The Graveyard Shift in: "Sentenced to Life!"

 I thought that for the third appearance I would add in a new member.  I got a few suggestions in their previous appearances, and I thought that Batman13's idea of bringing in Casper was a good one.  He'll add some youth to this team of dead heroes.  The Graveyard Shift was last seen trapped in The House of Secrets in STF #3870, and they first assembled in STF #3290...

The Graveyard Shift (In The House of Secrets!)

 

The Sandman on Netflix has been renewed for another season, and I look forward to seeing more of Neil Gaiman's tales adapted for live action.  I hope to see more of Cain & Abel and their Houses of Mystery and Secrets, I enjoyed their appearances in the first season.

This is the second appearance of The Graveyard Shift.  They first appeared in STF #3290...

The Graveyard Shift

 

Wouldn't you know it, I had created this new team and had this cover all ready to go, when I saw the promotional campaign for The Suicide Squad start kicking in.  On the posters was the line, "They're Dying to Save The World!"  Hey, that's a little close to the tag line that I created for these guys!  Has James Gunn been spying on me?  Yeah, maybe not.  I'm sure he has more important things to do than set up surveillance on my mashup project, so I'll just chalk it up to coincidence.

The Avengers and Death

 

Has anyone had a chance to listen to the recently produced Sandman Audio Drama?  I've heard some other DC Comics audio dramas before like Kingdom Come and Death and Return of Superman, and I was impressed with how well they were done.  This one seems to have an impressive cast, including Kat Dennings as Death, James MacAvoy as Dream, Taron Edgerton as Constantine, Andy Serkis as Mattherw and Neil Gaiman himself as the narrator.  I'm going to have to get a copy to listen to at night.

The Defenders and Death

Over the years, there has been talk of getting an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's groundbreaking Sandman series, or at least a film focusing on Death of The Endless.  So far, though,  nothing has materialized yet.  The sprawling Sandman epic is understandably very tough to translate into a movie (they really should try for a TV series to fit everything in), but I still feel that Death: The High Cost of Living could make for a very cool flick.

Spider-Man and Death

Tom Holland has been cast as the next Spider-Man and the first to appear in official Marvel movies.  I can't say that I have seen his work before but he seems well regarded and looks the part of a just starting out Peter Parker.  One thing I did see was him performing his own back flips, which is a talent that I am certain will come in handy for his new role.

The cinematic Sandman seems to be ramping up production as well - but still no word as to whether his sister death will appear.

Death and Hela

Forget the grim reaper - when it comes to the living embodiment of death in comic books, the depiction is sometimes a bit more attractive than a skeleton wearing a cloak.  I guess it only makes sense to soften the image of death in comics, as it is not nearly as final a state of being  that it is on the real world.  If you are a comic character who passes on, usually you just have to bide your time until you are resurrected in one manner or another.  In the meantime, you get to hang out with a cute goth chick or a leather clad temptress - doesn't sound so bad to me.

Thanos and Death

Well, Thanos has made the leap to the big screen with the teaser during the end credits of The Avengers, and we know now that it is only a matter of time before he returns to appear in a full feature.  But what of Death?  I had been hearing of a film project starring the DC/Vertigo star for years with names like Winona Ryder for the lead role, but those plans seem to have gone away.  I still think there is a very cool film to be made there - possibly an adaptation of the excellent Death: The High Cost of Living mini-series.  Hopefully, that's a project that will find its way beck to the forefront one of these days.

The Thing and Death

I remember discussing how Death and the rest of the Sandman related characters had fallen off of the map since the flagship title ended when I posted my Batman/Death cover. Well since then, Death has finally made another appearance - in Action Comics of all places! I for one am glad that the embargo on Vertigo characters crossing over into the standard DCU has finally been lifted after so many years. I think that restriction just limited the characters as a whole. Swamp Thing especially has never appealed to me in his Vertigo titles nearly as much as when he was firmly rooted (rooted - heh) in the mainstream DC continuity. I am hoping he returns in an ongoing series soon, and I hope that Death and company will make appearances a bit more often in the coming years.

Batman and Death

This is a case where swapping out characters makes a huge difference. The original cover had Cat-Man taunting Batman in a standard villain's death trap scenario. By using the embodiment of Death instead, the story possibilities open right up. I mean, she wouldn't be there unless this was the real deal, right?

It's Amazing how Death, Sandman, and the rest of The Endless have fallen off of the map lately. Neil Gaiman created such a rich universe and while I understand DC's decision not to let other writers muck about in his creations, it would be nice to see some new stories involving them. The collected editions of their comics apparently sell well so at least new readers are being exposed to some of the most thought provoking writing in comics to date.