At Death's Door is a manga influenced one-shot comic done by Jill Thompson. It came out a few months ago and I picked it up as I really like both Jill's work and the character, Death, from the Endless. Even if you haven't read the comics, the Endless are a cast of characters from Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman (published by Vertigo a subsidiary of DC comics). The family consists of Death, Delirium, Despair, Desire, Dream, Destiny, and Destruction. You can jump into this book as there's a short "Who's who of the Endless" before you begin.

Bare Bones
Basically, all Hell breaks loose and the dead are set free to roam the earth. Most of them go to Death's house and hilarity ensues. Actually there's more to it than that, but you have Death trying to figure out what to do with all these demons and dead people who are hanging out at her house. Her sisters, Delirium and Despair, try to help out with the uninvited guests and end up throwing a party at her house. Meanwhile back in the land of Dreams, their brother Morpheus has the keys to Hell so every demi-god and their brother is showing up in the world of dream to make a deal with him to take over Hell. Add one ex-girlfriend that he sent to Hell because she dump him over ten thousand years ago and you get one of the two romances during our tale.

The second one is Edgar Allen Poe having a crush on Despair (you're going to have to read At Death's Door to get more on that sub plot).

There is a lot more to the plot, but I don't want to give it all away. I REALLY enjoy Jill's art. Even though I am not a big fan of manga, it has its moments. The plot does involve people and events form the past but you get just enough information that you don't feel lost in the story line. Also, Jill gives you backstory for many of the dammed and how they end up in hell, which adds to the flavor of the story (and there are a few people from the past that you might recognize in the group). I actually really wanted to find out more about these dead people, made you think about why the ended up in Hell. Death explains this and you wonder (and worry) about those characters just as much as the Endless themselves.

Death Becomes Her
If anything, after reading this, you'll want to go pick up The Sandman comics and other stories with Death and the Endless in them. In fact, Neil just released a new edition to the series which has gotten quite a few write-ups. It was even on CNN twice this week! I think fans of his books will also enjoy Jill's story. And for those of you who read JLA, Morpheus made an appearance in JL a few years back.

So I'll end with things I learned from Death, Delirium and Despair:

1. Girls can do and be what ever they want (living, dead, or immortal). 2. Never let your siblings pick on you, but be there to help them when they need it. 3. You can be cute and kick demon butt at the same time 4. Do not date a guy who has the power to send you to Hell because you pissed him off. 5. Ankhs can accessorize any outfit (or lack of in the case of Despair).

Fun stuff: Which Endless are You Quiz (I am Death, COOL!!!)