Lucifer #14 – Dan Watters, Writer; Fernando Blanco, Artist; Dee Cunniffe, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The tone and cast of this series shifts dramatically now that Lucifer’s war with heaven is over, and in Lucifer #14, the fallen angel finds himself without any of his famous allies for the first time in eons – including the loyal Mazikeen.
As a series of flashbacks show, the half-faceless demon has been following Lucifer ever since he first fell, and she obsessively pursued him even as he rejected her time and again. But now that she’s gone, he’s feeling her absence.
The strength of Lucifer #14 is that it lets us feel Lucifer’s solitude as he tries to find meaning – including in a segment where he visits the Greek underworld to consult with the prophet Cassandra. Some of these segments can go on a little too long, especially when Cassandra’s going on about the coming doom, but we get a clear picture of what’s coming – and it’s nothing good for Lucifer or the people he left behind in heaven.
The issue really comes alive in the second half, as Lucifer sets off on a new mission – to build a house in a small English village for the coming Wild Hunt. There’s very little in the way of supernatural action in these segments, but it’s all around the edges. When Lucifer angers an officious shopkeeper, the devil triggers long-burning resentments in him and sends him on a quest for revenge – possibly against the wrong people.
If there was such a thing as a Cozy horror story, it would be this comic. There’s talking cats and brutal murders, all against the backdrop of an english seascape. The arrival of John Constantine, making his tour through the Sandman Universe books, adds to the tension, but it’s the surprising guest-stars at the end of the book that call back to another classic property in the Neil Gaiman library. Lucifer’s world may have shrunk for now, but it seems clear Watters is building towards another huge story.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
