Written By: Dan Waters
Illustrated By: Max Fiumara & Sebastian Fiumara
Colors By: Dave McCaig
Letters By: Steve Wands
Cover By: Jock
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: October 17, 2018
If you're following along with the Sandman Universe segment on the weekly podcast, you'll know that I have done my damnedest to remain as willfully ignorant of all things Sandman... in order to provide the opinion on how a potential newbie might "receive" the books from the imprint.
It affords us the opportunity to discus such subjects as accessibility... and just how important already being a fan of these properties might be going in.
So... Lucifer, eh? Are we talking the Biblical Lucifer? Are we even going to find out? Let's take a look...
Before digging in, I ought to come clean... my only real exposure to this property was the Primer chapter included with Sandman Universe #1 a month or two back... this issue doesn't really follow up with, whoever that was that was eating birds. He was eating birds, right? What we get instead are three different narratives, maybe running concurrently, maybe happening at all different times... at least, I think that's what we've gotten.
We open with a fella who looks not completely unlike Alan Moore (it's not just me, is it?). He's apparently Lucifer, but perhaps not the one we met in the Primer. He's also quite mad. After failing to eat a bowl of oatmeal, he shambles barefoot through the streets of... maybe Heaven (?)... where he is met by followers and later shoved into a bucket of water. Only emerging... elsewhere, alongside his only friend, a talking shovel. Perhaps an allusion to Lucifer being banished from Heaven? Perhaps not... I might be taking the name too literally. Then again... perhaps I'm not.
There is also a scene featuring the more familiar Lucifer... that pointy-haired blonde fellow, but to be completely honest, I couldn't say with any confidence whether or not he's a future version... an alternate version... or an altogether different character than the Alan Moore lookalike. Perhaps I'm too dense for my own good, but I found myself having a difficult time following along. While Lucifer is a new character for me, this certainly isn't the first comic book I've ever read... so, that might not be the best sign.
Where this issue shines, however, are the scenes in which Lucifer doesn't even appear! There is a tragic tale woven through the issue of a Detective and his terminally ill wife. These scenes are heartbreaking and incredibly well done... and, without spoiling anything, appear to be plunging our man deep into a strange quest. Personally, it's only this Detective John Decker thread that has me excited to come back for the next installment.
Bits & Pieces:
The one shines brightest when Lucifer is nowhere to be found. The true strengths of this issue are in the dialogue and its ability to make you feel for the Detective and his terminally ill wife.
6/10
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