GRAPHIC NOVEL
Lucifer
Exodus

Author: Mike Carey
Artists: Peter Gross and Ryan Kelly
Titan Books
RRP £9.99
ISBN 1 84576 031 X
Available 22 April 2005


"The throne is empty and we are orphans. What shall avail us now?" So laments the Heavenly host, left behind by God to ponder his departure. For their elder brother Lucifer Morningstar, however, the disappearance of Yahweh brings to mind a more practical concern - survival, for both himself and, tangentially, God's creation. When his mission to rescue the spirit of Elaine Belloc successfully completed, Lucifer finds himself forced to defend his father's legacy against a pair of would-be usurpers. Their assumption of Yahweh's cast-off power makes this resistance especially daunting - so much so that Lucifer is moved to take preventive measures in his own universe. All immortals must now leave the worlds of the Lightbringer, or they will learn firsthand the meaning of mortality...

Exodus is an interesting addition to the Lucifer range of graphic novels. While it is advisable that you have read some of the previous collections to fully appreciate this release, it's not essential that you do.

This collection at first glance appears to be several short stories collected under one cover but, as the tale unfolds, it soon becomes apparent that this has an ongoing narrative. And, to get the full effect, you may have to reread this collection a second time.

Along the way there is a twist on Hansel and Gretel, a strange encounter with a punch and Judy show, and a tragic love story between two stitchglass spinners (a cross between a giant spider and Star Wars's Jar Jar Binks). It is the later thread which also includes a The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe style adventure for a young lad who stumbles into the world of the stichglass spinners by accident.

In fact, there is so much else going on that Lucifer's appearances are fleeting in this collection - not that that's a complaint.

If you are after something with a little more bite, this collection will appease you.

Nick Smithson

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