Lucifer Vol. 1: Devil in the Gateway | Mike Carey

Lucifer Vol. 1: Devil in the Gateway | Mike Carey | A New Refreshing Look at Lucifer

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Lucifer Vol. 1: De...

	Lucifer Vol. 1: Devil in the Gateway Mike Carey Vertigo, 2001 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Lucifer after Sandman

Mike Carey brings back Lucifer from the Sandman series for his own storyline complete with uncooperative angels, a girl who sees her best friend's ghost, a teen unsure of a unusual roadtrip with Morning Star and a tarot deck gone postal. Can't wait to read more!

A New Refreshing Look at Lucifer

Lucifer is a new way to think of Lucifer. He is generally thought of the ruler of hades but here Morningstar has retired and lives on Earth among humans. He works for no one but himself as someone else put on a review here also. I really like how it shifts back some into the past of Lucifer when he was among the heavenly hosts. It gives a bit of insight into the past. I look forward to reading more.

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Great comic.

I've been reading mostly manga over the past two years, so what surprised me most about this comic (aside from the most obvious differences, ie., color, dialogue-heavy, etc.) was that the illustrators in American comics appear to be disposable, exactly opposite from the Japanese system.

The first story in this comic is illustrated by Scott Hampton who draws a beautiful, lucid version of a Mephistophelean-type, world-weary Satan bored by the absurdity & impermanence of this universe. His beauty is matched by his exquisite courtesy.

The second story is drawn by Chris Weston (I guess...it is not always clear who is responsible for character design amid all the pencillers, inkers, and colorists listed) who draws Lucifer as a thug with the expression of someone who has bitten into something really sour or is, alternatively, in need of a really good laxative.

I found Lucifer's expression jarring enough but then he has been graced with a hairstyle reminiscent of Barbie's Ken. I mean, I know Japanese illustrators are far more concerned with a character's hair than their American counterpart, but come on people, do you really think even the ex-King of Hell would settle for hair that looks like a plastic bottlecap?

Apart from these quibbles about the graphic part of the graphic novel, the story is excellent. The plot is involved but precise and never insults the reader's intelligence. I've only read this first book, but there is obviously much more to come & I'm looking forward to Lucifer's struggle with the angels & whoever else comes up. I plant to read the whole series.

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Hell of a start

If you like your literature dark, lurid and intense, feel free to indulge in Lucifer. The mere concept is rewarding to think about but seeing the personification of the prince of darkness as he goes about his day is as gratifying as it can get. Cool and cruel best describes Lucifer but he's mainly just trying to enjoy life since he got fed up with his dayjob so to speak. If you've read and loved Sandman, Preacher, or Kid Eternity, you're going to love Lucifer. Get ready for one hell of a ride.

Setup.

Mike Carey, Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway (Vertigo, 2001)

Lucifer was always one of the more interesting characters in the Sandman universe, though he didn't get much screen time. Enter Mike Carey (John Constantine: Hellblazer), who takes the threads Gaiman left in Sandman and runs with them. Lucifer, having abdicated his throne, is now the owner of a small bar/club in Los Angeles, playing the piano and mingling with the natives with his longtime companion Mazikeen. That, however, does not stop him from messing in mortal affairs every once in a while. But there's more to it than that-- it seems Heaven will, with distaste, use Lucifer as a hitman when it doesn't wish to get its own hands dirty. And thus we meet Amenadiel, an angel with a mission: to hire the Lightbringer. Wheels within wheels within wheels; the Gaiman legacy is in good hands.

As much as I enjoyed the all-too-brief Death spinoff, the stories never held the complexity that was both Gaiman's atmosphere and his greatest strength. Carey, on the other hand, is a perfect channel for it. I admit I like this book a great deal more now, having read volumes 2 and 3, than I did when I first read it; so much of this is setup that it doesn't feel like a great deal actually happens. Rest assured, though, the series takes off quickly just after this. *** ½

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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