"I like happy endings."
— Didi
Death: The High Cost of Living is a three-issue comic that ran from March to May 1993. It is a Spin-Off of The Sandman (1989), written by the comic's author Neil Gaiman with art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham. It was noticeably the first DC Comics series published under the Vertigo Comics imprint.
The comic stars Dream of the Endless's older sister Death, who, like she does every century, takes one day off and spends a day as a mortal. "Didi" befriends a disaffected and suicidal teenager named Sexton Furnival and spends the day with him, getting into misadventures like the homeless woman Mad Hettie demanding her heart, or an immortal sorcerer who chases after her.
Death: The Time of Your Life, published in 1996, is a sequel that focuses on Death, Hazel and Foxglove.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: We're given several hints that the Elemite is Mister E, from Books of Magic: They both are blind men (who can nevertheless see) dressed in white, and it'd make sense for Erik to have gone even madder and have a grudge against Death and suicidal ideations after Death gave him A Fate Worse Than Death at the end of Books of Magic, but it'd contradict the Mister E mini series. One could theorise the Elemite is Mister E's fate inside the Sandman Universe, while Mister E is Erik's fate in the Books of Magic universe, but at that point it's just speculation.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Sexton complains that his classmate Theo is the type of asshole to cruelly kill kittens, but all the girls think he's "sex in blue jeans".
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: A young woman, in order to drive home the point that "ennui" is no reason to commit suicide, tells the story of a "friend" who was repeatedly molested by her father and his buddies the mayor and chief of police, so there was no one in her small town she could turn to. She attempted suicide by slicing up her arms, but survived and was glad that she did. When asked what happened to her in the end, she says "I expect she came out to the big city" (the miniseries takes place in New York). Furthermore, she's wearing long gloves...hint, hint. Not that Sexton gets the message at the time.
- Bait-and-Switch Comparison: Counts also as Self Deprecating Humour.Last time I saw him he told me this joke: "What's the difference between a lawyer and a herring? (...) One's wet and slimy and it stinks - and the other's one's a herring!"
- Brits Love Tea: Mad Hettie complaining that American can't make a proper tea.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Disaffected teen Sexton calls his parents Sylvia and Steve.
- Coins for the Dead: Death spends her day as a mortal in the 1990s. At the end of the day, the mortal version of Death dies, and a sorcerer who had been trying to capture her (and, it's implied, end his own immortal life) places a pair of coins over her eyes in respect. This is foreshadowed by her getting nearly everything for free all day- she pays for the final item, a pair of sunglasses, and is left with two pennies in her pocket.
- Conspicuous Gloves: A woman Sexton speaks with in the club, wears long concealing gloves and tells him about a friend of hers who tried to commit suicide by slitting her veins.
- Continuity Nod: The songs Foxglove performs. The first one is called "Donna's Dream" and is about Judy, the girl killed by John Dee in Preludes and Nocturnes, the first arc of The Sandman (1989). In A Game of You, a later arc, Foxglove (formerly Donna) is revealed to have been her ex-girlfriend, and has a nightmare about her. The next song, "Tracks", is about Wanda, Foxglove's neighbor who died in A Game of You.
- Crazy Homeless People: Mad Hettie, as the name implies, with some hints of Violent Glaswegian.Five minutes ago I was standing (...) with a really pretty sharp broken bottle pressed into the side of my face. The bottle was held by another crazy person, only this one smelled like a storm-drain.
- Death Takes a Holiday: Literally. The trope is discussed but averted, since people keep on dying anyway. Even Didi, who gets collected by "herself" in the end.
- Eyes Out of Sight: The Eremite's eyes are always hidden under deep shadowy brows.
- Fake Memories: When Death spends a day as a mortal, the universe apparently builds her a full background and people around "Didi" -like Mrs Robbins- remember knowing her "all her life" even if she popped up into existence a few hours ago.
- The Grim Reaper: Discussed. Sexton doesn't believe Didi is the personification of Death, because to him Death is a bone-faced cloaked guy with a scythe who plays chess with Scandinavians.
- Happily Failed Suicide: A woman at the bar tells Sexton about a friend of hers who was raped repeatedly by older men in her life. She tried to kill herself, but was somehow glad when she still woke up at the hospital. Her point is that there's never a good reason to kill yourself, but Sexton's ennui is a particularly insufficient reason.
- Mad Oracle: Mad Hettie can read both tea leaves and entrails. Albeit the "Mad" part is not a consequence of the "Oracle" part.
- Magical Homeless Person: Mad Hettie is immortal, a witch (even if she denies the word) and a Mad Oracle.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Didi is a spirited, friendly, charming young woman who inspires the suicidal and ennui-filled Sexton to better appreciate his life.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the golden necklace really Mad Hettie's heart and the source of her immortality, or just an ordinary bauble that she thinks to be it in her delusion?
- Napoleon Delusion: Sexton thinks that Didi only thinks she's the personification of Death because she's mentally unwell after the death of her family. The readers know better.
- Picked Last: Sexton says he was always picked last for sports in school, even after the kid with the leg brace, because that guy could at least throw.
- Sympathetic Magic: Mad Hettie breaks a stick to break a leg from one of her aggressors.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: In-Universe. Didi liked The Little Mermaid (1989) because it had a happy ending unlike the fairy tale it was based on, and says that one of her brothers (likely Dream, as the patron of stories) is a purist about adaptations and dislikes changes.
