Death: At Death’s Door

November 12, 2003

Quick Review: Good

Writer/Artist: Jill Thompson
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Jill Thompson
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

This book is labeled as a “companion” volume to one of Neil Gaiman’s epic Sandman graphic novel, A Season of Mists. This is an accurate enough description as, while it is a very entertaining read, At Death’s Door doesn’t really stand up on its own without the backdrop of the Gaiman book.

In A Season of Mists, the Sandman (alias Morpheus, alias Dream of the Endless) decides to confront Lucifer to win back the soul of a woman the Dream-King once wronged, and banished to Hell. When he arrives there, he is stunned to find that Lucifer has determined he no longer wishes to rule his kingdom of the damned, turns out all denizens of Hell (both demon and tormented soul alike), gives the key to Morpheus and walks off. (I believe that this is also the launching point for Vertigo’s current popular Lucifer series, but as I’ve never read that, I’m not entirely certain.) The rest of the volume was split between two storylines – the efforts of gods and cosmic beings to try to persuade Morpheus to place them in control of Hell and the efforts of others, such as Dream’s older sister, Death, to contain the souls that were let loose.

At Death’s Door tells virtually the same story, but from Death’s viewpoint. Now if you’ve never read any of the Sandman graphic novels you should be aware that Vertigo’s Death is not the grim, hooded, scythe-bearing apparition of legend, but one of seven immortal beings who keep things running in the universe — Death, Dream, Destiny, Delirium, Desire, Despair and the long-absent Destruction. This version of Death usually appears in the form of a young woman with a sort of quiet humor about her, a sort of all-knowing Mona Lisa smile that is oddly comforting and beautiful. It is her job to shepherd the souls of the dead from their bodies. What happens to them after that is beyond her control.

This funny tale, drawn in a style and published in a format that mimics Japanese Manga, concerns Death’s efforts to continue harvesting souls that have no underworld to go to, even as billions of souls she has collected already begin roaming the cosmos. Her sisters, Delirium and Despair, try to help with this process, but prove why the Endless should deal with their own realms without delving too deeply into the responsibilities of their siblings.

Thompson’s artwork is wonderful and perfectly suits the bizarre comedic tone of the story (bizarre mostly because the subject matter is the undead and a conflict over Hell itself). She uses the conventions of the Manga form without surrendering to them entirely, making a rather fresh hybrid of Eastern and Western comics that you don’t get to see very often.

The problem, I’m afraid, comes in the story itself. Simply put, if you haven’t read A Season of Mists, it will be very difficult to follow the story. Thompson does re-create several scenes from the Gaiman volume and fills in gaps of other scenes, but new readers will feel like they are only reading selections from a larger work, whereas people familiar with A Season of Mists will find the technique a bit repetitive.

This is not to say that the repeated scenes never work – in Thompson’s defense, she does these scenes from a different viewpoint than Gaiman did, and sometimes uses that to her advantage. There is a scene in A Season of Mists, for instance, in which Dream addresses Death through his gallery (a gallery of mystical portraits through which any of the Endless can contact any of the others, almost like viewing a picture-phone). When we first saw this scene from Dream’s perspective, it told the story. When we see it again from Death’s perspective, it still tells the story, but adds in all the chaos raging around her that Dream was not privy to.

The strengths of this story are in its humor – particularly in the scenes where Death gets frustrated with the roaming dead or where Delirium and Despair try to placate the lost souls with a party. (The Edgar Allan Poe joke in particular had me chortling when I read it.) The weaknesses this story does have are by no means in Thompson’s writing, but rather in the constraints of the story she is telling.

The format of this book is unusual too, at least for an American comic from a mainstream publisher – it’s done in black and white and printed in a smaller, almost digest-sized volume not much bigger than a standard mass market paperback, the format used to reprint a lot of Japanese comics in America. Also borrowing from the Japanese style, in which a story can stretch across dozens of volumes, is a number “1” on the spine. This would seem to imply that DC hopes to continue this series. I sincerely hope they do – very few people have proven themselves proficient at handling the characters from the Sandman family after Gaiman left in the mid-90s, and Thompson is one of them. I only hope that if a second volume is in the offering, she is allowed to really let loose and tell a story of her own instead of adding to a story that has already been told, because that is when I think she will really be allowed to shine.

Rating: 7/10

Sandman: Endless Nights Original Graphic Novel

November 13, 2003

Quick Rating: Excellent

Seven tale of the Endless from the most imaginative voice in comic books.

Writer: Neil Gaiman
Art (Chapter 1): P. Craig Russell
Colors (Chapter 1): Lovern Kindzierski
Art (Chapter 2): Milo Manara
Art (Chapter 3): Miguelanxo Prado
Art (Chapter 4): Barron Storey & Dave McKean (Designer)
Art (Chapter 5): Bill Sienkiewicz
Art (Chapter 6): Glenn Fabry
Colors (Chapter 6): Chris Chuckry
Art (Chapter 7): Frank Quitely
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Dave McKean
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Neil Gaiman put his Sandman quill away after 75 issues about seven years ago. Since then, others have occasionally told stories of the Dreaming and the Endless, and some of them (especially Fables creator Bill Willingham) were rather good at it. But none of them had the same fantastic feel of Gaiman.

Now he’s back with seven new short stories about the Endless, all of which combine to make one incredible hardcover that is bound to be a favorite when people start handing out awards next year. In each of these he teamed up with a really fantastic artist, most of whom he never worked with before, and turned out a volume that any Sandman fan simply has to read.

Chapter 1, “Death and Venice,” is the Death story in this collection, and like so many of the best Sandman tales, the Endless play only a small role directly. An aristocrat has discovered a way to cheat time by reliving the same day over and over again (kind of a version of Groundhog Day by way of Gaiman instead of Bill Murray). The Count can die every day with no consequences, because he will wake up the next day and live the day all over again, so in cheating time, he is also cheating Death. And nobody can cheat Death forever.

Russell does a great job with this story, switching from a looser, more iconic style on the island to a much grittier style for the modern-day scenes. This is one of my favorite stories in the collection.

Chapter 2, “What I’ve Tasted of Desire,” is the tale of the androgynous member of the Endless who plies his/her talents for a farm girl in love with a Nordic warrior. This story, as short as it is, manages to keep an almost perfect three-act structure – the longing, the pursuit and the girl’s life thereafter. It was brilliant to have this story drawn by Milo Manara, famous in Europe for his exquisite adult-themed graphic novels. Manara creates some of the most striking, sensual women ever to grace a comic book page, and the marriage of his artwork to Gaiman’s words is flawless.

Chapter 3, “The Heart of a Star,” is the tale of the titular Sandman, but is also the only story in the collection to show all of the Endless together. Eons ago, long before life began on Earth, a gathering of the immortals was held, a gathering of the cosmic beings, the gods. Dream of the Endless was there with his lover, Killalla of the planet Oa. The tale is told mostly through Killalla’s eyes as she meets each of the Endless, including the earlier incarnation of Delirium, when she was still known as Delight. If ever there is any question of Sandman’s place in the DC Universe, this should dispel it. In this tale we see not only the groundwork for much of the Sandman epic, but also the beginning of ripples that would one day touch mainstream titles like Green Lantern and Superman.

Prado’s artwork is beautiful, with a elegant, fanciful quality that is perfect for this marriage of science fiction and fantasy storytelling. He is also good with expression, often telling as much of the story in facial features as Gaiman does through dialogue.

Chapter 4, “Fifteen Portraits of Despair,” is probably my least favorite of the seven tales, although that’s mostly because it just isn’t the sort of artwork I prefer. Rather than a coherent story, this is more like 15 assorted vignettes of the lost, the despondent, the hopeless, as different beings reach the point of ultimate agony in their own broken lives. Dark and disturbing, with harsh artwork both beautiful and terrible by Barron Storey, this chapter is difficult to read, but only because of how well it is done.

Chapter 5 is “Going Inside,” the story of Delirium. She has gone missing, and a group of people that belong to her realm – a homeless man, a delusional girl, several others, begin to feel a pull towards a place that may lead to her freedom. This is the first tale in the collection to take place, chronologically, after the run of the regular Sandman series, and is the only one to feature Daniel, the son of Dream. The a sequence that works very well. Bill Sienkiewicz was the perfect choice for this chapter – he has a scattered, almost mad style that matches the mindset of the main character and those that are called to her aid.

Chapter 6, “On the Peninsula,” is Destruction’s tale, and takes place right after Chapter 5. A group of archeologists have found a monolith off the coast of Sardinia, full of artifacts that could not have come from any culture on Earth – at least, not in Earth’s past. The scientists meet a tall, powerful man and his young, disturbed sister, who seem to know a great deal more about the monolith than they should. This is an interesting tale that delves into the member of the Endless we have seen least frequently over the years… and who ironically, often seems like the most human of them all. Fabry’s artwork is always good – strong, clean, and serving the story first and foremost.

Chapter 7, “Endless Nights,” is a quick portrait of Destiny that includes some of the greatest artwork of Frank Quietly’s career. The best way to describe this tale is as “A Day in the Life of Destiny.” There is no real conflict, nor any resolution… there is only the slow, plodding trek of a being whose own destiny is to follow the destiny of all.

People hoping to find, in this book, a new epic adventure or fantasy novel will be disappointed. What they will find instead is a series of short, wonderful tales, some better than others but all superior to many of the comics on the market today. This book is simply wonderful, and anyone who has ever found themselves wandering the paths of the Sandman will welcome this volume as a chance to briefly wander them again.

Rating: 10/10