Lucifer, Vol. 1: Devil in the Gateway

How do you solve a problem like Lucifer?

Created in the pages of Neil Gaiman's epic Sandman comic, Lucifer was the character that Gaiman always suggested when asked about a spin-off series. Numerous writers baulked at the idea until Mike Carey picked it up and ran with it. And boy did he run.

Introduced as a three part “Sandman Presents” limited series, Lucifer proved popular enough to merit his own title. This book collects that three parter and issues 1-13 of Lucifer itself.

Carey crafts a complex narrative around the former King of Hell, who has abdicated and now runs a piano bar in LA called Lux. He might have retired, but all manner of demonkind still have issues with him, not to mention the Heavenly host (in particular the angel Amenadiel, who is a bit of a self-righteous prick to be honest). And so Lucifer finds himself drawn into helping various entities and its here that Carey's imagination runs riot. We get a cabaret artist possessed by a tarot deck in A Six Card Spread; we are introduced, in the one-off story Born With The Dead, to English schoolgirl Elaine and her ghost best friend Mona; in The House of Windowless Rooms Lucifer must take a trip into Japanese mythology; and finally, in Children and Monsters, several of these story strands are pulled together to complete the first story arc as Lucifer finds himself in the business of creation.

The writing by Carey is superb, with Lucifer a fully rounded character with his own motivations and peculiar sense of honour. The artwork for the bulk of the run is by Dean Ormston and Peter Gross, and they breathe life into Carey's stories with fantastic and fantastical art that never overwhelms but always serves the story.

While set in the “Sandman Universe” Lucifer is very much its own comic. By the end of this run you can tell Carey has grown in confidence and ability. I look forward to reading the next four volumes!

The stories were very good. I particularly liked Elaine, the little girl who talks to the dead.

I'm surprised Lucifer didn't have a bit more charisma. He seems sort of blank. Not sure if it's the artwork or the dialogue.

On the whole, I quite enjoyed this. There were some slow moments in the middle collected issues, and the end to me felt a pinch muddled. But it was lovely to be reacquainted with good old Lucifer.