Hallo all. Hope you don't mind a random journalist snooping around and being inquisitive.

As a freelance project, I'm working on a magazine piece about pop culture representations of Death. Particularly in works like Gaiman's Sandman and Pratchett's Discworld, Death is a sympathetic and likeable character.

What I'm hunting for is quotable material about what people think about personified Death. Why do you like her? What would you talk to her about? Do you have any beliefs about dying that clash or coincide with images of lovely goth girls? Are you a fan of Death and why?

If you have anything to say (and I hope you do) please post here or send me a note at ferric_feline@lycos.com.

Its comforting.
Death is really friggin scary. Pop culture cartictures like Gaiman's Death help soften it for a subculture that may not have strong religious faith. I would like to hang out with her and talk to her... but not go with her.
That said, it can be harmful. Somebody too obsessed with Sandman could get the idea that real, lower-case "d" death is good. Which is scary.
The comic and cartoon The Maxx had a comment about that near the start.

are you looking at other comic incarnations of Death? Marvel's Death is interseting, and Jack Kirby's Death is a cosmic black guy on skiis. should make an interseting bit of your thesis

"Pop culture cartictures like Gaiman's Death help soften it for a subculture that may not have strong religious faith."

That's pretty much my 'thesis' right there, but it's a little difficult to quantify. Hence why I need quotes from fans who really do love Death. Unfortunately, it would be unprofessional to quote myself.

I'm focusing in on three versions of Death: Discworld's, Sandman's, and the reapers in the TV show Dead Like Me. However, suggesting other examples is helpful.

well... to expand on my examples, i guess... Marvel's Death works in the context of this crazy cosmic plot involving Thanos destroying stars to win her love
i know nothing about the Black Racer (the guy on skiis i mentioned))... but he was created by Jack Kirby for his 4th World books, so he's probably worht investigating

Discworld Death is a bit scarier then Sandman Death. He's continually making jokes about his function and how everybody dies. He embodies the traditional image of Death, and his horse and cloak and scythe are described often. The hourglasses are creepy. The house is creepy. The ALL CAPS SPEECH instantly sets him apart from everyone else.
I like the Discworld Death, but i think the idea is that this is a scary, fundementally alien thing... this incarnation of it just happens to benice, and a bit loopy, and somebody you wouldn't mind having tea with... but he's still scary. It works-- makes Death more real.
The fear of death in the Discworld books is mitiagated other ways-- the quantuam mechanical subtext, the constant magic, and the generally light/half-joking tone. Death is cool, and kinda nice... but he's also scary, and not applicable to the real world.

Sandman Death dosen't really exist in the real world-- she exists in the DC Universe, where Death is far from permemeant (techncially, i think she's the same being as The Black Racer, but it dosen't matter for your thesis). Still, her interactions with mortals, often characters the audience would identify with, ground her in reality.

I think her appearance in 'Death: The High Cost of Living' is problamatic. She's the perfect best friend/counsouler/possible girlfriend who shows a grunge kid small joy of life... its a bit sappy. Still, it plays on her intherant contridiction: she acts like she's full of life and happinesss... but she's the end of everything. She's something to cling to for fans, i think... if you doublethik yourself into 'believing' in this clearly fictional creation, maybe you can convince yourself Death isn't so bad.
Hell, in the first storyline she even says you should be more scared of dreaming then dying. Thats pretty much a direct mitigation of the fear of death

I don't have a personal opinion to add, but I wanted to point out a quote from a letter I read in CBG which moved me. I have seen others with similar sentiments.

From Comic Buyer's Guide #1598, Nov 2004
Captain's Mailbag "Finding Comfort In Comics" by Andrew Smith, letter by John Ferrigno, excerpt below

quote:

A few months later, my mother died, and I was having new problems. I wanted to believe that she was in a better place, and her soul was at rest, but nothing I was told or read made me feel any better. My friends, family, and teachers all had things to say to try to comfort me, but nothing worked. Nothing I had read in any book or magazine or the Bible had made me feel any better. And then I read Neil Gaiman's The Sandman #8, "The Sound Of Her Wings." This is, of course, the first appearance of Death. I thought it was beautiful and amazingly well-written story. However, it also did something nothing else had ever managed to do: It made me feel OK about my mother's passing. It made me truly believe that death was not something to be feared, but a natural event in life. This story gave a great deal of solace, and to this day when I read it, I think of my mother, and I am at peace with what happened to her.

Death always reminds me of my older sister. As Dreams older sister, she is the one that he turns to for advice and guidance. In a way, she's everybody's older sister. Someone who cares for you, gives you great advice, and helps you make sure you get where you're going.

I got a little turned around by your private-messaging system, so I'll just blast this out here...

I would like to be able to quote most of you in my story. To do so, I'll need some basic information.

Real Name (or a reasonable likeness):
Age:
How much a fan are you?:
How long have you been active in the Gaiman fan community?:
Any neat fan facts? (ie, read every Death-related comic of Gaimans, read Sandman 20 times, have Death merchandize, etc.):

These questions are just so that I can write something like, "Loki Liesmith, an active member of Neil Gaiman's fan community since the reign of Charlemagne, says....'blah'."

I understand that some people really don't want personal information out there, so please e-mail me at ferric_feline@lycos.com if you'd rather have it private.

I'm enjoying these responses, so keep 'em coming if you've got them. I'm writing up draft 2 this week, but stories only stop writing themselves when they're frozen in print.

-Audrey