Death (DC Comics)
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Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman (1988 - 1996). She was created by Sandman writer Neil Gaiman and given visual life by illustrators Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III.
Like most anthropomorphic personifications of death, Death meets with the recently deceased and guides them into their new existence. Unlike most personifications of death, Death also visits people as they are born, according to Destruction in the "Sandman Special." Evidently, only she seems to remember these encounters.
Also, Death is a complete opposite of the traditional English culture personification of death (see Grim Reaper). Instead, in The Sandman Death appears as an attractive, pale, young woman dressed in casual clothes - often a black top and jeans. She also wears a silver ankh on a chain around her neck, and has a marking similar to the eye of Horus around her right eye. She is pleasant, down-to-earth, and perky, and has been a nurturing figure for both incarnations of Dream. This strange paradox has helped make Death one of the most popular characters from Sandman.
Death is the second eldest of the Endless, a family of anthropomorphic beings. Death's realm is not portrayed in detail in the series, except for a brief scene in her 'house' in the Sandman Special, Song of Orpheus and later in The Books of Magic series. This is where she keeps her floppy hat collection, her goldfish Slim and Wandsworth and possibly her gallery. A brief glimpse of her realm can also be seen in the first issue of The Wake, where a messenger visits her as she walks in open grasslands.
One day every century, Death lives (and dies) as a mortal, in order to understand the human race.
Death first appeared in the final chapter of Sandman’s first story arc Preludes and Nocturnes, "The Sound of Her Wings," where she gave Dream direction and a degree of understanding. Death instantly became very popular to readers and she appears at least briefly in each of the nine subsequent story arcs. However, Gaiman attempted to entice and tease readers by rationing-out the number of appearances from Dream’s family so Death did not appear as frequently as one might expect for such a popular character. At the end of the ninth Sandman story arc The Kindly Ones, there is a lengthy and noteworthy appearance from Death, in which she finally brings her brother peace.
Death has also been featured in two limited series, Death: The High Cost of Living (1993), and Death: The Time of Your Life (1996). Both were written by Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Bachalo and dealt with Death’s encounters with various mortals. The 2003 manga-style graphic novel Death At Death's Door portrayed Death’s activities during the fourth Sandman story arc Season of Mists. It was written and illustrated by Jill Thompson and may be part of a series. Death has also made occasional appearances in other DC comic books.
In Endless Nights (2003) Gaiman shows Death several billion years ago, with a markedly different personality-- forbidding and joyless. She also appears in The Books of Magic (first volume, 1991, also written by Gaiman) at the very end of time, where her function is to set things in order and close the universe up. John Ney Rieber included her in The Books of Magic (vol. 2 #3-4), in which she lets Timothy Hunter hang out at her house and hold her teddy bear, Cavendish, while he is recovering from the venom of the Manticore. Indeed, it is possible she got her ankh from Tim, after he won it on a seaside 'grabber' game, although in The High Cost of Living she simply buys one from a street vendor, hinting that it is merely a symbol. It may be argued that any ankh works for her.
Despite some rumors, Death is not based on Tori Amos (who is Gaiman's friend). Rather, Delirium is. [1]
Death made an appearance in the Marvel Universe, at the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler in an issue of The Incredible Hulk (handing Rick a hair brush, the joke being Rick's constant 'brushes with death'). However, this was probably only the Death of the Marvel Universe assuming a form more appropriate for the occasion, rather than an actual appearance by the DC version. Keith Giffen used the character in several DC stories, including Ambush Bug Nothing Special #1, a brief cameo in Lobo's Back #3, in which she slaps Lobo for getting fresh with her, and she comes to take Superboy in the retconned-out Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4, #38.
Other personifications of Death have appeared in the DC Universe. In Captain Atom #42 (also by Giffen) Death appears alongside Black Racer of the New Gods and Nekron (a "god of death" from Green Lantern). The story stated that all three were equal, representing different aspects of death. Gaiman has refuted this, however, and his stories make it clear that Death of the Endless is the ultimate personification of Death. It might be assumed, however, Nekron, the Racer, and the Black Flash are connected to her in some way. A more traditional version of Death appeared as host in such DC titles such as Weird Mystery Tales, Secrets of the Haunted House, Ghosts, Weird War Tales (including being in the story in issue #94) etc. It is unclear how this pre-Crisis Death relates to Gaiman's Death, if at all, although her older brother, Destiny, appeared with the character.
