A Dalliance With the Damned (2002)
Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Dean Ormston | Page Count: 160
"I think you should stop talking to the snake. These things he tells you are making you unhappy."
Volume 03 of 11 in the Eisner award winning Lucifer series. Things unfold at a more leisurely pace this time as writer Mike Carey shifts the focus away from the charismatic anti-hero. Instead, he explores the virtues and vices of some of the other inhabitants of the realm.
In the first half of the book are three shorter episodes that have a self-contained beginning / middle / end structure but are themselves interconnected and still manage to tie in with the series arc.
Story number one offers readers a chance to sympathise with Mazikeen as she embarks on a personal mission that'll have consequences for more than just herself.
The second tale sees the little girl with the special talent take a walk in a dark place where little girls with special talents shouldn't be. Look out for a cameo from some Sandman escapees.
And finally, the concept of free will is given more attention in some place new that resembles some place very, very old. It's a well-crafted and beautifully presented tale filled with occasional dark humour and some scathing observations.
Most of the second half of the book is a three-part story with a large cast that plays out like a subversive period drama; it's about lust, leisure, pleasure and pain.
One final story finishes the volume. It returns to the primary arc of the series, contrasting it alongside a smaller, more personal story of a couple who are lost in more than one sense of the word. The coda may have you on the edge of your seat, particularly if you've a healthy interest in the occult and religious hypocrisy; or at the very least a basic knowledge of Tarot.
The book collects together Lucifer issues 14 – 20.
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