World Comic Book Review

26th March 2024

Biblical Grandeur: Lucifer #14-15 (Review)

Lucifer #14-15
DC Comics, January-February, 2017
Writer: Richard Kadrey

The 14th issue of Vertigo’s relaunch of the Lucifer comic book series is notable for two reasons.
First, it marks the start of a new story arc. The previous issue (which we have reviewed before) was a holiday special that serves as a much needed break after Lucifer and his cohorts have finally solved the mystery of who killed God (addressed in our review of the first issue here). It turns out that it was not so much a murder as it is a suicide, with God destroying himself so that he can be reborn. (The trouble with this is that this God 2.0 seems to be more in line with the Old Testament version of God – vengeful, aggressive, and autocratic.)

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Lucifer #13 (review)

Lucifer #13
Vertigo, December 21, 2016
Writers: Holly Black, Richard Kadrey

We reviewed the 1st issue of DC Comics’ 2016 relaunch of the Lucifer comic book series a year ago. In that first review of the first issue, we were of the opinion that the relaunch itself is inherently problematic by virtue of bringing back Lucifer (in so far as the character’s story was already told and wrapped up neatly in the pages of Mike Carey’s 2000-2006 series, leaving very little room for a new story, much less one that carries similar overtones). But we found no fault in the quality of the writing itself. New writer Holly Black’s Lucifer was consistent with Mike Carey’s Lucifer: the plotting in Ms Black’s renaissance of publisher Vertigo Comics’ most intriguing character – the Devil, as imagined in John Donne’s “Paradise Lost” (1667) but engaging in machinations both quiet and loud in contemporary times – is both solid and interesting.

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Return of the Morningstar

Lucifer #1 (2016 series) [review]
DC Comic, December 2015
Writer: Holly Black
Review by Neil Raymundo, 21 December 2015.

In April 1989, the fourth issue of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” introduced the fallen angel Lucifer. Mr Gaiman initially modelled the look of Lucifer after David Bowie, and the character seemed languid and detached from reality. When the character returned in the acclaimed story “Seasons of the Mist” within the pages of “The Sandman” he was somewhat different: tired, resentful if unrepentant, the abdicating ruler of Hell.

In 2000 writer Mike Carey began the ongoing adventures of the character. This iteration of Lucifer was different again. Obviously patterned after the Miltonian version, Lucifer does not tussle with superheroes, does not have ridiculously overbearing supervillain monologues (Mr Carey deliberately shied away from internal monologue, preferring the story to be told from the perspective of various supporting characters), and – unlike other depictions of the devil in comics – did not hide his name behind vague nom de guerres in an effort to mollify religiously conservative readers.

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