The world of Vertigo’s The Sandman has inspired numerous spin-offs, a whole comic book expanded universe with anthologies, one-shots, miniseries, and other specials.
The character of Death is not one of those who were lucky enough to get a comic book ongoing series, unlike Lucifer Morningstar and Dead Boy Detectives, even if she is extremely popular. Despite that, we can still find Death in a few publications outside the main Sandman comics.
If you are not too familiar with the world of Sandman, in it, we met the Endless, the personification of concepts, who all play a specific part in the human world. Dream (or Morpheus) is the king of the Dreaming World, where you go when you sleep. His older sister is Death and she mostly meets with the recently deceased and guides them into their next existence.
Death is the second eldest of Endless and possibly the most powerful being in the Universe. In The Sandman, Death takes the appearance of a young goth woman. She is omnipotence and omnipresence, being with all those who die when they die.
The Sandman’s Death Reading Order
The best way to begin reading comics with Death is obviously to start with Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman. More precisely, with her introduction in The Sandman issue #8 (August 1989). You can find this comic book collected in Preludes and Nocturnes, the first trade paperback. After her first appearance, Death of the Endless was featured in almost all of The Sandman‘s storylines, often playing a really small part, except in The Kindly Ones.
That said, you can find Death in other publications. Most of them are collected in one big book:
- The Absolute Death
Collects The Sandman No. 8 and No. 20, Death: The High Cost of Living, “Death Talks About Life” AIDS pamphlet, Death: The Time of Your Life, Vertigo: Winter’s Edge 2, “Death and Venice” from Endless Nights, “The Wheel” from 9-11 and extras from A Death Gallery.
This comic book is also available in paperback.
- Death: DC Compact Comics Edition (coming fall 2025)
Collects Death: The High Cost of Living #1-3, Death: The Time of Your Life #1-3, Death Talks About Life #1.
The Death of the Endless Comics: A Detailed Look
There may not have been a Death ongoing series, but the character appeared in comics miniseries and other spin-offs from The Sandman Universe. Here is what you need to know about them.
Death: The Miniseries
- Death: The High Cost of Living
Written by Gaiman, this story is inspired by one fact we’ve learned in The Sandman issue #21: Once every one hundred years Death spends a day in mortal form. This time, as a young girl named Didi, Death befriends a teenager and helps a 250-year-old homeless woman find her missing heart. - Death: The Time of Your Life
Written by Gaiman. Must be read after The Sandman storyline A Game of You in which we were introduced to two characters who are making here a comeback, Donna Cavanagh (aka Foxglove) and her lesbian partner, Hazel McNamara. - Death: At Death’s Door
Published in 2003, this manga-style graphic novel portrayed Death’s activities during the fourth Sandman story arc Season of Mists. It was written and illustrated by Jill Thompson who wrote in the same format a Dead Boy Detectives graphic novel which also features a cameo by Death. - The Girl Who Would Be Death
Written by Caitlín R. Kiernan, this third miniseries is about a girl who purchased an ankh stolen from Death and tried to become her. Death is never actually seen in the series, but she speaks and acts in the second half of the series.
Death with her family and other notable cameos
- The Sandman: Endless Nights
Graphic Novel. It’s a comics anthology, a collection of stories set throughout history about Dream and his siblings. The first one is about Death and takes place several billion years ago. - Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #2
A Vertigo Comics anthology in which we can find a six-page Death story. - The Little Endless Storybook
Graphic Novel. It’s about The Endless as toddlers… - Delirium’s Party: A Little Endless Storybook
Graphic Novel. A follow-up to The Little Endless Storybook. - Death Talks About Life
An AIDS awareness eight-page comic/pamphlet in which Death gave some safe sex advice with the help of John Constantine. - The Books of Magic
In the first volume published in 1991, Death of the Endless made a small but important (for the story) appearance at the very end of time. She was also included in The Books of Magic (vol. 2 #3-4, 25). After the end of this series, the main character Timothy Hunter continued his adventures in Hunter: The Age of Magic in which Death had an arc.
There are also a lot less notable cameos of Death of the Endless in the DC/Vertigo universe, even really small ones in the Marvel universe.