Next to Morpheus, the most popular cast member of the acclaimed "Sandman" comic book series is his older sister, Death--no hooded grim reaper, but a perky, black-clad Goth chick.

In retelling the series "Season of Mists" story line, writer-artist Thompson depicts Death in manga style, as a button-cute punkette. Similarly, her godlike siblings are given huge eyes and exaggerated expressions, and whole compositions take on the cartoony, freewheeling look of "shoujo", the manga aimed at girls.

The story begins with Destiny's gathering af the Endless and proceeds through the release of the Damned from Hell. Then Thompson's narrative kicks in. Ever wonder what Death was up to when those souls were released? Well, apparently most of them showed up in her realm looking for something to do. Delirium and Despair have to keep the lost souls entertained to keep them from wandering off as Death goes scouting for the stragglers. The idea of Edgar Allen Poe falling in love with Despair had me rolling with laughter.

Thompson is one of few American artists to successfully mimic manga, and she imparts a lighthearted tone to an originally somber tale. Her approach will probably attract Sandman fans, who will devour any stories featuring its characters, regardless of style (myself included). If you're a Sandman fan I highly recommend this book. However, those who haven't read "Season of Mists" probably won't have a clue as to what's going on.

Book Details:

Title Death: At Death's Door
Author Jill Thompson; Neil Gaiman (Consultant)
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

Summary: The story of At Death's Door should be familiar to anyone who's read Season of Mists from the main Sandman series. The Dream King goes to Hell to attempt to free a woman he loved but imprisoned there aeons ago, only to find Hell empty and locked. This book focuses more on what happens to the people who have been turned out of Hell; most of them have gone to seek the last person who was kind to them - everyone's favorite perky goth girl Endless, Death herself.

Review: I had originally thought this was one of the Death spin-off stories that was written by Neil Gaiman himself, and contained a new story. However, Gaiman is listed on the cover page only as a consultant, and large chunks of the story are a re-hash of things we'd learned in Season of Mists. It's in a weird borderland where people who haven't read the main Sandman series wouldn't know what's going on, but people who have read the main books want something more than a cute retread of familiar ground.

Thompson's anime-style artwork is lovely and fun, and her use of space and panels on the page gives the black-and-white illustrations a liveliness they might not otherwise have had. However, the artwork occasionally tips from fun and cute into overly cutesy, which I found distracting, and not entirely in keeping with the tone of the story. Plus, seeing Morpheus with anime-eyes is just strange. 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: A quick and inoffensive read, but I wanted something more. There's not enough new material to really make it essential reading for anyone but die-hard Sandman fans. ( )

This book was a little spin off of the Sandman and I wasn't really impressed. I may have been more so if I hadn't read all of the Sandman, I suppose. It was a little too cutesy and obnoxious to be a real good read. ( )

The Sandman makes some fumbles in his personal life, Lucifer goes on Holiday and closes Hell permanently (?) and a fair amount of the Damned come to party at Death's house.
Yes it's a re-telling of the Season of Mists storyline from the main Sandman story by Neil Gaiman but in a more light-hearted breezy way as befits the point of view being Death's. You can easily zoom through this book but you may linger for Jill Thompson's adorable (and not in a gag me that's so cute way) drawings. In my opinion the story is nothing new and nothing really gained in the re-telling but the artwork is worth sitting down to read it anyways.
I also would reccomend The Little Endless Storybook- buy it, the color illustrations are worth keeping forever and it's a tale you can share with you children if desired. ( )

I tracked down my copy of Death: At Death's Door through a book-swap site, and I hadn't look at it very closely before requesting that it be sent to me. I was surprised and little disappointed to learn that it's manga; I had expected it to be a graphic novel along the lines of Death: The Time of Your Life and Death: The High Cost of Living.

Still. Manga can be a lovely medium, even if I’m a sucker for color pictures, and I’ve enjoyed other examples of Jill Thompson’s artwork before. I started reading At Death’s Door with a fairly open mind and found myself hugely let down upon seeing that the book not an original story. It’s an interoperation of the plot and events that took place during Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Season of Mists with a spin towards Death’s point of view. This is entirely not what I wanted to read.

If you are a fan of The Sandman series, you may enjoy perusing through At Death’s Door just because of its association with the series, but if you are new the series or just a casual fan, you can safely pass this book by. I would not recommend you purchase a copy unless you are a collector of all things Sandman.

If you are interested in Thompson’s artwork or writing, I would recommend you look into reading her The Little Endless illustrated short story instead. ( )