Customer Reviews

Lucifer VOL 01: Devil in the Gateway

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came into reading 'Devil in the Gateway' having already read the Sandman chronicles. I believe that while you don't need to have read 'A Season of Mists' (the graphic novel from the Sandman series where Lucifer makes his debut) it does make it easier to understand Lucifer's circumstances and therefore helps the beginning flow of this series.

The first of eleven Lucifer novels is a fantastic series opener. The three stories in this novel introduce several important characters that we'll be seeing a lot of over the course of the series. A tiny grievance I have with this novel is that a speech impediment with one of the characters makes her hard to understand. The writers seem to realize this and often use another character to help the reader understand. The story is a little on the slow side, but the events that occur set up the plot for the next five novels and leave you wanting to find out more.

Mike Carey's Lucifer is not the devil you know. Carey has undertaken the task of writing a character that readers will already have preconceived notions about. While not explicitly stating his backstory (read Season of Mists for that) or why he's now running a bar in L.A. it does a very good job of showing us what we should expect for the next ten books. As many would think, the Morningstar is both knowledgeable and powerful but, to the surprise of some, he doesn't come off as evil and is in fact, likeable. He's a bit arrogant, definitely unconventional and obviously not a guy you mess around with. Despite having vast amounts of power the character doesn't solve his problems a la Dues ex Machina or plow through his enemies, instead relying on his cunning and intellect.

The art in this novel is superb. I know art is a subjective thing, but so is a review, so I'm going to give my two cents about it. Scott Hampton's watercolour artwork in the first story is some of the best in the series. The second story is also well done, more of a conventional comic-book looking piece. The final story is a highly stylized, 'grittier' look that I didn't like as much as the previous two. Also, I found in later installations of this series that the cover art for each issue was neatly incorporated into the novel (usually before the story it covered). This novel does not have the cover art for the separate issues and it is unfortunate because often the covers are singularly well done.

I would definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a story and character that is eager to break with tradition.

4/5 stars

I thought it was great, just great.

Carey functions within Gaimen's world, yet he goes way beyond stale imitation. Weaving together eclectic mythological influences, he makes a series that is very much uniquely his own. This series contains many elements I don't think many authors could make work. How do you build up, ehem, sympathy for the Devil? With a main character of such incredible skill and power, how do you put him in suspenceful situations. Similarly, how do you get him out of those situations without it looking like a silly Deus Ex Machina?

I've only read this first trade paperback of the series. Sure, there a lot of open questions, but that's the way it should be. This is, on the whole, a darker series than Sandman, it's mostly about despair and imprisonment, whereas Sandman conveyed a fair bit of hope and freedom. But you have to consider the main character.

Overall, the only comic to make me want to stick with the Sandman Universe.

Well I am a huge Sandman and HellBlazer fan and the Morningstar was definitely one of my favourite supporting characters.

I did not have much trouble jumping into this trade with all my background knowledge from Sandman and my reading of mythology.

Readers new to the Vertigo line of comics may find this series at first confusing.

So please bear in mind that things are really explained in the next two trades. After careful readings "Lucifer: The Divine Comedy", "Lucifer: Children and Monsters" and "Lucifer: Inferno" you really appreciate the intricate weavings of the story.

Going back to this first trade, I found myself going, "oh that is what he was talking about". After all, Lucifer has an almost cosmic awareness and it is an interesting twist that he sees and hears more than even the reader.

Positive reviews makes me curious about any comic book and I picked this one up with high expectations, after I finished I was a bit dissapointed because it didn't filled up all my expectations.
Lucifer series is a bit slow moving and vague for my taste but I heard that it gets better and I'm looking forward to read the next issues.Carey's writing is stylish and erudite and his main caracther is well developed.The art of Chris Weston is very good ;unfortunately he left off after issue 3 and was replaced by Peter Gross(Books of Magic).
In some parts Lucifer lacks narrative drive and demands attention because Carey loves cryptic sentences.Overall a good comic book but a little overated too.

Okay, this isn't Neil Gaiman's genius level work. What is? But this is the first work I've seen in the Sandman universe that's worthy of Gaiman's imagination. It is compelling, horrifying, enthralling, and true.

In Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, Lucifer Morningstar - the devil - was a fairly minor character. During the "Sandman" series Lucifer lost his wings, resigned from hell and went on to pursue other unknown activities. In "Devil in the Gateway" we finally learn what happened to him - that he started running a nightclub in LA. "Devil in the Gateway" contains three stories.

The first one tells us how Lucifer is being contracted - by none other than God almighty himself - to eliminate some ancient competition: terminate some
primordial gods. I think this was an interesting story, but it didn't have Neil Gaiman's "magic". It just didn't have "it".

The second story tells about Lucifer's encounter with an angel - an encounter which gives strange superpowers to a mortal. Again, this was an OK story, but I didn't find it to be particularly good.

The third - and the shortest - story tells about a young girl who has magical powers. Lucifer barely

appears in this story. Nevertheless this one was my favorite story - it was a definite improvement over the previous two.

All of these stories tie in together - but this pretty much happens in the next graphic novel. Overall, the stories were good, but felt unfocused, vague - and sometimes just plain cryptic. Even though this is Neil Gaiman's world, Mike Carey did not capture its spirit successfully. I was hesitating
whether to continue with the series, but (as I later found out) it is totally worth it. I recommend this graphic novel mainly because the sequel is much better!

It's been over a decade since Sandman #23, in which Lucifer closed up Hell, had his wings cut off, and (as we later learned) opened a night spot in L.A. Now he stars in his own saga, under a new team of writer and illustrators. The result is the most successful to date of the various attempts to keep the Sandman franchise going since the climactic events of Sandman #69. As is usually the case with compilations from an on-going series, "Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway" leaves too many loose ends to entirely succeed as a stand-alone graphic novel. Nevertheless, the cast of characters and original stories are very much worthy of its progenitor. The stories in this collection aren't really dependent on familiarity with the Sandman series to understand what's going on. Still, Gaiman's Sandman is a classic and the keystone of DC's Vertigo line to which "Lucifer" belongs, so I would recommend reading at least the collections "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "Season of Mists" first. Those who have done so are very likely to enjoy following these new tales of Lucifer.

Mike Carey had the daring task of following Neil Gaiman's portrayal of Lucifer (from the Sandman series)and he has passed the test with flying colors! Carey's Lucifer,IMHO,actually surpasses Gaiman's and that is a very difficult thing to do. Even though he is devious and shrewd, you can't help but like the guy! This book contains the three issue "The Morningstar Option" from Sandman Presents and the first four issues of the regular series which has been nominated for five Eisners. Read this book and give the devil his due!