Inferno (2004)
Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Dean Ormston / Craig Hamilton | Page Count: 166
"It was an irony very much to his taste, that he could no longer live without her."
Volume 05 of 11 in the Lucifer series. The four-part storyline that opens proceedings closes a deal that was made in Volume 02: Children and Monsters (2001); Lucifer and Amanadiel meet at the arranged place and time in an attempt to resolve their differences.
Some secondary characters find the event fortuitous, believing it the perfect opportunity to gain favour with one side or the other. It gives writer Mike Carey a chance to further develop threads from previous books and once more stress that Lucifer can rely just as well on his wits as on his powers; for power is useless without the knowledge of when to best use it.
A large part of Inferno feels like an interlude - a time of rest and recuperation before Lucifer can fulfil the promise he made himself in the previous book. Before he can set that in motion, however, he must seek out something specific. But to secure it he has to offer yet another promise that'll likely bring him trouble further down the line. It's business as usual for the fallen angel.
Carey's multifaceted narratives work best when they have a large cast to entwine themselves in; Inferno is lessened by such deep interrelations being removed as everyone is separated by duty.
Furthermore, the closings, side-events, and setting up of a new arc are all dependent on a reader's enjoyment of the previous books, and as such the volume feels disjointed and haphazardly stitched together. The stories are strong in characterisation but structurally messy when collected together in a TPB; the format highlights its own artificial nature. In single issues they'd have worked much better.
One of the stand-alone works is a story of joy, dependent upon someone going to someplace dark within himself. It was quite beautiful.
The book collects together Lucifer issues 29 – 35.
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