Sandman Spinoffs For Goths 101

Given that one of my favorite monikers on the Internet is Delirium, I hope you've figured out by now that I'm a bit of a Sandman fan. Well, a bit of a Gaiman fan in general.

Death used to be my favorite character, and is what got me into Sandman in the first place. I am a poseur, I admit it, I saw goth chicks dressed as Death and found out who she was. But it was the excellent characterization, the fresh ideas, and the beautiful plotlines that sold me on Sandman.

Death, The High Cost of Living, is an inevitable spinoff, since I'd bet that Death is one of the most popular characters from the series. I was very happy to see everyone's favorite lesbian couple, Foxglove the rock star (think Ani DeFranco meets Melissa Etheridge) and her partner.

For those who don't read Sandman, let me explain. Gaiman has created a sort of pantheon [collection of gods] that he calls the Endless. There is Dream (otherwise known as Sandman), his older sister Death, their brother Destiny, the twins Despair and Desire, Destruction, and the youngest, Delirium (who used to be Delight). They rule over humanity and have contacts in other realms as well. The High Cost of Living is a spinoff that concentrates on Death's mythos, which says that she becomes human for one day to experience mortality, so that she understands her job much better.

Death is not portrayed as dreary or sad. She wears a smiley face button on her jacket, and is generally chipper about what she does. Her existance is to make the transision not-so-scary.

Although I would definately point the Sandman virgin towards "Brief Lives" before tackling "...High Cost...", if you're looking for some insight into Death, both as a life event and as a character, i can't recommend this book more.