Customer Reviews

Death: The High Cost of Living #1

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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 orphaned

girl 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 that the same one that Dream was sitting in, feeding the pigeons, when Death first walked into our unsuspecting lives in Sandman #8? Really need to brush up on my New York geography.)

It isn't an "R-rated" human-misery-fest. It's amazingly very PG-13. Let's check the key words again, shall we? Death. Suicide. Sex abuse. But aside from very occasional cursing and one instance some barely "on-camera" violence, this is something that anyone can pick up. It's one of the few Vertigo books I own I'd feel 100 percent confident my family would read and love. Bachalo's cartoony/sketchy art is expressive, magic and real. At a lean 100 or so pages, this is really a direct book. It's got a story to tell, and it tells it, unlike some volumes of The Sandman. (Though it does tie into the second Death mini, Time of Your Life, but that's neither here nor there, as I've not read it.) If "It's a Wonderful Life" had been made in comic form, in 1993, this is what it would be (and who wouldn't take a Winona Ryder look-alike over Clarence, the second-rate... sorry, second-class angel any day of the week?).

Oh, and there's a couple o' neat supplementary tidbits: Tori Amos' introduction, Tom Peyer's text piece on the history of the character Death, and, of course, the "Death Talks About Life" six-pager illustrated by Dave McKean, which gives frank information about AIDS, condom instructions and how life is a sexually-transmitted disease. Useful stuff, that.

So. In a sentence: one of my personal favorite of Gaiman's works, and I hope yours too. Pick it up and feel glad to be alive.

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.

This story follows Death after she rescues a teenage boy with a strange name. A very old homeless lady tells Death to find the heart she hid, but can't remember where it was placed. Death and the boy go to various places, and Death gets to experience the life of a human for a day. One of my favorite graphic novels. You don't have to be familiar with the Sandman books too well either, unless you want to know about some of the characters that also show up in this book. It's a fun book to read and Death is quirky as always and true-to-character.

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.

Death is really a sweetheart. Gaiman did great portraying her in the way he did. Now, I wasn't a huge fan of this book, though I like the characters. It's not a bad story, but just didn't leap out at me the way that Gaiman's work usually does.

Ever since her first appearance in Sandman #8, I (along with so many other readers) have loved the character of Death, and in this story, we come to love her more. We get a glimpse at the one day in a century that she must be human, and we see, through the eyes of one who must take lives away, how wonderous and strange human existence is. It's tough to feel sorry for yourself as you listen to her talk about the little things, like the chemical aftertaste being one of the unexpected bonuses of hot dogs. She is your best friend, your older sister, and someone who will always forgive you your idiocies because she, who was never human and never will be, understands what it is to be alive, and to be a human being. Overly philosophical? Maybe. But she's worth it.

This book is a very good attempt to isolate one of the members of the Endless (The main characters of Sandman) and tell a little more about her, while at the same time another story loose from her is also developping along the road. The credit here should be partially given to Neil Gaiman who is not incidental also the writer of Sandman, but the very clear and nicely flowing artwork of Chris Bachalo isn't exactly hurting either. Art that is perfectly suitable for a "suggested to mature readers" title. Focused and telling the story without taking the attention of the story itself. A thing I also need to mention to give the book the credit it deserves is that, although it obviously being heavily related to Sandman, knowledge of the Neil Gaiman success-series isn't a neccesity. You can enjoy it without that knowledge without missing out on any vital part of the storyline. For those who DID read Sandman there are some little references to the series, not essential ones, but they're fun to spot.

About the story: When his mother decides to do a spring clean-up a young boy named Sexton Furnival decides he'd better go out of the house for a while. Sexton is a depressed boy who doesn't see the point in all of it that they call 'life' and wouldn't mind being dead either, a thought that has been plaguing him for a while now. He wanders around aimlessly a little untill he gets at the garbage-dump. Lost in his thoughts he gets involved in a small accident and a young girl named Didi turns up to help him. Since his jeans are ruined Didi offers him to come home with her so she can fix his jeans. Meanwhile a strange old woman called Hettie is searching for Didi and when she finds her she has a strange request. Didi decides to help her with it and takes Sexton with her for a night on the town. A time in which Sexton gets to see many other perspectives and variations of the life he thinks so boring. And a time in which he gets to think of Didi as a very strange person, mainly because she thinks she's the incarnation of Death on earth. And she doesn't seem to have to pay for anything ! Another person who calls himself the Eremite is also looking for Didi at that time, for mysterious reasons, and HE doesn't seem so friendly. And who or what exactly IS Didi ?

Sandman is over and we will have to live with it. But when stories like this one pop up every once in a while we have no reason for complaints. A story that stands on his own perfectly well. It's not the best story ever but it's a competitor for the sub-top, and wouldn't be a shame to many bookshelves.

Death:The High Cost of Living changed the way I
saw the medium of comic books, as well as the
phenomenon of Death, and the way I perceived the
world itself. When a mortal-for-a-day Death
casually raves to a blase, suicidal Sexton
about how WONDERFUL apples are, I got a warm
feeling inside that persisted for days. When it
stopped, I read it again!!! I never thought of
graphic novels as a medium to convey great ideas,
but I stand corrected. D:THCOL is a deeply
touching, profound work of literature about the
little triumphs of life, and the treasures of
living, seen through the eyes of someone who only
gets to live once in a century. I picked this off
my bookstore rack simply because I was depressed,
and the title sounded like it would encourage my
depression. I was wrong. After reading this...
I may never be depressed again.