Review – Lucifer #8 (DC Vertigo)

Publisher: DC Vertigo
Writer: Dan Watters
Artwork: Aaron Campbell, Max Fiumara, Sebastian Fiumara
Colours: Dave McCaig
Letters: Steve Wands
Release Date: 15th May 2019

A fallen king clawing his way back up to the heights of his former glory. An illegitimate son finding the routes of his birthright through vicious murder and treachery. A witch queen of some fabricated god gathering her lost followers to fulfil some unknown plan. The queen’s protector fighting desperately to protect her charge only to be thwarted by unforeseen circumstances. No it’s not Game of Thrones. It’s the latest issue of Lucifer, once again expending the story in strange and completely unpredictable ways that only a fortune teller could have predicted.

The clock is ticking for Lucifer, with only 60 hours remaining to find either a home for his former lover or a way to escape the clutches of the angelic army who have laid claim to her blasphemous, resurrected body. He takes himself to the ruined Kingdom of the Egyptian underworld, and finds himself surprisingly being greeted with open arms. But of course it’s never that simple, and we soon see how desperate gods can be when starved of worship. His son Caliban is searching for his own purpose, one denied to him from his parents but possibly found further down the family line? And finally, like the underappreciated parent of an overly adventurous toddler, Maiz is trying her hardest to deal with the witches that have flocked to the shores for their unknown reasons.

Once again I like to take this time to breathe in the brilliance of reading comics like Lucifer. It’s the kind of book that history, philosophy and mythology buffs could spend hours discussing over numerous bottles of wine, and here I am trying to condense is into 500 words.

This issue brings in yet more ancient figures and blends it in with Enocian law, biblical history, pagan beliefs and the rest of the overarching DC Vertigo storyline. All with the sweet chaser of a nice shot of further character development and plot progression to wash it all down. Dan Waters continues to spin these many storyline plates perfectly, but what sets this series apart is the freedom it has to explore the connotations that go with the existence of these magical characters.

For example, in just in this issue alone we look at how knowledge of the afterlife negates faith and can destroy the meaning in one’s own life. But at the same time we explore how learning that your beliefs are wrong can spur you on to carve your own new life and fill it with your own convictions, something I found both fascinating and motivational as I pondered it for a good few hours after putting the book down. Many comics and characters can inspire you but it’s a sign of truly great writing to raise such thoughts from ones as darkly beautiful as the demonic cast of Lucifer.

Once again, the art is bold and shocking, caressing the canvas with images lifted straight out of the heads of mystics and your very own nightmares. The Fiumaras and Aaron Campbell provide a visual drug trip that will haunt you forever but give you a sensual high that you’ll never want to forget.

Rating: 5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK]