LUCIFER #1, written by bestselling fantasy novelist Holly Black and drawn by Lee Garbett, is in stores today. It features the iconic Vertigo Comics character originally created by Neil Gaiman for THE SANDMAN and further defined through the long running LUCIFER series written by Mike Carey and drawn frequently by Peter Gross. However, if you’re unfamiliar with Vertigo’s version of the Morningstar, don’t worry. We’ve created a handy guide for getting to know your Devil.
In the new series, God is dead and Gabriel and Lucifer must team up to prove the Devil didn’t do it. The comic picks up after the Carey/Gross run of comics, but in a status quo much closer to where Gaiman first left the character at the conclusion of THE SANDMAN. It does not have any direct ties to the TV series debuting on Fox in January, but the new LUCIFER comic does involve solving a mystery that takes us to Heaven, Hell, the Dreaming and realms beyond. You don’t need to know anything about the previous series in order to enjoy this one, but if you would like some background on the characters, you will find it below!
Creative Teams
Past
Writers – Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey
Artists – Sam Kieth, Peter Gross
Present
Writer – Holly Black
Artist – Lee Garbett
Characters/History
Lucifer Morningstar
We first met Lucifer in THE SANDMAN #4 (by Neil Gaiman and Sam Kieth) where he shared dominion over hell with two others: Beelzebub and Azazel. The next time we see him is in volume 4 of Gaiman's series, THE SANDMAN: SEASON OF MISTS where he has expelled all the demons from Hell, cut off his wings and left Hell in the care of Morpheus, the Dreamking.
This incarnation of Lucifer is similar to the Lucifer in Milton’s Paradise Lost and looks a bit like David Bowie. The loveliest of the Archangels, he rebelled three seconds after Creation and ruled as Lord of Hell for 10,000,000,000 years, but became bored and tired of humanity’s view of him. It is eventually revealed that Lucifer was not sent to Hell as a punishment, but allowed to go there as an escape from God’s omniscience, which ultimately proved impossible. Upholding the Great Lie of his punishment is the only lie Lucifer ever tells, believing all others to be immoral.
After leaving Hell, Lucifer opened a piano bar in Los Angeles called Lux. He had many adventures during his solo series revolving around the morality of Free Will vs. the tyranny of predestination. Ultimately, Lucifer attempted to create his own universe, but ends up going outside Creation instead. God follows, leaving Creation in the hands of the former human, Elaine Balloc. God asks Lucifer to blend their memories that they might understand each other better. However, Lucifer refuses, and leaves to explore beyond Creation.
Gabriel
We first met the Archangel Gabriel in HELLBLAZER. When John Constantine asked Gabriel to help him out with his lung cancer, using Gabriel's un-repaid debt to him, Gabriel turned him down and told John to just die for his sins. Enraged, Constantine planned a scheme involving Gabriel falling for a woman, who is actually Ellie the succubus. Ellie successfully seduces and entraps Gabriel, and during passionate sex, she rips his heart out and sends Gabriel running back to God in despair. Finally tainted and impure, God throws Gabriel back to Earth as a mortal; his wings torn out and his powers gone. His heart was later crushed by The First of the Fallen (who is a different demon from Lucifer).
Mazikeen
We first met Mazikeen, the daughter of Lilith, in THE SANDMAN #4 in which she was Lucifer’s consort and follows him out of Hell. Half of her face is beautiful and human while the other half is skeletal and misshapen. She covers her demonic half with a mask. She is Lucifer’s lover and most constant ally as well as the military leader of the Liliam (demon army comprised of Lilith’s children). When Lucifer left Creation, he left her his Lightbringer powers. She scars Lucifer’s face and tells him he’d be a coward to heal it. He does not.
Azazel
We first met Azazel in THE SANDMAN #4 as part of the Triumverate that rules Hell along with Lucifer and Beelzebub. After Lucifer’s abdication, Azazel attempts to fight Morpheus, the Dream King for the key to Hell, but since they are in the Dreaming, he ends up trapped in a jar.
LUCIFER #1 by Holly Black and Lee Garbett is now available in print and as a digital download.
