Death: The Time of Your Life | |
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![]() Cover for trade paperback. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | April 1996 – July 1996 |
No. of issues | 3 |
Creative team | |
Created by | Neil Gaiman |
Written by | Neil Gaiman |
Artist(s) | Chris Bachalo Mark Buckingham |
Collected editions | |
Death: The Time of Your Life | ISBN 1-56389-333-9 |
Death: The Time of Your Life is a three-issue comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, one of many spinoffs from his series The Sandman . It was illustrated by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham, and features an introduction by Claire Danes. The series ran from April to July 1996 and has been collected into a single volume. [1]
This story brings back characters Donna Foxglove and her partner Hazel McNamara from a previous Sandman series of stories, A Game of You .
As the story opens, Foxglove is a very successful singer-songwriter currently on a very important tour. Her relationship with Hazel is slowly unravelling, due mainly to the building pressures of her newfound fame. One night, Hazel's son, Alvie (an accidental result of Hazel's one and only heterosexual encounter), dies. When Death, personified as a teenage girl in a goth dress, shows up to take him, Hazel makes a promise in desperation. The promise is that either Hazel or Fox will take Alvie's place when Death returns, if only she will let Alvie live for a while longer. The story touches upon the pressures of living private and public lives, as well as fidelity, love, and duty.
The original miniseries was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1997. The series also was awarded the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book in 1997, the first year the category was competitive.
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards. It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London, England that The Independent called "...theater at its best".
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, and X-Factor.
The Sandman is a comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.
Death of the Endless is a fictional anthropomorphic personification who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8, and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.
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Death: The High Cost of Living is a comic, written by Neil Gaiman with art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham. It is a spin-off from Gaiman's best-selling Vertigo Comics series The Sandman, featuring the Sandman (Dream)'s elder sister, Death of the Endless. Its premise is that Death takes human form once a century, to remain grounded and in touch with humanity, an idea touched upon in several other media, for example in the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday and in the Terry Pratchett novel Reaper Man.
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Chris Bachalo is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' Shade, the Changing Man and Neil Gaiman's two Death series. Chris has also illustrated several of Marvel Comics' X-Men-related series, including Generation X, X-Men Vol. 2, Uncanny X-Men, and Ultimate X-Men. Beginning in April 2000 Chris illustrated his creator-owned series Steampunk.
Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comics artist who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His influences include British "Golden Age" book illustrator Arthur Rackham, Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, and comic-strip artist Hal Foster, among others. Vess has won several awards for his illustrations. Vess' studio, Green Man Press, is located in Abingdon, VA.
The Power of Shazam! is a 1994 hardcover graphic novel, written and painted by Jerry Ordway for DC Comics. The 96-page story, depicting the revamped origins of former Fawcett Comics superhero Captain Marvel, was followed by an ongoing series, also titled The Power of Shazam!, which ran from 1995 to 1999.
Jill Thompson is an American illustrator and writer who has worked for stage, film, and television. Well known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman as well.
Maggie Thompson, is an American longtime editor of the now-defunct comic book industry news magazine Comics Buyer's Guide, science fiction fan, and collector of comics.
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Steve Leialoha is an American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and later DC Comics.
The Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500.
The Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum's Don Thompson Awards were given for achievement in comic books, comic strips, and animation. Initiated in 1992, they were originally known as the Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum Awards for the CompuServe forum that created and gave out the award. In 1994, after the death of long-time comics enthusiast and publisher Don Thompson, the awards were renamed in Thompson's honor. The final awards were presented in 1998.
The Endless are a family of beings who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The members of the family include Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and Dream.