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LUCIFER #24
"The Writing on the Wall"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Dean Ormston
Colors: Daniel Vozzo
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Shelly Bond
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Carey has made a habit of interspersing the epic stories of Lucifer with smaller, one-issue tales, calling to mind the structure that Gaiman used on Sandman. This
issue is one such single issue story, an accessible taste of the title for new
readers as well as a well-told tale with links to the ongoing storyline for
regular readers of the book. The story of a centaur sorceress who sees a portent
and goes to warn her maker is the stuff of new mythology, and Carey infuses the
story with just the right amount of magic as well as strange characters whose
motivations are human enough to understand. Ormston's artwork is beautiful and
well-matched to the tale, particularly when it comes to the ugliness of the
human world and the fury of an angry sorceress.
It's a rare writer who can
create a satisfying character and plot in a single issue, but Carey seems to
have that gift, right along with his ability to tell a slow-building multi-issue
arc. Within only a few pages, I was completely enamored of lead character Kira,
and the story of her journey is fantastic in its settings, but grounded in
fairly universal themes. Kira's drive to help "the Maker" or her journey across
the sea may be fantastic, but her desire to be taken seriously as a young woman,
or to help save the world, is a reasonably normal motivation for a young girl.
In addition, though we see them only a little bit, Kira's affection for her
family comes through loud and clear.
This is another of those stories that is fairly peripheral to Lucifer, just as many of the Sandman stories were peripheral to Morpheus. This is
the story of a young prophet's quest to prevent a dark prophecy, and it's also
the story of a young girl who learns of the darker side of life with tragic
consequences. Kira's journey is fascinating, from her troubles at sea to her
encounters with the real world to her shocking return home. And though the
warning that drives her has ramifications for Lucifer, the main story is
self-contained in this issue.
While I've generally been
more of a fan of Peter Gross's work on this title than that of Dean Ormston, I
was quite happy with Ormston's work on this issue. In particular, I thought his
depiction of the seedy area of the city where Kira finds herself was ideal for
showing how far over her head she had gotten. And the violence, whether it's
Kira kicking a would-be attacker or razing a city with her magics, is powerful
and brutal as well. I also found that Ormston gave Kira a childlike innocence in
her appearance, which was all the more tragic when we see her withered away near
the end of the story.
After the successful completion of a large and expansive epic story, Carey steps back this issue for a story off to the side. If he runs true to form, this story will tie into the overall story in a more direct way later in the series, but for right now, it's easy to enjoy as a standalone tale, and an example of why Lucifer has earned the positive buzz and award
nominations that it has garnered.
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