Excellent comic book, and about the only comic, IMHO, which is fit to be read by adults nowadays.
The main character for those who don’t know is the devil, Lucifer, who quit his job as lord of Hell, and runs a bar in LA. this is the Lucifer from Donne’s Paradise Lost (more correctly, its the Lucifer from Gaiman’s Sandman) - proud, charming and ruthless. You kind of both like and dislike him, simultaneously.
The main antagonist is a throne, Amendiel, a somewhat petty and righteous angel.
Lucifer goes into the God business, and sets up his own universe instructing his version of Adam and Eve not to worship anyone, including himself - Lucifer views his own rebellion against God as an exercise in free will, and instills this philosophy in his creations, with some interesting conclusions.
His “sidekick” is a demon, Mazikeen, a child of Adam’s first wife Lilith. She is half beautiful, half grotesque, and is one of the most interesting supporting characters I have ever read, with her own single-minded agenda.
I’ve read the first issue of the intial mini-series and the first issue of the series only. My local comics store doesn’t have the back issues in stock.
I liked the little bit I saw; it looked promising. I was a fan of The Sandman and always liked how Lucifer ultimately and subtlely (although indirectly) caused the “death” of Dream, as he vowed in issue # 4 or 5 or something. Poor Loki was in over his head–caught between Dream and Lucifer; he was small potatoes–the master manipulator out maniplulated and he didn’t even get it until the end. But in The Kindly Ones, Lucifer tells Delirium that he almost feels sorry for Dream, even though he sent the whole thing in motion, at least precipatated it. Not a simple comic cartoon character. But then Gaiman’s characters rarely were. The Corinthian was my other favorite “villian”.
Anybody know a good Web site where I can order back issues? It’s been awhile since I read a comic on a regular basis and Lucifer looks promising to me.
I haven’t read anything since The Dreaming and Preacher ended.
The entire mini series was excellent: the first three issues of the regular series was not so good, but by issue 4 it gets much better. #14 (? -Mazikeen’s trial) is probably the best comic I’ve read.
I actually thought Sandman’s death was caused by “seeking Destruction” (with Delirium), not by Lucifer’s promise of vengeance (which was effected when he handed over the keys to Hell - he says, “Maybe this will destroy you, maybe it won’t”).
Can’t help you with the back issues sorry - I’m trying to get them myself.
I happen to know there is a TPB of the miniseries and the first four issues of the regular series. I know this because I just went across the street and bought it. (And I’m holding you responsible, Dave, if it isn’t any good.)
The answer to the question: “Who or what caused Morpheus’ death?” can be answered “Lyta Hall,” “Lucifer,” “Desire,” “Delrium,” “the search for Destruction,” “Loki,” or any other of a million answers, and each is correct. But none of them are the right answer.
You didn’t include the Kindly Ones. And you really wouldn’t want to annoy them by neglecting to mention them. You really wouldn’t want to annoy them at all.
He couldn’t change with the times and probably subconsciously arranged for another aspect of himself to take his place. As Death says at the end ~ “you’ve been planning this for years, whether you let yourself know it or not”
When Lucifer gave Dream the key to Hell (to paraphrase the Sandman Companion) he: “didn’t kill Dream as so much as hand him an opportunity”.
Dream could have turned the key down, but he didn’t. As a direct consequence, he accepts a gift from Faerie and places Loki in his debt. Puck and Loki steal Daniel, which sets off Lyta Hall and so on.
Dream also sought his brother Destruction but didn’t hear what Destruction had to say. He pissed off Thessaly and made some other decisions that came back to “haunt” him.
Odin says: “You puzzle me, Dream-weaver. Are you a spider, who’s spun a web of cunning and deciept and now waits patiently for his prey to come to him; or are you a deer, frozen by the light of a hunter’s flame, as disaster comes for you?”
The analysis by the guy who wrote the Sandman Companion was the Dream was both.
I think he was a spider that wanted to die, personally.
My original point was that, even though Lucifer justs make a few short appearances in the Sandman, I found him a subtle and complex character.
But Sandman did change with the times - everyone was constantly harping on about how much he’d changed, and become more human.
One of my favourite scenes from Sandman is where he and Lucifer wonder around, locking up the myriad gates to Hell. Lucifer really did seem like he had a gutful. He was not a demon or a monster - he was a rebel who had enough of the war with Heaven, and of ruling Hell.
Lucifer remarks how if it wasn’t him who led the rebellion, it would have been one of the other angels - and mentions an angel called Sandalphon as a likely candidate. Sandalphon turns up in the Lucifer series, a snotty bastard who is custodian to a remarkable prisoner of war (I won’t spoil it).
The very tense interaction between them shows just how much Lucifer’s agenda has changed - the war no longer interests him, although it remains Sandalphon’s priority. Lucifer deals with Sandalphon with utter arrogance and disdain, reminding me of his threat to the angel in the issue of Sandman (name escapes me)to erase his entire existence.
Anyway, the series is a good read. I’d welcome discussion on the tpb…
(As an aside, in Sandman, Lucifer’s appearance on a beach in my home town of Perth, to watch the sunsets, was especially surprising for me!)
Well, fortunately I’m on pretty good terms with everybody in my family.
Chicken and the egg. Either he started growing a soul because he had embraced his mortality the way we all have to (and had worked to bring about his end) OR the fact that he could no longer go on existing with total dispassion and disdain meant that his only option (given how sacred he held the concept of responsibility) was to stop the pain and, incidentally, get out of the way of someone else doing the job better at the same time.
As for Lucifer, I just finsihed the first TPB and liked it a lot. I actually didn’t think A Six-Card Spread was as bad as I had been led to believe, although it’s true that it wasn’t as good as the miniseries. I think I’ll be adding this to my regular list. (If I manage to get my hands on some back issues, that is.)
