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A review by trilbynorton
Lucifer Book One by Mike Carey
5.0
For the longest time I avoided the various spin-offs of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics, which, as it turns out, was stupid, because Mike Carey's Lucifer is actually excellent. Not as good as The Sandman, but I can't really hold that against it, because what is as good as The Sandman? Plus, Lucifer is sufficiently its own beast to ward off close comparison, even when it directly references its progenitor (which it wisely does only rarely).
Picking up from where we last saw the erstwhile ruler of Hell, the series sees the Morningstar playing everyone against everyone else in a universe(s)-spanning feat of self-determination. Carey's Lucifer is a manipulative bastard, always steps ahead of his own adversaries; whenever it looks like they've got him beat, it turns out he was playing a different game all along. That might make it sound like the series lacks jeopardy, but like Gaiman's Dream, Carey's Lucifer is often depicted at the periphery of other, less Machiavellian characters' stories, including his demon lover, a stage magician possessed by cosmic Tarot cards, and a girl who speaks to ghosts.
Picking up from where we last saw the erstwhile ruler of Hell, the series sees the Morningstar playing everyone against everyone else in a universe(s)-spanning feat of self-determination. Carey's Lucifer is a manipulative bastard, always steps ahead of his own adversaries; whenever it looks like they've got him beat, it turns out he was playing a different game all along. That might make it sound like the series lacks jeopardy, but like Gaiman's Dream, Carey's Lucifer is often depicted at the periphery of other, less Machiavellian characters' stories, including his demon lover, a stage magician possessed by cosmic Tarot cards, and a girl who speaks to ghosts.