Editing Death of the Endless (section)

==Publication history==
[[File:Deathpcsmall.jpg|thumb|left|Death in ''Weird War Tales'' #80]]
Other personifications of Death have appeared in the DC Universe. In ''[[Captain Atom]]'' #42 Death appears alongside [[Black Racer (DC Comics)|Black Racer]] of the [[New Gods]] and [[Nekron]] (a being embodying the will of "The Black", the solitude and peace death represents from ''[[Green Lantern]]''). The story stated that all three were equal, representing different aspects of death. Gaiman has denied this, however, and his stories make it clear that Death of the Endless is the ultimate personification of Death. It might be assumed, however, Nekron, the Racer, and the [[Black Flash]] are connected to her in some way. Alternatively, there may be multiple avatars or gods of Death in the DC universe, besides those claiming to be Death. [[Blackest Night]] has resolved this apparent contradiction or ambiguity, with Nekron no longer being referred to as an aspect of death but instead as a construct formed of darkness in response to the emerging light of the emotional spectrum.

A more traditional version of Death, a skeleton in a bluish or purplish cloak, appeared as a host in such DC titles as ''[[Weird Mystery Tales]]'', ''[[House of Secrets (DC Comics)|House of Secrets]]'', ''[[Ghosts (comics)|Ghosts]]'', ''[[Weird War Tales]]'' (including being in the story in issue #94), ''[[DC Comics Presents]]'' #29, etc. ''Weird War Tales'' typically featured Death as a skeleton in some sort of military uniform relevant to the era and locality of the war depicted. This character appeared as recently as ''[[Cassandra Peterson|Elvira]]'s [[House of Mystery]]'' #2 (February 1986). How this [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|pre-Crisis]] Death relates to Gaiman's Death, if at all, is unclear, although her older brother [[Destiny (DC Comics)|Destiny]] appeared with the character,<ref>''[[Secrets of Haunted House]]'' #23 and possibly others</ref> and both Deaths have appeared with incarnations of [[Superman]]. Superman referred to the earlier Death with the term "Grim Reaper", so perhaps that could be regarded as a distinct character. However, in the pages of ''Weird War Tales'', he called himself "Death".<ref>''DC Comics Presents'' #29</ref> He also appeared when ''Weird War Tales'' was published under the Vertigo imprint and in the 2010 ''Weird War Tales'' [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]].

Death first appeared as a woman in ''[[The Witching Hour (DC Comics)|The Witching Hour]]'' #56 (July 1975) in a tale told by Mordred (written by [[Carl Wessler]] and illustrated by [[Ruben Yandoc]]). She was depicted with short, curly, red-blonde hair, and was a rival for two men's affections. Both men die in successive car accidents.

[[File:MaggieBrennan.jpg|thumb|Death, right, with new bride Maggie Brennan and the [[Phantom Stranger]]. Art by [[Dan Spiegle]].]]
In ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' vol. 2, #6, The [[Phantom Stranger]] met Death in the form of a middle-aged gentleman, possibly inspired by ''[[Death Takes a Holiday]]''. In the story, a young woman, Margaret "Maggie" Brennan, had what should have been a minor head injury and at one glimpse of Death chose to become Death's bride. As someone newly dead herself, she taught Death that he needs to show compassion for the newly dead to allay their fears. He takes her advice and they both serve as aspects of Death. This version of Death was created by [[Mike W. Barr]] and [[Dan Spiegle]]. Maggie is blonde and bears only minor physical resemblance to Gaiman and Dringenberg's version, though her compassionate nature is a similarity. In ''The Spectre'' (vol. 2), The Phantom Stranger himself appeared to be the only psychopomp in the DC Universe.

The current incarnation of Death first appeared in the final chapter of ''Sandman''{{'s}} first story arc ''[[The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes|Preludes and Nocturnes]]'', "The Sound of Her Wings", (issue #8) where she gave Dream direction and a degree of understanding. Death instantly became very popular with readers, and she appears at least briefly in each of the nine subsequent story arcs. However, Gaiman attempted to entice and tease readers by rationing out the number of appearances from Dream's family, so Death did not appear as frequently as one might expect for such a popular character. At the end of the ninth Sandman story arc ''[[The Sandman: The Kindly Ones|The Kindly Ones]]'', there is a lengthy and noteworthy appearance from Death, in which she finally brings her brother peace.

===Character design===
According to Gaiman, the initial visual design of Death was based on a friend of Dringenberg's named Cinamon Hadley.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/lore/interview4.html |title=Neil on AOL |work=The Dreaming: Neil Gaiman Page |access-date=2006-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110200742/http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/lore/interview4.html |archive-date=January 10, 2007 }}</ref> From ''[[The Sandman Companion]]'':
[[File:Cinnamon+Dringenberg.jpg|thumb|left|Cinamon "Sin" Hadley, the inspiration for "Death"]]
{{Blockquote|Death is the only major character whose visuals didn't spring from me; that credit goes to Mike Dringenberg. In my original Sandman outline, I suggested Death look like rock star [[Nico]] in 1968, with the perfect cheekbones and perfect face she has on the cover of her ''[[Chelsea Girl (album)|Chelsea Girl]]'' album.

But Mike Dringenberg had his own ideas, so he sent me a drawing based on a woman he knew named Cinamon Hadley<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slugmag.com/articles/2782/The-High-Cost-of-Being-Death.html |title=The High Cost of (Being) Death |magazine=SLUG Magazine |date=May 3, 2011 |issue=269 |first=Madelyn |last=Boudreaux |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708045605/http://www.slugmag.com/articles/2782/The-High-Cost-of-Being-Death.html |archive-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref> &mdash; the drawing that was later printed in Sandman 11 &mdash; and I looked at it and had the immediate reaction of, "Wow. That's really cool". Later that day, [[Dave McKean]] and I went to dinner in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] at the My Old Dutch Pancake House and the waitress who served us was a kind of vision. She was American, had long black hair, was dressed entirely in black &mdash; black jeans, T-shirt, etc. &mdash; and wore a big silver [[ankh]] on a silver necklace. And she looked exactly like Mike Dringenberg's drawing of Death. }}

Hadley died from colon cancer at the age of 48 on January 6, 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/Cinamon-Hadley-obituary?pid=187802633 |title=Cinamon Hadley Obituary |work=Legacy.com |date=10 January 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/arts/2018/01/23/the-life-of-death-remembering-utah-ballerina-goth-queen-and-comic-book-character-cinamon-hadley/ |title=The life and death of Utah's 'otherworldly' Cinamon Hadley — ballerina, goth queen and comic book character |first=Eric |last=Walden |date=January 23, 2018 |newspaper=Salt Lake Tribune}}</ref>

McKean also used a series of professional English models for representations of Death on covers of ''Sandman.''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.sympatico.ca/nancy.kilpatrick/n_the_goth_bible_corrections.htm |work=The goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined |first=Nancy |last=Kilpatrick |title=Corrections & Omissions |access-date=2006-11-26 |archive-date=2017-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508222913/http://www3.sympatico.ca/nancy.kilpatrick/n_the_goth_bible_corrections.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite some rumors, Death is not based on Gaiman's friend [[Tori Amos]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Death: The High Cost of Living |first=Neil |last=Gaiman |author-link=Neil Gaiman |isbn=1-56389-133-6 |year=1994 |publisher=DC Comics |location=New York |contribution=[[Tori Amos]] |title-link=Death: The High Cost of Living}}</ref>