10 Secrets Of Neil Gaiman’s Death Of The Endless
In Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, Death was the character who brought the series to life.
When Neil Gaiman created “The Sandman” series, he created characters and a landscape that allows him to tell any story. He can tell stories from the beginning of time to the far-flung future. Gaiman can tell stories from William Shakespeare performing Hamlet for mythical fairy creatures, to stories about the dreams of a thousand cats.
Within those stories, the Endless were introduced. They are above gods. They are immortal and omnipotent. They are Dream’s brothers and sisters and are responsible for their own realms that involve aspects of the human experience. Each realm is represented by a sigil and the family members contact their siblings by going to their galley addressing the sigil and summoning them. They are Destiny, Desire, Despair, Delirium (formerly Delight), the lost brother Destruction, and Death.
Death is every bit the personification of the 90’s pixie dream girl, fascinated with the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” one minute and chastising her brother for not contacting her the minute he broke free, the next. She takes all souls at the end of their life onto the next plane of existence. She is Death.
10. She Out-shined Her Brother In His Own Title
The character of Death appeared in issue #8 of “Sandman”, in the story arc “Preludes and Nocturnes.” The issue was titled “The Sound of Her Wings” and featured the newly freed but depressed Dream feeding the pigeons in a park. Death arrived and chastised Dream for not contacting her. Dream followed Death on her rounds as she visited people at the time of their deaths. Each encounter was accompanied by the sound of beating wings. His spirits were now lifted and Dream felt a renewed sense of duty to his own responsibilities.
Death’s popularity was immediate, and she made appearances in each arc of "Sandman" and enjoyed several projects of her own. She had two mini-series “Death: The High Cost of Living” and “Death: The Time of Your Life.” She also has a manga-style graphic novel “Death: At Death’s Door” and a one-shot Death gallery featuring artwork by various popular artists.
Death was featured in an AIDS awareness PSA. She detailed the use and importance of condoms and safe-sex practices, using a banana provided by an embarrassed John Constantine. The PSA was used in high school health classes and reprinted in the “Death: The High Cost of Living” trade paperback.