LUCIFER #72
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross & Aaron Alexovich
Cover by Michael Wm. Kaluta
Concluding the 2-part “Evensong.” In the realm of his old enemy, Izanami, Lucifer must once again take back what is his. But this time there are no challenges or ambushes, and no traps except for one — which the Morningstar walks into with his eyes wide open.
On sale March 29 • 32 pg, FC, $2.75 US • MATURE READERS
I always hate to read stories that use biblical characters and a backdrop of Judeo-Christian Trinity culture. Now, I'm fine with parallels and parodies, but using a character direct from the Christian Bible is a surefire way to get me to lose interest.
Most of my friends take this as a blind rejection of all things Christian, and I encourage this interpretation. But it's a total lie. The truth is that I've had a problem with biblical characters since the Season of Mists storyline in the Sandman. Don't get me wrong, that is my favorite storyline, but it's always why I get a little chill whenever I see Vertigo Lucifer. Neil Gaiman wrote the ebst interpretation of Satan I ahve ever seen. He was beautiful, eerie, psychotic, selfish, and scheming. He looked absolutely divine and had this slightly oily used car salesman energy. He spoke elegantly, and cruely, and made absolute perfect sense.
It was rather traumatic.
It's not that I'm a believer. But I understand precisely what Lucifer is meant to represent. All of those little parts of me that I do not really want to be there.
Yeah, I know Tantra, Acceptance, roses grow from the mud, Spock I need my pain...
I can take the guy as an intriguing villain. I can handle him as a sympathetic bystander character. I can read (and yes, quite enjoy) the angels as villains in Hellblazer without a problem, though featuring angels is not a selling point.
But I'm just not enlightened enough to handle Lucifer as a protagonist. So I can't even crack the cover of this series.
It's the epitome of cynicism.
I feel the same way. But then, I'm one of those kooky nuts who actually believes in the Devil. For someone raised Roman Catholic, the idea of Lucifer as a protagonist of any sort is an anathema to my worldview.
ReplyDeleteThough I do find that mention of Izanami intriguing...
I admit, personally, it's not so much a theological/moral problem keeping me from reading Lucifer. Honestly, I'm the sort that gets a kick out of playing a little with religious doctrine (Good Omens, Paradise Lost, Demon the Fallen, et al).
ReplyDeleteMy problem is pretty much the same problem I have with the books starring the endless as protagonists. They just seem so...powerful/omnipotent/unbeatable/whatever, that I can't pretend to have suspense. Honestly, I find myself not caring.
It's like...in my mind, they've lost something of the humanity I find essential in characters to really be interested in them. (Exactly how this quality is defined, I'm not sure, because I don't have any problem seeing it in Clark, or Brainiac 5, or Killowog (pardon my spelling), but I have trouble seeing it in characters like these- or for example Thunderbolt or Nabu in JSA.)
I could just be weird though.
FIND me Lucifer in the bible, dear.
ReplyDelete