Lucifer...

I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I read two of the graphic novels I got from the library.

The first was Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. I think Ellis is one of the best writers in comics today, but I hadn't read Transmetropolitan before and this turned out to be a collection of issues #43 to 48 of the series. I was at a loss. It seems to be about a dying journalist fighting an evil President. I was struggling hard to figure out what was going on without much success, and the result was that it seemed to lack Ellis' usual impact.

Somewhat disappointed by that, I turned to Lucifer. I was thrilled to discover, by way of the preface by Neil Gaiman, that the story is a sequel to my favourite Gaiman Sandman story, "Season of Mists". In "Season of Mists", Lucifer decided he'd had enough being Lord of Hell, so he retired to a beach in Australia. He gave the keys of Hell to Morpheus, to give to whoever he thought fit to take over management of Hell. So the story is about hopeful representatives of all the pantheons of various cultures coming to persuade Morpheus that they are best suited to rule in Hell.

Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway picks up with Lucifer as a lounge singer in an American night club. In the first story, he is approached by one of the agents of God and takes up a mission to battle small prehistoric gods who prey on people's greed and desire. In the next story arc, he goes to have his cards read with a living (or unliving) tarot deck, in a plot with Neo-Nazis, gay-bashing, and a character like Sally Bowles. In the third story, a young girl who communes with ghosts sets out to find out who killed her best friend.

I loved it all. Lucifer is so urbane, so cool, so dangerous, so untrustworthy. Made me think of other Lucifers I have loved: Viggo Mortensen in The Prophecy, John Glover in Brimstone, Milton's Lucifer in Paradise Lost, and the one in The Vintner's Luck.