Graphic Novel Review: Lucifer, Volume 1: The Infernal Comedy
Lucifer, Volume One: The Infernal Comedy Cover
By Dan Watters, Max Fiumara (Artist), Sebastian Fiumara (Artist)
Genre: Graphic Novel - Horror
I received this as a Christmas present, so by the time I read it I’d seen all seasons of the TV show Lucifer, which had been on my list for a hell (no pun intended) of a long time, but I wasn’t able to watch thanks to it not being available for a fair while. So when all seasons were on one platform, I watched it. I loved the series, Tom Ellis is great as the titular character, and I’m a sucker for what I like to call Paranormal Procedurals. (And please let me know if you have any recommendations as I’m always looking for more!)
If, like me, you’ve only seen the TV series, I’m here to tell you the graphic novel is vastly different, in the same sort of way that iZombie is a totally different show that only really shares one or two things in common with the graphic novels. As with iZombie however, the graphic novel is still incredibly good.
It’s fun, too, seeing what the TV show picked up from the graphic novel, and this is of course just one iteration of the character, specifically picked up as the character from The Sandman. Here, Lucifer isn’t a tall, dark-haired scamp helping a detective solve crimes, a sort of, crime-solving devil if you will. (Okay, enough about the show, which I’m sure I will write about at some point.)
We see Lucifer at different points here – trapped as a wizened old man in a small town, tormented and uncertain, looking almost like a version of Jim Morrison if he’d lived to an older age (at least that’s what it looks like to me). We also see him in flashbacks, looking more like David Bowie (similar to his portrayal in The Sandman comics), confident and sure in himself. It serves as a really good contrast between the two. While he is trapped, police officer John Decker is dealing with his wife’s declining health, and with a mystery to unravel in her family he finds himself roped into something beyond his understanding.
There’s some really good elements here, and definitely an intriguing story building up around Lucifer. There’s parallels between what’s happening with Lucifer and with Decker, as they both find themselves on the brink of madness. Lucifer in the town is very much a weakened character, dependent on those around him to help him and unable to really take care of himself.
Lucifer works really well as a horror graphic novel and as an addition to the Sandman universe, and it’s fun to see the different elements and ideas from Sandman bleed through here. If you’re a fan of the show, don’t go in expecting the same kind of thing, but it is without a doubt still worth a read.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter & Instagram: @elleturpitt
www.elleturpitt.com
I received this book as a gift
