A review by jayspa65
Lucifer, Vol. 10: Morningstar by Mike Carey

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Ecclesiastes 7:8

Well, in this case Ecclesiastes is half right, anyway.

Mike Carey’s sprawling tale of Heaven and Hell draws towards its close in Morningstar, the tenth volume in a series whose one constant is that its titular character refuses to take crap (or direction) from anybody. Having reached the finale, with Lilith’s armies massed outside the gates of Heaven and the entirety of Creation hanging in the balance, Lucifer battles and bleeds but never, ever bows to our expectations or to that of his Creator.

Not surprisingly, this volume is full of familiar faces – Elaine Belloc, Jill Presto, Christopher Rudd, Solomon and Meleos all have roles to play. There’s even time devoted to tying up smaller loose ends, like the story of Karl and Jayesh, which kicked off the series. (As it was in the beginning, right?) However, as charming as it was to see Gaudium again, I can’t help feeling that the arc he features in (Interlude: The Beast Can’t Take Your Call Right Now) is a bit of a waste. It must have been frustrating enough reading it as a single issue; appearing here as it does 3/4 of the way through the volume it sidetracks the narrative, derailing the steadily building tension of the story’s climax for a mediocre gag and absolutely no payoff.

Even with that glaring flaw Morningstar is glorious to behold. Beautiful and brazen, it’s everything you want in a fallen angel.