Lucifer Volume One

Lucifer: Volume One
(Devil in the Gateway)
Written by: Mike Carey
Illustrated by: Scott Hampton, Chris Weston and James Hodgkins
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Vertigo
Language: English
June 2001, $14.99

From the pages of THE SANDMAN, Lucifer Morningstar, the former Lord of Hell, is unexpectedly called back into action when he receives a mission from Heaven. Given free reign to use any means necessary, Lucifer is promised a prize of his own choosing if he fulfills this holy request. But once he completes his mission, the Prince of Darkness' demand shakes the foundation of Heaven and Hell. Now as his enemies unite to stop his reemergence, Lucifer gathers his forces as he prepares to launch his new revolution.

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I will start off by saying I loved Neil Gaiman’s take on the Morningstar in the Sandman comics. Though a minor character and a right bastard, he was also one you couldn’t help but like. Enter in Mike Carey, whom I also like from the Hellblazer comics and more recently his Felix Castor series of novels. I had heard great things about the series and apart from Death, Lucifer was one of my favorite of the Endless. Voila, Borders has a buy two get one free on their comics which gave me the perfect excuse to finally pick up some new comics.

The last time I saw Lucifer, the Morningstar abdicated his throne in Hell, had his wings cut off by Dream and retired to play host and play the piano at a nightclub called Lux in Los Angeles along with Mazikeen, his longtime companion. Carey had a daunting task: how to keep Lucifer the intriguing, charismatic, and deadly character that I had grown to love in the Sandman comics, but create storylines that were believable and suspenseful considering that the protagonist is the former Lord of Hell. But he did it. Lucifer remains chilling and dangerous and yet witty and likable as well.

I also enjoyed the fact that each of the story arcs has a different artist, though not each of the story arcs is a complete one shot. My favorite tale was probably the second tale though as a whole I am excited to see what else is in store. You don’t need to read the Sandman comics, though you really should, to enjoy or understand the Lucifer series because it holds it own and like I said I cannot wait to read more. Now if Borders would just have another sale.

4 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks