Morningstar - Part 4

Christoper Rudd brings his damned and demons to join the war between the Host and the Lilim. And he attacks both. Fenris goes to destroy the primium mobile and Lucifer who has been wounded by fenris is healed by Esa Corla and goes back to the silver city , still retaining his sense of sarcasm. Duma is informed of Michaels death and I wonder if this will have repercussions. Lilith seems to repent, but is mortally wounded.
But the strongest points of this issue is Lucifers, Elaines and Christophers dialogue which sums up their essence
When Lucifer wants Elaine to sit on Gods throne and she asks him why not you , Lucifer replies
Ill see Creation fall rather than sit on the Chair. And you have the same choice of course .
Always the manipulative bastard. Rudd To Elaine. Promise me this If Creation endures , rebuild it without a heaven or hell and Elaine replies If I have anything to do with rebuilding, there wont be a hell
And as always Carey has an end to the issue to surprise you. Fenris destroys the primium mobile

This sisters of mercy

This story is an epilogue of sorts to the naglfar where the fates of Elaine and Mona are decided. By Elaines choice of wanting to be the guardian angel of the Lucifers creation we perhaps are seeing what the future will have in store for her. The story basically has Elaines and Mona’s realization that they have no place in their creation anymore and it is time to move on. Carey adds his usual wry humour like when mona and Elaine are back in their creation Elaine remarks Tatu is good. For those not in the know, Tatu was a two girl supposedly lesbian band with one controversial video wherein the tatu duo dress up in school girl uniforms and are seen making out. Im not entirely sure if the storyteller technique used is a tip of the hat to Gaimans Prelude to dolls house . certainly the lines I have told it to you dear one as my mother told it to me. Keep it silent in your heart until you tell it too are reminiscent of gaimans similar lines. Lucifers lines about worshipping ridiculous gods which bring the concept into disrepute also reminds me of alan moore’s comments when he started worshipping some snake god.
The art is too cartoony this issue. No issue of Lucifer is complete without some of Lucifers quips and the one that stands out this issue is Lucifers reply to Bergelmirs I still believe  that you’ll be bought to pay for it , one way or the other . Lucifer replies  Well belief is meant to be a great consolation. Take it with you when you go.

The Crux

In this story arc we finally get to see Mazikeen meet with her mother Lilith. As can be expected there are no tears or joy between these two. There is also a striking contrast between the Lilith we saw in issue 50 and the Lilith we see here, though the seeds were always present. Lilith has been manipulated by the Berim, The Silk Man and Sandalphon to agree to support them when the crux arrives. Their plan is to simply smash the Primium Mobile and prevent the God of their creation from ever returning. The significance of the Primium mobile is not apparent to me but the characters do take it as a given. Parts of Briadach’s origin are also shown.
The utter ruthlessness of berim is also chilling . When asked by Lilith what the cost would be. Berim Replies , Your children. Will it please you to come in from the cold?
We see how much Lilith has hardened when she agrees to the plan. And the scene when Berim describes Elaines fate saying what could she have to set against the wind of fire ?
Her will? Her Hope? Her smattering of half-glimpsed wisdom? Nothing . She has Nothin gwith the backdrop of Lucifer reaching out and holding her hand is a scene straight out of JLA. Thougn Lucifer would never do anything if it didn’t benefit him. Lilith takes control of her children and imprisons both mazikeen and briadach to prepare for the battle.
There are glimpses of Lucifers  black humor. To Elaines Oh thank God, its still there Lucifer replies Thank who? Which is a far cry from his you came to my house and prayed to him.
We also get to see Carey’s style or revealing the glimpses of what is yet to come told in the start of the story which hints of the war in the Silver City.
And the ending of Lucifer standing over Elaine saying Now we begin is dramatic.

The wheels of God

The Judge Solomon puts out his own brand of justice , though his means seem to now resemble Lucifer’s. And we see the fates of two characters whom we had seen early in the series, Jayesh And Karl. Meleos makes an appearance as well and we should see the two again in Morningstar towards the end I think.
David tires to manipulate a crooked cop, a politician, a gangster and Karl so that each is ruined or dead to satisfy his sense of justice. The plan goes awry when Meleos intervenes with “You still have a choice even if its all you have” to the police officer.
It ends with perhaps what we as the readers also probably had already realized. He already knows. He Has always known.  

The Beast cant take your call right now

A comic interlude story , starring Gaudium and Spera written as an interlude by mike possibly to heighten the suspense as we are midway through Morningstar and everyone expects a Fenris v/s Lucifer battle. But no one minds , since Gaudium is always good for a few laughs. I didnt like Kaluta's rendering of Gaudium. It seems to me that whenever Peter draws the Lucifer comic book, then the characters seem just right (with the sole of exception of Lilith).
As the demons have left hell to join Lucifer , when an evil magician conjures up the most powerful demon in hell, to strike a bargain with him, he gets the only demon in hell, Gaudium. Who is still prepared to bargain , since he'd be one soul ahead of the competition. The magician tricks gaudium and is in turn tricked by spera.This is essentially a gag story with just one really noteworthy dialog (which isnt by carey), Hell is other people

The Eight Sin

A story focusing on *Christ*opher Rudd , which attempts to question some of the fundamentals of hell. I.e. where the sinners are damned and punished and their penance is eternal. This is what you get from most religions. Hell (Nark) for the people who sin and there can be no redemption.
In Lucifer however, Christopher preaches compassion in hell, and that nothing is eternal, even the damned can change which brings him in conflict with Remiel who believes that only through suffering, can the guilt be burned away.
It ends with Duma judging Christopher fit to rule them in hell.
Gaudium puts in a guest appearance to add a dash of humour with his if i didnt exist someone would have to invent me!(from voltaire!) and Christopher breaking bread with the damned(i seem to remember this as something from christs last supper but i cant remember).
A thought provoking story this, because when would you consider someone beyond redemption?. You could say never till you read some stories in the newspaper, too heinous to mention of the things humanity is capable of.

The Yahweh Dance

The Yahweh Dance
In which we learn of Elaine’s attempts to form the third creation. With Elaine trying to cope with Michaels powers pouring into her, he forms a third creation. Suitably commented on by Lucifer at every step the story traces Elaine as she tries to establish a universe. With a couple of examples demonstrating how Elaine’s interference in her creation always has side effects , Carey tries to drive home the point that if God did create us , he would still leave us to our own devices.
The art in the issue is not quite up to the mark, but then I have probably been spoilt by Peter Gross’s work.
The dialog is as ever great and I especially liked the end
In tribute to her we leave our own storied unfinished still
Until she comes back to tell us the out come of hers

Children And Monsters -Prelude

A short story , in some ways reminiscent of Sandman, wherein the chief protagonist is someone who is only a minor character in the overall series, the *hero* only plays a bit part(but what a part) and the story has the threads that will be tied later.
And taken by itself still an amazing read
The story is of a priestess cursed to live forever a day in her life where she had suffered a miscarriage by some gods who deemed it as punishment for losing her virginity and refusing their offer of death because of the child she carries. The woman yearns for release and meets Lucifer who appears to advise her of her way forward.
Lucifer is of course only interested in her so as to further his interests and he does come out of it with the better bargain as always.

StitchGlass Slide and Wire Briar Limber Lock

These are actually two separate (as if anything is separate in the Lucifer series) two part stories(46-49) which come together in the end.
Lucifer want the immortals out of his realm and asks Elaine to perform the task. Elaine agrees to prevent bloodshed since Lucifer says that if he were to do it, he'd simply choose the quickest method. We see another instance of Lucifer manipulating people to perform his tasks without actually lying. Elaine chooses her team (Mona,Gaudium,Spera,Mazikeen and Elokim Shaer).
We are also told of Thole , a stitchglass spinner and Matthew a boy from our realm who wanders into Lucifers using a gate that is opened in his attic. Thole weaves emotions into stitchglass which he uses to build his home and wants to attract a mate. However an unfortunate side effect is that his refuse causes the boy Matthew harm , due to which he feels guilty and attempts to make up for his action. Thole and Matthew become friends but the relationship in the end is more father and son
Thole is an immortal and his path will surely cross with Elaine's mission. There is the (by now) expected twist in the tale. And the end setups Lucifer 50 with Mazikeen promising to take care of The Kera Theodmet. There is also a cute top of the hat to the DC universe swamp thing and undoubtedly the cutting Elaine takes will be signficant in the conclusion of Lucifer. Will the silver city be destroyed and Elaine plant the pseudo swampt thing there (or will it be our or lucifer's universe?)

Thole's story is guaranteed to touch you. From his funny turn of words (ambuscades) to the last sacrifice. As usual the strong point of the series is the dialogue. The seemingly innocous statements that mean a lot when you think about them

We can be whatever the hell we want to be - Gaudium to Mona. Gaudium is referring to his going back to the Cherub form of joy. But it does apply to all of us
Like Father Like Son -Spera comments on Lucifer and God. This is perhaps one of the indications of how Lucifer the comic will end. It is also an indication of I think Carey's view that if the Devil and God exist in our world, You'd be hard pressed to differentiate among them!
The grief itself i balance within me , As he would have done, Until i can spin it into something else - Matthew after Tholes death referring to the art he has learnt from his adoptive father. But here too it is words we can learn something from
I have seen nothing to impress me - An angel
Well the observer is part of the system - Lucifer's reply. A reference to quantum mechanics. And also illustrative of Lucifer's subtle insults.

Lilith - Lucifer 50

Well The art is great.
Now that we have that out of the way, lets get to the main thing .. The Story.
This is a flashback to the times when Lucifer has not yet rebelled and tells that story.
Mike Carey pulls out all the stops for this issue and in the 60 issues so far this is undoubtedly the best. The dialogue in this issue is top notch and leaves a lot for the reader to ponder on.
Insights into Liliths character are evident by the following
Orphur: Which one of them is mine?
Lilith :None of them. But you fathered that one
This exchange establishes the fact that Lilith will bring up her children to owe allegiance to her and her alone. When Samael visits her with Ibriel to cease her activities she tells him
I may have been made for Adam--But i Live for myself. Which is what living means
These words have a profound effect on Samael who is struggling himself to come to the terms with the fact that he is a puppet whose strings are pulled by his father i.e. God . This is further provoked by Lilith in various conversations with Samael like
The only victory you can win is to be yourself
Samael is also thinking along these lines by his words to Gabriel
Samael : The freedom he enjoys is our birthright too.
The cynical,wry side of Samael is always ever present
Ibriel : Is this a lesson, think you? That good can be brought forth from evil
Samael : If i were given to moralizing,I'd probably find a different lesson
And later in a conversation with Michael
Michael : You have no choice brother
Samael : Oh we all have a choice. The issue-- as i see it--is which of us will be prepared to make it
And in confrontation with Gabriel
Samael: For your virtue is not content unless it can intimidate and enslave the virtue of others
Samael:You're like a drop of dew on a leaf, brother. And look the sun is rising you cannot stop it.
Samael: I care for truth. My own truth
The above establishes much of what Samael will become.
And words to live by from Michael
Michael : Justice is my father's prerogative, The rest of us can only do what we think is right
And finally Samael becomes Lucifer
Lucifer: I am Samael no more. Now i am only what i was made to be -- The Lucifer. The bearer of light and fire
And concluding words by Lilith
Lilith : We can never know of what we are the seeds -- until we flower
There is much that can be learnt from the above dialogs. But the thing that impressed me the most is that here Lucifer comes of as almost heroic. His views haven't changed since then , but carried out to the extreme, he is shown to be the Cold Hearted Bastard that he is. It also worries me because i have similar views and I carry those to the extreme as well.
The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions i guess.
The other thing i liked was Carey's portrayal of Michael which is much better than the petulant child he is shown to be once God leaves. Lilith too seems to be a much smarter women here than shown in later issues. However perhaps Carey's point is how the passage of time has affected these characters.

The End of Lucifer

Currently im speculating on how lucifer will end so here are my predictions
I dont think elaine will become god. I think she will be tricked by lucifer who will gain the powers of Michael
I think he will become master of his own fate , get everything he wants till he realizes that he has become his father.
That will either destroy him (not nice) or he may go back to being lord of hell.

The Morningstar Option

The Morningstar option was a three part mini series in the Sandman Present series.The Morningstar option is written by Mike Carey and Illustrated by Scott Hampton with consultation by Neil Gaiman.

There are ancient gods who are granting peoples wishes and desires. "Heaven" wants to put a stop to it but will not do so directly.Heaven tries to get Lucifer to do its dirty work. In return for a Letter of passage Lucifer agrees. The letter of passage is a way out of this creation. As established in the Sandman series , Lucifer is tired of playing a part in an omnipotent God's script and hates the determinism of everything including his fall and his plotting a way out which this letter will give him.
The main protoganist of the story is Rachel Begai - A half navajo who accidentally ends up killing her brother in the form of a granted wish. Lucifer offers her one chance to see her brother alive again provided she stays with him. The rest of the story is their quest.

It ends with the devil getting what he wants of course. But there is a twist that seems to be Careys trademark. You know the end but the way you get there is not the one you expected.

The Morningstar option combines elements of Navajo mythology and sets up the premise of the Lucifer series to follow. In the last part we see Lucifer and Rachel journey through the four worlds which are supposed to be the Navajo creational myths. Rachels Grandmother refers to lucifer at Atse'Hashke

Carey's dialogue is top notch. Witness the following commentary by Lucifer
"In my day we took anyone who happened by [to hell]"
"Theres a whole shelfload of Christian Commentaries about how good suffering is for the human soul"
"Now off you go and wash off your hands - I suggest steel wool"

Annotations to this series may be found on Matt Peckhams Lucifer site

Lucifer

Lucifer is an Ongoing Monthly comic written by Mike Carey and published under the Vertigo Line of DC Comics.
If you are interested in reading good writing or answering questions like 'what would you do to be the master of your own destiny' or discussing faith,destiny, free will this comics for you.

Prelude

I first picked up The Furies since it was a Sandman spin of. The artwork was stunning though the surprise was the storyline. It was the first Mike Carey story i had read and because this story line was great i looked up his other works and found Lucifer. I recalled that my friend AD had said that Lucifer was amazing but with a title like that i wasnt inclined to pick up the book or indeed find out more about it. I picked up Devil In Gateway and i was not overly impressed though every review in amazon seemed to insist that the rest of stories are better (there were 4 volumes collected when i started reading). So i took a chance and bought Childrens and Monsters . After reading it, i sat down and read it again. It was years since i had actually reread a book immediately after reading it ( i think the last was The Killing Joke) and i have subsequently bought every Lucifer except for Nirvana which i missed and which seems to be out of print and unavailable. I have also picked up Carey's other works (Inferno,My Faith in Frankie) and i hope to pick up whatever else he writes if can get my hands on them except his works for Marvel.
What follows in this blog is my thoughts on each issue the series as a whole and anything else that i feel is related (like Mike Carey's other works). For more definite Lucifer information the Sites are Matt Peckhams excellent site and the Vertigo section of DC Comics
It may take a while to get started though as my collection has been hijacked by a friend!