Death: The High Cost of Living, by Neil Gaiman

Listen: "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."

Death, in the world of Neil Gaiman, is the personification of that aspect of the universe. Her siblings are Destruction, Destiny, Desire, Despair, the youngest Delirium (who used to be Delight), and Dream--the Sandman.

There are many examples of the irony of Neil Gaiman's work in the 3-issue collected trade paperback Death: The High Cost of Living. For one, no one in any other story in the world has gotten so much pleasure from living as Death does. "I said, don't apples taste great? I mean the way they taste. And the texture. And the way when you chew them they kind of crunch and the juice runs out in your mouth. Isn't it amazing?" There's the last thing Death says before she dies, "No. Please. I . . . " And then there's Death herself. Anyone familiar with Neil Gaiman's interpretation of Death knows this.

She's not the gaunt, robed figure brandishing a scythe and calling folks to their reward. In the world of Neil Gaiman's stories, Death is HOT, a petite, black-clad, pale-skinned sweet sticky thing, the ORIGINAL goth chick. And she takes such delight in everything, you can't help but want to meet her.

"Sexton, is the chemical aftertaste the reason why people eat hot dogs? Or is it some kind of bonus?"

Death: The High Cost of Living is one day in the life of Death, one of her many turns at being mortal.

Except this day, even if she were normal, turns out to be anything but. And still Death never loses her smile.

Paired up with depressed teen Sexton Furnival (more Gaiman irony; when we meet him, Sexton is writing his suicide letter. Anyone remember Anne Sexton?) "and I've heard all the jokes about it you could ever imagine," he says, Death finds her one day on earth in this century will be spent searching for the lost heart of Mad Hettie. Otherwise she'll kill Sexton. After she agrees to search for Hettie's heart, Death takes Sexton to a club to hear some music and experience life. She meets a man from Sexton's school who says he knows where there's a real party. He leads them away, only to be the liar. He leads them to the Eremite, an old sorcerer bent on stealing Death's sigil--that's the ankh she wears around her neck--another sign of Gaiman's irony, having Death wear the symbol of life on a silver chain--so he can "unlock all secrets of life and death." It's just not a good day for Death to be alive.

I read this story a long time ago--maybe 6 years?--and don't remember being too impressed with it. Having just read it again, however . . . well, it's still not anything to set the literary world on fire, but it was pretty good. I mean, it's not the best comic book story ever--really not a WHOLE lot happens, it's just the way that does happen happens that makes it interesting. Neil Gaiman is a great dialogue writer:

Sexton: So what were you doing on the garbage dump, then?
Death: Breathing.
Sexton: Breathing?
Death: Uh-huh. Breathing. You?
Sexton: I was thinking.
Death: Anything in particular?
Sexton: Just that I don't want to live in the same world as the World Wrestling Federation and the Home Shopping Network.
Death: Cute. Down this way.

And it's mostly the dialogue that carries this story along. I mean, Neil Gaiman isn't one for writing the simple A to B to C plot, so chances are things you read in one story will have importance in another story and if you're looking for things to be tied up nice and neat, it ain't gonna happen. I think this is because, when it came to the Sandman comics he did, he wasn't just writing a comic book, he was creating a world, and, like any real world, things didn't wrap up, but events affected other things and situations came from one thing, led to another, and everything evolved in its own way. So, when Foxglove--one of the side characters in this story--appeared in a later Death story, I wasn't surprised.

And all that's not to say Death: The High Cost of Living doesn't have the beginning, middle, and end a good story is supposed to have. It does. But later experience with the Sandman storyline proves to me this isn't the ACTUAL end of the story.

If you read it, though, I warn you to read the collected version. Neil's Sandman work is best read as complete stories, NOT month to month installments. He creates such complex, detailed plots that reading the story all at once is really the only way to digest all (well, most) of what he's saying. Throw in a 4-week break between issues and you miss half the story he intended.

To make the offer sweeter, the collected version features an interesting introduction from none other than Tori Amos, plus the 6-page public service announce, "Death Talks About Life" where Death instructs us in the ways of AIDS and the proper use of a condom, visual aid from a banana.

Death steals the show in any story she appears in, she has since her creation. So what was more natural than giving her a story all her own? No, it's not trend-setting work, but Death: The High Cost of Living satisfied the fans for the time being, and it did so in very satisfactory way.

Now a word on the art. Penciller Chris Bachalo is a pretty good artist, but his real strength in this story is in his layout. I don't know a lot of artists who can pull off 12- and 15-panel pages and do it so well. You wouldn't normally expect to see a look of shock on the face of Death, but when we see it through Bachalo's pencils, we can almost hear the "Doh!" she keeps inside.

Death: The High Cost of Living is a treat for fans of adult fantasy, comic book readers who are at that stage where the standard super hero story, while still in their monthly rotation, are providing less of interest. And for non-comic book fans, Death is just a fun character to read, period. It's not perfect, but it's purty darn good.