Lucifer: Volume 2

[sawyl]

It's been a couple of weeks since my last Luciferian exegesis, so it's probably time for a few thoughts on volume two, Children and Monsters.

With the seal successfully cracked on his Letter of Passage and a gateway established, the former Lord of Hell leaves Mazikeen in charge of staving off the freaks, monsters and the Host of Heaven, and heads off to the realm of the Japanese god of the underworld Izanami in search of transportation. While Lucifer busies himself with the task of outwitting his hosts to regain his angelic wings and the Seraph Amenadiel readies the Host for war, the Lux piano bar is burnt to the ground when Mazikeen, with the help of Jill Presto, is forced to fight a pair of shapeless monsters.

Upon his return the devil meets up with a priestess who, after breaking her vow of chastity, has been cursed to endure a miscarriage, day after day, for four thousand years. He agrees to break the doom and end her torment in return for the spirit of her monstrous child. Probably no bad thing — he's going to need all the help he can get: Mazikeen is unhappy and the Host have agreed to strike against him despite their concerns at the absence of the Archangel Michael. Meanwhile in North London, Elaine Belloc, she of the mystic skills and Louise Brooks bob from Devil in the Gateway, is reading Gerard Manley Hopkins and being bothered by a narcoleptic New Yorker who claims to be her natural father.

In order to cleanse the world, the Host put the population of LA to sleep allowing them to attack the remains of the piano bar, where they eventually overcome the Morningstar's defences and only to find a nasty surprise waiting for them in the void; Lucifer, meanwhile, has found himself a position on the edge of creation which allows him to see everything, including the lair of the fallen angel Sandalphon when he attempts to kidnap Elaine. After confiscating the source of Sandalphon's power, the devil takes it into the void and uses it to create a new universe.

My thoughts? Another quality collection from Carey, with some nice character work: it was good to see Maz finally get dissatisfied with her lot as Luce's doormat and shocking to see Elaine Belloc's father sudden switch from being a regular, if super preppy, guy to lying paranoid sociopath at the mere hint of the fact that she might have another father. The Host of Heaven were also elegantly done, especially Amenadiel's arrogant conviction of his own rectitude and Raphael's justification for the attack, couched in entirely in terms of saving Elaine's soul despite the loss of life involved. There were a few cameos from old friends including Mervyn Pumpkinhead, Lucien and Matthew, and, in Izanami's hoard, could that be the back of the classic mythological symbol that is Roland Barthe's Citroen?