Lucifer #45
Originally Presented at Comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Neutral Ground
A conclave of demons takes residence in a human soul to discuss the state of the afterlife.
Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Ted Naifeh
Colors: Daniel Vozzo
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editor: Shelly Bond
Cover Art: Tara McPherson
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Review: This stand-alone issue is an easy enough read, even for someone who doesn’t follow the title regularly, and Mike Carey puts enough of a tease at the end to make even a casual reader curious as to what may be coming next.
The demon Unagor hijacks the soul of a sad, pathetic law firm clerk who moonlights in a punk band, using his soul as the setting for a conference of the damned, discussing what to do in the absence of God and the attack upon the Silver City. Unagor grows bored with the conference, and takes the human body of his host out for a spin.
I’m familiar with the basic background of this series from its launching point in the Sandman mythos, but there are enough things in here I wasn’t familiar with to interest me. I’m left wondering what brought on the meeting of demons and what Lucifer has planned, based on the few cryptic comments he makes in this issue.
I’m not big on the artwork. Ted Naifeh employs a style that we’re seeing a lot of in mature reader books these days, almost like a gritty cartoon. He draws things in a very iconic style, then dirties it up. There’s not really anything wrong with it, but there’s nothing special about it, either. It’s growing tiresome to see it on so many titles.
Overall, this probably isn’t an issue that will win any die-hard readers by itself, but it will raise eyebrows on the casual reader and have him curious enough to seek out a few issues before or after this one. It’s the quality of those books as a whole that will determine if he stays with the title for the long haul.
Rating: 3/5