Death: The Time of Your Life

Comic Info

Death: The Time of Your Life #1

Reprints Death:  The Time of Your Life #1-3 (April 1996-June 1996).  Foxglove has found success as an independent musician, but at the same time, she finds her life seems to be falling apart.  Her relationship with Hazel is collapsing and the record producers want her to be bigger and more profitable which means creating an image of her life which isn’t true.  When Foxglove receives a strange unearthly warning from her manager, she finds herself on a new adventure that could mean her world and life might be ending.

Written by Neil Gaiman, Death:  The Time of Your Life is a DC Comics and Vertigo limited series that spins out of The Sandman comic book.  A follow-up to Death:  The High Cost of Living, the comic features art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham with Dave McKean covers.  The issues in the volume were also collected as part of Absolute Death, Death:  The Deluxe Edition, and The Sandman Omnibus—Volume 3.

I love The Sandman, and Death of course is one of the great characters to spin out of the series.  The character’s charm and charisma for life is part of the contrast of her role in the world, and Gaiman has a way of presenting the unfair aspect of this in her storylines.  While I love Death:  The High Cost of Living, Death:  The Time of Your Life isn’t as strong, but it still is a great entry in a great series.

Death: The Time of Your Life #3

Death:  The Time of Your Life feels more like a Sandman spin-off than the previous series.  The Foxglove character has popped up multiple times throughout the Sandman’s bigger tale (including in the first Death series) and this really rounds out her storyline.  The story is really about Foxglove, and Death takes a minor side role to propel the story unlike the previous collection which focused more on her.

I do feel that the outcome of the story is kind of predictable.  You have players that you realize will play a role in the comic and the final sacrifice in the last issue doesn’t come as much of a surprise as it maybe should.  That doesn’t diminish the story so much as it could have been even more enriching if you could have worked the story a bit different.

The art for the comic is solid.  I love Bachalo’s art from this period, but I feel that he has kind of gone off the rails in recent years in his inking and style.  Buckingham’s art blends well with Bachalo and it isn’t a distraction when the two creators switch out (as it sometimes is when more than one artist pencils a collection).

Death:  The Time of Your Life is definitely worth seeking out.  While Death:  The High Cost of Living was almost a standalone, you need to be versed in The Sandman to enjoy this collection.  If you do love The Sandman, it is a must because it wraps up some longer storylines.  Death is a great character and Gaiman smartly used her in minimum appearances to keep her rich and fun.

Related Links:

Death:  The High Cost of Living

The Sandman 1:  Preludes and Nocturnes

The Sandman Presents:  The Dead Boy Detectives