“Have you thought about getting help? I mean, seeing a doctor, or a priest, or someone? I think you really should see someone.”
“Oh, that’s no problem Sexton. Sooner or Later, I see everyone.”
“Oh…”
“Sure. At the end, anyway.”
“The end of what?“
“Life.”
“Give me a break. And I suppose you know what happens when you die.”
“Of course I know what happens when you die Sexton. I do. I’m Death.”
-excerpt from Death: The High Cost of Living
Death and all it entails, has been man’s greatest fear since the beginning – since we first looked up to the stars in the ancient night and uttered the name of our race. Neil Gaiman’s astounding talent managed to take the concept of Death, give it a very specific image and make her someone we would actually hope to meet at the end. In his Sandman series, Death is the second eldest of the Endless, after Destiny, and the older sister of Dream. In this short excerpt from the mini-series Death: The High Cost of Living, it’s the one time every hundred years when Death can be human for a single day. On that day, she meets a young man, Sexton and this is the first time she owns up to who and what she is, to his great disbelief.
Personally, I believe that the idea of Death as a witty, gentle and good-natured goth chick, is nothing short of ingenious and for some reason, this picture of Raven brings to mind that specific character. It may sound morbid, I know, but in fact, it is a misjudgment on the part of anyone who has not read the comic book (so go read it!). Despite everything, wouldn’t you rather the Keeper of the Gate were someone like Raven (the name itself fraught with relative mythology)? I know I wouldn’t mind…
Besides, as the Sandman, Dream himself puts it: “I am far more terrible than you, my sister”.
Speedgrapher
