Vertigo Comics 2018
Written by Dan Watters
Illustrated by Max Fiumara & Sebastian Fiumara
Coloured by Dave McCaig
Lettered by Steve Wands
Lucifer is missing. Having embarked on a dangerous journey to find the mother of his abandoned son, the Prince of Lies finds himself imprisoned and crippled by mysterious forces who seek to torment him for their own terrible ends. Meanwhile: a car is crashed, two witches blind themselves, a tumour speaks its first words, and a perfectly good bowl of oatmeal is left to go cold.
Alright this for me heralds the return of Vertigo Comics to it’s former glory. As much as I like the Young Animals imprint, and want it to stay, this makes me so very happy. Now I don’t remember where the series left itself I don’t think it’s necessary to really know that. For me this feels like a stellar place to start and join in the fun of what Dan the brothers Fiumara and Dave have in store for us. I haven’t been this excited for something that has come out of DC in a long long time, no thanks to Didio trying to sabotage what he doesn’t like.
I am enjoying the way this is structured and the fact that we are thrust into this almost midstream. I have no idea how it happened or why but Lucifer has had a spot of trouble and now we’re going to see how he struggles to raise himself up to what he used to be, or at least as close to it as he can. I like it. It feels like Dan wants to bring us this, his, version of Lucifer and introduce him to us from the ground up as it were. So that we see his resolve, determination and the sheer power of will that he has and that premise in my eyes is something phenomenally and inherently thought provokingly interesting.
So there is more to this than simply Lucifer finding himself again and how the two different arcs will join up and meet, if they indeed do, will be interesting to see. I think what stands out the most to me aside from the obvious is that LAPD Detective John Decker has secrets from his wife but none like she has from him. There is something about the magnitude of the lie and how it affects them both now that a Detective worth his salt should’ve been able to see. Regardless what their role in all this represents again is exciting to imagine.
The interior artwork by the brothers Fiumara and McCaig is sheer perfection. The ambiance, mood, tone, feel whatever you want to call or how you want to phrase it is bloody brilliant. There are moments when we see Lucifer’s eyes and there is power behind them that is haunting. I love the different hues of each arc, Hell being in that yellowish spectrum and the “real” world in the blues. The attention to detail is phenomenal and the manipulation of the linework so that fine details stand out as much as the boldness around is so nice to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective showcase a marvellous eye for storytelling. The way that backgrounds are utilised is great to see and how they bring us the size and scope of this world is perfectly done.
Through the combination of words and visuals here we get to see and sense the madness, the frustration and desperation as it oozes off the pages. This is what we want to see in our comics more so when it involves a character whose popularity soared so much it spun off a television show and now makes it’s triumphant return to comics. With a level of storytelling that goes above and beyond what you should expect and first issue full of promise and hope, excitement and danger this is going to be a ride to remember.