Lucifer Vol. 11: Evensong

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Zander Cannon, Peter Gross, Aaron Alexovich, Dean Ormston, Ryan Kelly, and Jon J. Muth

There was a stretch of time, through the second half of Carey's 75-issue long Lucifer series, where I was becoming less and less impressed with the book.  The art was always lovely, and Carey's writing was pretty strong, but I found that I was starting to lose interest in the plot, as it became more and more about the second war in heaven, and was losing its focus on the supporting cast that made this comic so good.

At the core of my displeasure was the fact that Lucifer, as a character, was never very interesting.  I never found myself caring about his plans, or his rage at his father.  What I liked were the creatures he'd surrounded himself with.

This final volume, which collects the last five issues of the series, wisely spends less time with Lucifer than it does with his crew, and for that reason, I found it to be an excellent send off.  Elaine, taking on her new role in the universe, spends a little time saying good-bye to her companions.  The book starts with her visiting a Centaur storytelling contest, where she meets an old acquaintance, and gains some positive human experience (I can't think of a better artist than Zander Cannon to tell this story).  Later, Elaine has a 'girls' night' with Mazikeen, Spera, Jill Presto, and Mona that is poignant and funny, and helps bring all of these characters' arcs to a close.  There is also a final Gaudium story, which is always a nice addition.

Of course, the central part of the book is the last meeting between Lucifer and Jahweh, after Carey gives us a retrospective look at Lucifer's existence.  This meeting is a big deal, but I found that the quieter moments were of more importance.

Also included at the end of this book is a one-shot painted by Jon J. Muth, and published in the early days of this title.  I found that it was jarring to read this so quickly after finishing Lucifer's story, and it's addition (beyond being beautiful) did nothing to add to my enjoyment of these characters.

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this series.  It demonstrated how well Carey and Gross have worked together in the past, and was a reminder of the days when there was some form of continuity among some of the Vertigo books.

Lucifer Vol. 10: Morningstar

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Colleen Doran, and Michael Kaluta

I'd started to feel like this comic had played itself out a little over the last couple of volumes, and that feeling extended into the beginning of this penultimate book, but the latter half of the trade is amazing.

In this volume, Carey brings most of the plotlines that ran through the first sixty-odd issues of the comic to a head, as three armies (the Lilim, the Angels, and the combined forces of Hell and its damned) meet outside the gates of heaven while Lucifer fights the Fenris Wolf at the Primum Mobile, the throne of heaven.

The action and warfare is nowhere near as significant as some of the other things going on though, especially with Elaine Belloc and Lilith, who meet Jahweh and debate the future of all creation.

Wisely, Carey intersperses some of the more pivotal scenes with interludes, one of which involves a sorcerer who summons the most powerful demon in Hell to be his thrall, not realizing that Gaudium, the troublesome former cherub is the only creature currently in Hell.  That's a great issue, with art by the incomparable Michael Kaluta.  An earlier interlude returns to some of the earliest supporting characters of this series - the crippled Jayesh and his conflicted ex-skinhead boyfriend.  This story is drawn by Colleen Doran, an artist who we see way too little of these days.

This book goes a long way towards helping me understand why this series is spoken of with such respect, something I wasn't always getting earlier.  I look forward to finishing it all off with the next volume.

Lucifer Vol. 9: Crux

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Marc Hempel, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, and Ronald Wimberly

I started reading this book feeling a little bored with Lucifer in general.  I didn't enjoy volume 8 with the same degree that I did the earlier books, and didn't really feel like reading this.  I'm glad I stuck with it though, because this volume returns the book to the high quality of the beginning of the series.

This volume jumps around a fair deal.  The first story (with art by Marc Hempel, an artist we don't see enough of these days) is set in Hell, and has Christopher Rudd serving in a messianic role.  In fact, the story ends with him in a new, elevated station in Hell.

From there, we get to the main storyline of the book - the return of Lilith, as seen at the end of Volume 7.  We learn where she's been for the last few millennia, as she starts to plot against Heaven.  She's not happy with Mazikeen, for whom things go bad quickly.  Between these chapters is a story where Elaine Belloc, absorbing Michael's abilities, creates her own universe, and then tries to watch over it.  As well, we see more of Jill Presto, who is again pregnant from the Basanos.

There is definitely a feeling throughout this book that the story is coming to its close (two more volumes remain), and Carey is slowly ratcheting up the level of suspense and weight of events.  The strength of this book lies in its supporting characters - Elaine, Jill, and of course Mazikeen, and so the fact that Lucifer barely appears in this book is not a problem.

Lucifer Vol. 8: The Wolf Beneath the Tree

Written by Mike Carey
Art by P. Craig Russell, Ted Naifeh, Peter Gross, and Ryan Kelly

I found this volume of Carey's Lucifer series to be pretty inconsistent in its quality, which was unexpected for this title.

The first story included here is the double-sized 'Lilith' story illustrated by P. Craig Russell, and it tells of Lucifer's betrayal of heaven, although the story is mostly centered around Lilith and the early days of the Lillim, her children.  It also tells of the construction of Heaven.  Being illustrated by Russell means that every page is gorgeous, and it is a fantastic comic.

Next, we get a one-off story illustrated by Naifeh, which focuses on a man who gets possessed by a demon.  It's a fun, mean-spirited story, and Naifeh's art is excellent for it.

From there, we return to 'continuity', and get more of Lucifer and Michael dealing with the absence of God.  I could handle that, but found that the story involving Fenris wanting to destroy all creation, and using a schizophrenic murderer to help, a little tedious.  The art was great, but the story seemed to similar to the last couple of volumes, and I found my interest wandering.

Lucifer Vol. 7: Exodus

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Ryan Kelly

This volume of Lucifer is split between two stories.  The first has two oafish, clownish Titans decide that they should take Jahweh's recently vacated throne in heaven for themselves, and they set about putting their plan in motion.  Lucifer and Michael don't want the throne for themselves, yet they can not allow these two to take power, and so must work together to defeat them.

To be honest, this story didn't really fit with the feel that this book has established over its run to this point.  It felt a little silly, and rushed, like Carey needed something to push Lucifer to the decision that drives the second story in this book, and this was the best he could come up with.

In the second story, Lucifer decrees that all immortals currently living in his own new realm must leave.  He doesn't deal with this himself, instead choosing to deputize Elaine Belloc to take care of this for him.  Elaine has the right to choose her own team, and so works with Mazikeen, the two Cherubim that are usually in this book, her friend, and some little guy I don't think I've ever seen before, to go about this task.  This story works much better, especially as it is split between the efforts of the aforementioned, and the story of a demon named Thole and the young human boy he rescues from a strange home life back on Earth.

I enjoyed this second story much more than the first, as it was better structured and more interesting.  I was confused towards the end though by the constant disappearance and then reappearance of Mazikeen's mask.  It seems like a little more editing was needed here...

Lucifer Vol. 6: Mansions of the Silence

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, and David Hahn

Now this one is more like it.  I had a hard time with Volume 5 last week, but enjoyed Volume 6 a great deal more.  Perhaps it's just because of the fact that I read this one so soon after the last that I didn't feel lost in the number of characters or what they were up to (the recap page helped), but I feel like this story was a lot more focused than the previous one.

There are three main plotlines in this volume.  The one I liked most had Lucifer's varied supporting cast traveling to the titular Mansions of the Silence to retrieve the soul of Elaine Belloc, God's granddaughter.  The crew sailed the Naglfar, a ship from Norse legend, and faced off against long-dead angels and other strange threats.

While they were sailing, Lucifer and Michael travel to a pool made of God's thoughts, and Michael learns some stuff he doesn't like.  The volume ends with a story about Elaine, which works as a nice epilogue to the events of the book.

This is probably Carey's best work, and I like the way the art shifts from Gross and Kelly's pages on the Naglfar to Ormston's depiction of Lucifer's quest.  I'm looking forward to finishing off the rest of this series.

Lucifer Vol. 5: Inferno

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, and Craig Hamilton

It's been a while since I last read any of the Lucifer series, so it took me a little while to get back into the swing of the title with this volume.  A re-cap page or something that just listed off the characters would have been very helpful.

In this volume, Lucifer must complete his duel with Amenadiel, the angel who challenged him a while back, despite the fact that he is in a weakened state.  The combat takes place in Hell, and any number of the secondary characters from the first four volumes of the title make their appearance.  This is where I started to get confused, as I couldn't always remember the exact relationship between people.

As usual, there is double-cross upon double-cross, as Lucifer enacts complex schemes, while his faithful assistant Mazikeen hunts down the Japanese god who has stolen Lucifer's power.  Also included in the book are a two-part story concerning Solomon's quest to find the killer of Elaine Belloc, and a one-off about a grocer who helps a demon to deliver a baby.

I admire the way that Carey set up his story to last over a very long stretch of comics, but the sheer number of characters and sub-plots makes it difficult to follow the story unless its read in a short span of time.  He writes Lucifer much like Priest wrote the Black Panther during his classic run; always three steps ahead of everyone else and completely non-plussed by whatever is going on around him.

The art in this book is always great, in that very classic Vertigo way.

Lucifer Vol. 4: The Divine Comedy

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, and Dean Ormston

Reading this gives me a lot of hope for Carey and Gross' 'Unwritten'. It's clear, some 28 issues into Lucifer, that Carey had quite a story planned out for this title. This volume still follows up on things that were introduced in the very first issues of the series, and ends with Lucifer heading off to a battle he'd arranged some two volumes previous.

This book deals with Lucifer's confrontation with the Basanos, the territorial aims of the Lilim, the possible endpoint of Elaine Belloc's story (although I doubt it), the sorcery of centaurs, and the demonic forms of Cherubim. In other words, it's rather far-reaching.

As always, Gross and Kelly's work looks very good, and Ormston's fill-in issues are a nice counter-point.

Lucifer Vol. 3: A DAlliance with the Damned

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, and Dean Ormston
I've been enjoying this book. In this volume, the focus shifts away from Lucifer for a while, and on to his supporting cast (in the first arc contained herein), and then on one of the kingdoms in Hell.

Carey does a nice job of developing characters, explaining the backstory for Mazikeen and her people, and his portrayal of the Kingdom of Effrul is enjoyable.

While this is a good, dependable read, it does come off as classic Vertigo, without much innovation.

Lucifer Vol. 2: Children and Monsters

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, and Dean Ormston

Carey has a really nice flow going with this series. Lucifer is moving around, setting some pretty big plans in motion, and messing with some pretty big powers along the way.

In this volume, he goes up against a Japanese god and her family, the entire host of heaven, and a few other random creatures. Most everyone wants the portal he's opened that lead outside of reality, but he has his own designs for it.

Carey works with some strong characters. He returns to Elaine, the girl who can speak to the dead, as we learn her backstory, and she becomes established as a character who is likely to return.

I like the way Lucifer is portrayed in this book - he's not the simple devil that normally is shown in comics, but he is ruthless and direct in getting what he wants. It's a subtle portrayal.

The art on this title is very nice - Gross and Kelly work well together, and the odd fill-in issue or pages by Ormston, while having a different feel to them, don't detract from the flow of the book.

Lucifer Volume 1: Devil in the Gateway

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Scott Hampton, Chris Weston, James Hodgkins, Warren Pleece and Dean Ormston

When "Lucifer" began, I remember thinking to myself that it was just an attempt to cash in on The Sandman, and having not been familiar with Mike Carey, I never even gave it a look. More recently, having enjoyed "Crossing Midnight", "Unwritten", and some of Carey's other work, I decided it was time to go back and give this title a shot.

The first volume is made up of the original three-issue mini-series, the first three-issue arc of the main title, and a one-off story. Each tale has different artists, although all three stories fit nicely into the usual styles one sees with Vertigo books.

In the first arc, Lucifer is pressed into the service of Heaven, to track down and deal with an 'old' god, who is granting wishes of a dangerous nature. This causes him to make a trip back to Hell, more to establish the series than for any real story purpose, before he goes on a pilgrimage of sorts with a half-Indian girl. The story reads well, and definitely does its job of establishing Lucifer as a right bastard.

In the second arc, he goes to Germany to consult with a living deck of Tarot cards kept under lock and key by a fellow angel, who also collects books. He keeps a shabby used bookstore, which is really a library of Borgesian proportions. This arc also features (because it's set in Germany) a gay Pakistani, neo-Nazis, and cabaret performers. I'm not sure where the beer wenches were - maybe they'll be in the sequel. This was a good story too, and Carey uses it to preview, by way of talking Tarot divination, much of what I assume will come in future volumes.

The final story is the best in the book. In it, a young girl with various mystical abilities attempts to solve the mystery of her friend's murder, accompanied by the spirit of that friend. That the girl meets with Lucifer is not much of a surprise. This story, more than any other, reminded me of those odd moments in Gaiman's "Sandman" where some character would end up meeting Morpheus only towards the end of their story, thereby explaining why the story was in the book in the first place.

I am intrigued by Carey's take on this character, and will continue to work through the series.