Death by Childbirth: Among the already-dead residents of the island on "Death and Venice" is a young girl, whom Death says died in childbirth. These are nice tales of the Endless for those who wanted more. But they're just that--more. They aren't the type of writing that makes a person who doesn't normally read "edgy" comics sit up and take notice the way that Sandman changed how I read comics. This is an encore from a man who's doing other things. Because he's so good at writing, they are still good stories. They just aren't what I've come to expect from Gaiman, and I don't think that was his fault. He felt it was time to write more Endless stories. I think he may have stretched that desire a bit too thin here. If we get more Endless, I'd prefer it to be in the form of a one-shot, so that the best idea is what we get. I'd love to read more, too--but only if it really needs to be said. (Library, 01/08) Desire’s tale is definitely the most sexually-charged, a fable of a young woman in early Britain who desires the handsome but playboy son of the village leader. She cuts a deal with Desire, but in typical fashion, the passions that are ignited do not conform to expectations. It reminded me a bit of the Wildlings of the North in Game of Thrones. It is all in his book. One day he will lay it down, when the book is done, and what comes after that is still unwritten.

The writing is also fragmented into poetic and cryptic snippets, so their stories are not so much stories as montages. In the case of Delirium, it makes perfect sense the the images and worlds are chaotic, disturbing, and somewhat crazed. It doesn’t make for easy reading. In the case of Despair, I just couldn’t understand what the story was about, but the artwork is suitably creepy. I just love the concept behind it all. In here they all have their own issue to establish exactly what their purposes within the universe are. In a way, they all work together to create much of reality. Without Destiny there could be no dreams or desires. Without dreams there could be no delirium or despair. And without destruction there would be no moving force in which destiny could act or no end for death to claim. Take one element out, and the others are not quite as effective. Driven to Suicide: Portrait #14 is about a woman who commits suicide by driving into the snowy woods. She's miserable when she realizes that not even killing herself made her happy. Some of the Endless are more dedicated to their tasks than others. The younger Endless, especially Desire, are known to play games with mortal lives. Destruction, often called "The Prodigal", abandoned his duties altogether. If one of the Endless is destroyed, then he or she will be replaced by another aspect of their role, but this does not occur if they are simply absent or inactive. In such cases, the aspect of existence supervised by that member of the Endless becomes more random and chaotic. During this time the Universe may attempt to replace that member by putting some of their essences within a mortal, as it did with Wesley Dodds, who received a fraction of Dream's soul while Dream was imprisoned. Dream’s tale, The Heart of a Star, is a story from the dawn of Everything, with interesting correspondence with the story in Sandman Overture. The art, by Miguelanxo Prado wasn’t bad, but wasn’t my taste either.

Gaiman follows that with a story of Desire, and who better to draw it than that master-of-erotica and modern-and-historical-Romance Milo Manara? Manara’s work here is graceful and appropriately near-pornographic. It’s the story of Desire, after all, and nothing else would quite match the unyielding passions that Endless one constantly evokes. The story features a beautiful woman and the lusts that surround her, but Gaiman gives us a great commentary on the Sandman saga in the midst of the story, as Desire tells the protagonist of this short story about her brother, Dream:

This story is about several mentally unbalanced people who are brought together on a quest to save Delirium from herself. It's possible at the end of this story that Delirium is somewhat healed in some fundamental way; at least two of the people involved in her rescue are also at least partly healed. Daniel/Dream, Dream's raven Matthew, and Barnabas (Delirium's dog protector on indefinite loan from Destruction), also appear as part of the rescue mission. In all, I do love the series. I understand what it contributed. And I like Gaiman — always — his voice, particularly as a miniaturist. Scheherezade Gambit: To avenge the men who killed her husband, Kara keeps them distracted all night with her beauty, skills, and flattery, until the men of her village return and slaughter them. The story about Destruction features my favorite, by Glen Fabry, and is a mysterious story about a remote island in the Mediterranean, where some archaeologists have unearthed some strange objects apparently from the future. The story actually features both Destruction and Delirium, and just like in previous Sandman stories, Destruction is a deeply thoughtful being, nothing like what you might expect, and is always ambivalent about his past life.The title is probably taken from a line in Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice. Gaiman himself has said that the story is based on a historical anecdote told by George MacDonald Fraser. A woman named Kara, living in an apparently pre-Roman Britain, becomes enamored of Danyal, a handsome neighbour. Danyal travels to the coast while his father goes to negotiate an exchange of hostages; upon the latter's failure, Kara sets out to tell the former that his father is dead. On the way she meets Desire, who promises to inspire an unbreakable longing in Danyal. As a result, he courts her for three months, until she consents to marry him. Unfortunately, he is killed soon afterward, and his killers come asking Kara for shelter, which she grants in obedience to cultural tradition. Upon seeing her husband's severed head, she manipulates his killers' desire for her and has them perform contests of strength, skill, and wit, distracting them until her own warriors return the following morning to kill them all. Thereafter, she no longer desires anything. She eventually remarries and dies of old age. Collects: The Sandman #40-56, “Fear of Falling” from Vertigo Preview #1, Sandman Special #1, “How They Met Themselves” from Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3, and supplemental material Desire: What I've Tasted of Desire": A young woman named Kara is in love with the handsome son of her village chief, and learns a couple of lessons from Desire. Art by Milo Manara. Groundhog Day" Loop: In "Death and Venice", a nobleman has intentionally created a loop which includes an entire island and all its inhabitants (including the nobleman himself), in which a decadent consequence-free party has repeated every day for hundreds of years. It's warded to be beyond Death's reach, but she eventually persuades a random human passing by to force open the entrance, letting her slip inside, break the loop, and return everyone to their proper timeline. The first place they go is the abandoned House of Mystery; once inside, the House begins talking to Echo and it asks her to be its keeper and then pours all of itself into her, all mysteries. Now, filled with this new power, she takes the next step and absorbs the House of Secrets as well and her army of Nightmares comes to her. Having captured Abel, she asks him to reveal the truth about her to the Nightmares, but he says there's nothing to tell. Instead, she shares "the truth": that she is the twin sister of Dream, and that he was jealous of her but since he could not kill her, he hid her in the sleeping souls of men, and now she has finally awakened.