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Friday Recommendation: Lucifer

By | October 5th, 2012
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Let me talk to you about the Devil. Or, well, one of the various literary interpretations of the character. In the late 80s and early 90s, Neil Gaiman featured Lucifer in a few stories of his hit series “The Sandman.” Gaiman’s take on Lucifer was very much inspired by the tragic role in Milton’s Paradise Lost — sure, he was still a far cry from a good guy, but there was a bit less of a capital E in his “evil.” After “The Sandman” had wrapped up, Mike Carey and Scott Hampton did a brief Lucifer-centric Sandman spinoff called “The Morningstar Option,” which soon led to Carey helming a new Vertigo ongoing series starring the Lightbringer. And… well, it’s great, and you should read it. That’s what this column is all about, isn’t it?

It’s hard for me to talk about why I like “Lucifer” without saying things that might inadvertantly offend others. The thing is, I love Christian mythology. I was raised Christian, and while I have considered myself agnostic/atheist, depending on the day, for some years now, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost are still favorites of mine. The old school Christian cosmology, to use proper terminology, is… well, cool. Non-religious as I may be, religion and mythology of all kinds are very interesting and exciting to me, and I’m not the only one. The thing is, while the story of “Lucifer” is obviously biblically-centric, Carey finds a way to encompass religion and mythology as a whole. In this regard, it is similar to its source material, “The Sandman,” but on a comparatively smaller scale: “Sandman” is a comic about all stories, which in the context of the comic includes religion and mythology, whereas this series narrows the scope to focus on gods, demons, and the like. Of course, the narrow scope is subjective, and only pertaining to the theme; as a story, “Lucifer” is a sprawling cosmic drama that dwarfs even the grandest epics in terms of its magnitude. Carey deftly weaves together handful after handful of pantheons together into one massive cosmology, and then proceeds to wack at it with a baseball bat. And it’s beautiful. Sure, it’s a bit centered on Christianity, but hey, it’s called “Lucifer” after all.

But what is it about?

Those of you who have read “The Sandman” should know that at a certain point, spoilers, Lucifer leaves hell to the care of two angels and goes off to do his own thing — which includes opening up a class night club where he plays piano every night. If Lucifer can be described in a word, though, “complacent” isn’t it. He lead a group of angels to rebel against their creator even knowing they would fail! Playing piano can only cut it for so long. Perhaps Lucifer’s most common trait, no matter the interpretation, is his indomitable will, and his desire for true independence. But in a world where an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God exists, how can one achieve true independence? Is there any way to exist without being a part of God’s plan? Among other things, “Lucifer” follows the titular character as he tries to find the answers to these questions. Along with Lucifer’s own arc, there is a large handful of subplots that weave in and out of the main story, some on equally lofty levels and others with a foot or two more on the ground. Even when he’s just making it up as he goes along, Carey is a master of structure, and this can easily be seen in “Lucifer.” Not once does the writer seem distracted, overwhelmed, or tentative. He goes, and goes hard, in one of the most impressive tour de forces I’ve seen in comics.

It’s a good looking book, too. A variety of artists come and go for guest spots, but the most common penciler is a name that fans of “The Unwritten” will be quite familiar with: Peter Gross. “Lucifer” was the first major Carey and Gross collaboration, and they’re just as in sync in this series as they are in the more recent “The Unwritten” (boy, talking about finished and currently ongoing series concurrently is difficult!). Some writers and artists just go great together: one writes to the other’s strengths; one brings about what the other has in their head even better than it actually looked in their head. Even though this and “The Unwritten” are the only comics the pair have under their belt together, it’s hard to believe them working with anyone else. On top of that, Gross’s pencils in this series are finished by Ryan Kelly, an excellent artist in his own right. The resulting finished pages are still clearly Gross’s work, but Kelly gives the art a kind of graven quality that suits the subject matter very well. Despite the massive scale of the story, Gross and the other artists manage to be overly ostentatious, but… boy, when they let it rip, this comic truly is something amazing to behold.

I have a few friends who have read “The Sandman” and left feeling “Well, I liked it, but didn’t love it.” To these people, I recommend “Lucifer.” Then again, even to friends who loved “Sandman” so much that they refuse to believe there is any comic that tops it, I still recommend “Lucifer.” In fact, even to those who have never even read the first issue of “Sandman,” I recommend “Lucifer” (just read that previously marked spoiler). It is one of the finest long-form comics I have ever read — with great dialogue, great plotting, great ideas, great visual style, great layouts, great… well, you get it. Those who have love mythologically based stories will find much to love in “Lucifer,” but it truly has something for everything. Unfortunately, it recently stopped printing, but if you don’t dawdle, you should be able to find every trade online or at your local comic book shop… perhaps even every single issue, if you’re lucky.


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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