Lucifer: Volume 3

[sawyl]

Skimming through my back issues of Lucifer, in an attempt to catch up with the plot, I've been reminded that I haven't written up any reviews of anything after volume 2. Well, I think it's about time I corrected the situation.

The first part of A Dalliance with the Damned follows Mazikeen and Elaine as Lucifer's involvement with his new universe allow them to head off in their own directions. In Mazikeen's case, this means returning to lead Lilim-in-Exile in search of a new eden, and in Elain's it involves an astral journal and a near fatal run-in with the devilish Lady Lys in the depths of hell.

The second part focuses on the hellish court of Lord Arux, currently caught up in a vogue for all things 18th century, where some of the dukes are conspiring in an attempt to get Lucifer to return. Unfortunately for the conspirators, Lucifer isn't all that interested in his old job and, with the help of Lys's human lover Christopher Rudd, the plot is confounded. Lucifer then returns to LA, safe in the knowledge that Arux will provide a place for his forthcoming dual with the seraph Amenadiel, to contemplate the disposition of his new world.

Thoughts? I liked the way that Dean Ormston's art bookended the middle sections by Peter Gross. I liked the nods to old friends like Brute and Glob, Duma and Remiel, and I thought that the intrigues of Arux's court were nicely captured. Christopher Rudd's moral dilemmas were interesting and Lys, with her Valmont like transformation from libertine to something more interesting, has definite potential.