Diehard Sandman fans may be annoyed at Thompson's creative re-imagining of Gaiman's world. Though At Death's Door is not exactly heavy on substance, it is filled with plenty of amusement. The story runs parallel to The Sandman: A Season of Mists. While Dream is dealing with his unwanted ownership of Hell, his sister Death discovers that Hell's evicted tenants are now squatting in her modest apartment. Delirium and Despair, the other females of the Endless, show up for basically no reason and help Death deal with the problem, using their imaginations, lots of antics, and plenty of grrrl power.
Thompson has chosen to draw this silly story in the appropriate style of shoujo manga, lending a very different tone to the Sandman universe. Even those moments drawn directly from A Season of Mists have a different character, in keeping with shoujo-style melodrama. There is a lot less brooding and a lot more yelling. Delirium seems to have reverted temporarily to Delight; gone are her hallmark leather-and-fishnet outfits, replaced by a parade of summer and party dresses. Her morose self-absorption has also moved aside for a cheery, outgoing, and thoroughly zany personality. Even Despair seems upbeat.
Fans of The Sandman should find the volume amusing but of little consequence. They will likely notice that scenes from A Season of Mists have been poorly--sometimes painfully--forced into this volume. The story of Dream's dealings with Hell is more like an excuse for At Death's Door than an explanation or background. Fans of manga unfamiliar with The Sandman may be a little confused about some sequences. And if they use this as an entrypoint into the Sandman series, they may be disappointed to find that the "canonical" Endless are harder on the eyes than Thompson's manga versions, and the stories, though containing (often macabre) humor, are frequently grim.