Fans of Lucifer and Sandman alike are going to want to give this book a read, especially those who enjoyed the Eastern-influenced Sandman: Dream Hunters. Carey has combined his skill with the resolved, distant politics of Lucifer and the beauty and mystery of Eastern philosophy in Nirvana, telling a story that involves Lucifer very heavily, but is mostly about a young Chinese woman seeking peace and a fallen angel seeking revenge. Muth provides gorgeous, evocative painted artwork that is perfect for this ephemeral and lyrical story, and the appearance by the Sandman fits right in with the story as well, serving as probably the best-written example of the character since Gaiman last wrote him.
Nirvana is outside the regular Lucifer continuity, for the most part. While it doesn't hurt to know that Lucifer has created a cosmos for himself (there, now the book is completely accessible), everything else is in the book for the reader to know. The complex politics and over-arcing story are put aside, so that Carey can focus on the story of an old enemy hunting Lucifer down, and tell a nice self-contained tale that has the same style as the Lucifer ongoing but without the need to catch up on all the back trades to really get what's going on.
While Carey has truly impressed me with his ability to weave an epic story throughout a long-running story, he has shown equal ability with the short story, and Nirvana is an example of a great story, told in one issue. There are three separate tales, as an angel hires a demon of sorts to seek revenge, a young Chinese woman tries to recover from the suicide of her husband and Lucifer hunts down whoever is trying to destroy him today. These three stories are all tightly connected by the end, but there's plenty of room for each one to fly free and Carey gives the characters in all of the stories believable motivations and characterization. I was particularly impressed that despite the similar aloof tone that Lucifer and Daniel both have, Carey managed to give each one a distinctive voice.
Muth's work is perfectly suited for this type of story, which involves magic, dreams and other fanciful visions. Though his take on modern China is hard and real enough to give a sense of the mundane events that drive Cai's life, the book really shines when Muth is depicting the demons hunting Lucifer or the meeting of Lucifer and Daniel in the realm of the Dreaming. The panels tend to blend into one another, looking more like paint trailing off than hard borders, and that reinforces the soft and philosophical nature of the story without becoming so abstract that the reader cannot follow the action.
Regular readers of Lucifer will no doubt be delighted by another, slightly longer story like the one-shots that have punctuated each longer arc. Those who haven't been reading Lucifer would do well to check Lucifer: Nirvana out, because while the tone of this book is not the same as the regular series, the talents of Mike Carey are on full display, and this is as good of a sampler as you're likely to get. The beautiful painted artwork is just icing on the cake.
