Daniel Vozzo

A solid collection of loose comics featuring Death. Also love the collection of art in the back. I do love the endless callbacks, how the Sandman books are so connected, but sometimes those callbacks are very obscure, even while trying to read them all in relatively short order. (I did mean to entirely finish all the Sandman related books THIS YEAR but of course that didn't happen... next year?) Though it seems like Hazel and Foxglove are really taking over these stories a bit TOO much. But I'm not sick of these stories yet...… (more)

Dammit, I hate when GR loses my review. Okay, once again...

Reading this collection, I don't know about the other readers, but I couldn't help but fall in love a little bit with Death. Very much like some of the characters in the stories.

This particular collection shows off a deceptive simplicity to Gaiman's approach to the stories. The two main ones involve a madwoman wanting her heart back, and a bargain, previously struck and honoured, now being called in. Imagine, if you will, these are Ringo's steady backbeat to a Beatles' song.

Then Gaiman and Bachalo come in and create these wonderfully complex and fully realized characters, each with much to say. These would be the equivalent of Lennon or McCartney bringing in the ideas for the songs.

And then, through the course of these stories, these characters talk. They talk about things we all wish we had that good friend or lover that we could talk to of such things. They talk to Death, or they talk to a character who knows to ask the right questions. In either case, while answers are not always given, the questions and the discussions around them are both fascinating and illuminating. These would be the flourishes of musicianship shown by McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison. Combined with that beat, they become masterpieces.

Exactly like what you have in this collection. Wonderful, thought-provoking masterpieces.… (more)