality: And this is the price she must pay for being the divider of the living from all that has gone before, all that must come after. She embodies the 16 year old Didi, whos family recently died in a car accident. We enter clueless, as Sexton does. As his understanding grows about her true self so does ours. The plot twists and drops out from under your many times,leading you on a merry goosechase of emotions. You may even find yourself turning back a few pages to re-read and try to find out what you may have missed, but in the end all is explained, leaving you with that curious, empty, "what-if?" feeling in the pit of your stomach. That almost always leads us to pick it up and enjoy it again. I have thoroughly enjoyed this insite to the workings of the world. I am certain you will as well.

Neil Gaiman's portrayal of Death as a sweet Gothette with a sense of humor and a marvelous joie de vivre is far from the usual cloaked figure with scythe. In Death: The High Cost of Living, she adventures with a somewhat suicidal young man named Sexton, showing him the intrinsic value of living. They encounter the darling dyke duo, popstar Foxglove and here dear domestic and pregnant love Hazel the chef, who provide a glimpse of the glamorous life and its toll on otherwise loving relationships. Gaiman's clever turns of plot and stolidly real characterization rivet interest and unfailingly engage reader attention. There is so much here to appeal to a young adult and older teen audience, but the depth of character and complexity of plot will resound with and delight more mature audiences. Longtime comics readers will quickly become Gaiman fans (and what pleasures await them in his Sandman and Books of Magic tales!) and those who either have never know or had abandoned the four-color medium should give it a try. This and Death: The Time of Your Life will not fail to please and to distract.

Forget Neil Gaiman. Forget the Sandman. Death: The High Cost of Living stands on its own. It is a story, foremost, and it lives up to :that: ideal more powerfully than any story yet written. But it's hard to explain why. It doesn't have the great literary pretensions of some authors. But it leaves this complex :feeling: inside you that doesn't go away. Ever. "One day in every century Death takes on mortal form, better to understand what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality." We see Death as life, Death in life: we see Death in a way she can never be for us, the way she should be. Not the emblem of fear, but the close companion, the friend and confidant in all our problems. If that sounds pessimistic - read the story. If the idea of Death as a friend makes you think "bad bad bad," read the story. And remember that it IS a story, because sometimes you WILL want to forget.