Lucifer Vol. 9: Crux

Lucifer (2000) (Old Trades)

by Mike Carey, Peter Gross (Illustrator), Ryan Kelly (Illustrator)

Forces in Hell and on Earth prepare for a final struggle for supremacy in CRUX. Reprinting stories from issues #55-61, this volume ventures through space and time and the places outside both, weaving a sweeping saga out of multiple character threads mortal and immortal alike.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this volume! The Yahweh Dance is probably my favorite single issue of this entire series. I just love that at this point Yahweh, Lucifer, and now Elaine have all made a universe and it's very interesting to see how they purposely try to go about it in different ways but things always end up more of less the same anyway. I just love Elaine's entire character and story arc, but it's not quiiiite done yet so I'll leave what I really want to say until my next review.

It's great to see more of Lilith too. I don't agree with most of her choices throughout this series but I think she's a very interesting and well-rounded character and I like how this volume shares a common theme of motherhood between her and Jill and you could kind of argue Elaine as well since she is the 'mother' of the world she created.

Although with Lilith the whole thing with her and Sandalphon making an army of half angels has always seemed like a bit of a plot-hole to me. I mean okay we've already established that she can have children with angels, but I didn't think they had the angelic traits. I guess maybe it's different based on which angel is the father? I also wonder why they didn't try to bring Michael to the soft places so him and Lilith could have children if that is the case because I think that would have been easier than what Sandalphon actually ended up doing. It is funny in a way though because if he hadn't done all of that then Elaine wouldn't exist and Lucifer would have never gotten involved in all this and their plan might have actually worked out...

Anyway, some highlights:








lmao I just love how petty Lucifer is. Like I get where you're coming from but also it's basically just a figure of speech at this point so for once in your life just chill.


[throws hands up in the air] I GUESS

Mentions of will:

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been procrastinating on this review because, well, I’ve been having trouble figuring anything out to say about the book. I mean, I read it, I liked it, but when I try to summarize the plot or even come up with a decent teaser for it I’m left vaguely gesturing with my mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. No one wants to see that. So I decided to start writing about how I can't think of anything to write. And, damn!, it seems to be working …

I used to read Lucifer. It was one of many titles I followed back in the day. I ultimately reached a point where I couldn't afford to keep spending money on comics every week. I’d tried cutting back in the past, but it never lasted long. The only decision that made any sense was to quit. So I did. It helped that the local comics shop stopped holding titles for me after my box of stuff they were holding for me got out of control. Anyway, no more monthly titles for me. I buy the occasional graphic novel and manga, and now get the bulk of my comics reading through the local library. Anyway, point is: I haven't read Lucifer since around issue #25 or so.

So, while I’m not up on the previous several volumes’ worth of material, I’m generally familiar with the characters and setting and so on. Mike Carey writes as well as ever. It's a tribute to his skills that he's been writing Lucifer almost as long as Neil Gaiman wrote Sandman. His Lucifer is subtly different from Gaiman’s--and both are very different from the FOX TV series. It's not completely fair to compare them. After all, it's not his fault he isn't Neil Gaiman (Fun Fact: an informal survey of my bookshelves reveals that 99.9999% of authors are not Neil Gaiman … probably.) This is good, solid fantasy writing with some rather clever ideas. I’m definitely keen to read the next book to see how things come out. Considering that the book is named for him and all, it's rather surprising how little Lucifer actually appears in it. This is a title worth reading. Recommended!

[محمدحسین · Rating 5 out of 5]

توی این جلد کمتر از همه لوسیفر حضور داره و بیشتر داستان‌های دیگران رو می‌بینیم. همه چیز در آخرین حد جدی بودن هست و دنیایی که یهوه ساخته داره به پایان می‌رسه همه قدرت‌ها دارن جمع میشن، چیزهایی که بودن یا فراموش شده بودن توی قسمت‌های قبلی داستان.
کلا آرت‌های این جلد یجورایی متفاوت بودن، حتی برای روی جلد که اصولاً استایل آرت یکسان بود، الان فرق داشت و بین آرت‌های خود کامیک به خصوص Yahweh Dance کلا استایل آرت متفاوت و جالب بود، هم به موضوع می‌خورد هم کلا خیلی خاص و خوب بود.
از یه طرف دلم نمی‌خواد تمومش کنم چون آخرای کار هست و از یه طرف زیادی هیجان‌انگیز شده و نمیشه کنارش گذاشت :دی

[Štěpán · Rating 5 out of 5]

holy hell, ba dum ts, this was amazing

[Airiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world is ending, and unlike the scenes you often see in doomsday flicks, there are no episodes of the earth cracking, fireballs raining down on cities, or skyscrapers collapsing on screaming humans. Not yet, at least. In the Lucifer series, it goes from the inside out: “The hands of the artists lose their cunning, the minds of musicians their sweet calculus. And emotion dies too—lover looks at lover, parent at child, feeling nothing save the dead grey void of anomie. The world loses its savor, the senses dull. Sweet, sour, bitter, salt, all bleed into one nothingness. In sheer despair of feeling anything at all, people begin to hurt themselves…” Beautifully tragic, indeed.

The Divine Word glues every matter together, and its vanishing equates to the corroding of everything it once held…

Crux, the ninth volume of the Morningstar’s history after he quits reigning in Hell, is not titled as such for nothing. The story is clearly at its peak. Christopher Rudd, once a damned human soul that rose as the Duke of Gly in Effrul, now emerges as the ruler of the infernal realm after preaching about salvation among the demons and the damned. Lilith betrays Mazikeen and collects all of the Lilim to launch a final assault on Heaven and the Garden that is denied of them; Elaine Belloc practices her demiurgic power by molding another Creation; and Jill Presto is finally giving birth to the Basanos’ child.

I liked this volume a lot. It is action-packed, moving, and thought-provoking for the most part. What I’m enamored of the most is the underlying depth of the different philosophy and wisdom that every character gives off, closely seconded by the poetic quality of Carey’s writing. If I were to guess, I’ll say this is just the beginning of the climax, because by now I know how a habit of Carey it is to keep lots of exciting things up his sleeve. I’m expecting him to release these things nonchalantly one by one in every issue, and its effects would be bomb-like in comparison. :D

The art is amazing as well, I’m loving how everything—every character— is given the ample amount of attention they deserve. All in all, this is on par with the previous volume The Wolf Beneath the Tree. Four stars for a great read!

[OmniBen · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 4.5/5
The first of the truly great arcs within the second half of the series, even if the ongoing rotation of guest artist for the single issue arc continues to be a jarring disappointment. Seriously, who was signing off on artists so monumentally different to all that had previously come before? Why couldn't Dean Ormiston continue to do the single issue stories? I must say, however, that despite me giving this full marks, that is almost singlehandedly down to Mike Carey bringing the awesome sauce back in a way he hasn't done for two dozen issues, or so. The story had been somewhat meandering up until now. Good, but still meandering. But now we really seem to be kicking in to the end story. Shits happening again, and I really like it. One might hope that Peter Gross lifts his game a little to match the coming culmination, as he seems to have been on auto pilot for a while now. 4.5/5


OmniBen.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I mentioned in my review of the previous volume, it's incredible to watch Mike Carey grow as a writer throughout this series. What started as a solid fantasy spin-off of Sandman with a storytelling structure almost identical to that series has grown steadily into its own thing. All the characters we've seen throughout this story are finally getting what's coming to them, good or bad, and the numerous one-off stories are combining into a vast, universe spanning war. Carey manages to do this while still exploring new areas of the world he's created and adding enough information to keep us apprised of everything coming to a head. Reading this actually gives me a lot of hope for another of Carey's series, "The Unwritten," which is currently being published by Vertigo. It has a similar style of semi-slow-but-interesting early stories that seem to be building to a huge climax, and if Lucifer is any indication, The Unwritten is going to go out with a flash.

[Charrlie]

Kniha od knihy lepší a lepší.
(A následuje zoufalý výkřik po dalších dílech)

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

El final del último tomo nos había situado en una situación bastante tensa. Los planes del Lobo Fenris habían tenido éxito, y la sangre de Miguel empapaba las raíces de Yggdrasil. El Demiurgo había muerto y para evitar la destrucción de la Creación (que ya estaba desmontándose por la ausencia de Dios), había depositado su poder en Elaine Belloc, pero en la marea de poder tanto ella como Lucifer habían desaparecido, posiblemente destruidos.

Y en esta situación, vamos a comenzar Encrucijada. El primer cómic del libro va a ser una lectura independiente, dibujada por el fascinante Marc Hempel y situada en el Infierno, donde Cristopher Rudd ha comenzado a extender una especie de culto o doctrina inspirada por Lucifer, lo que va a despertar la ira de Remiel y va a concluir en un enfrentamiento... aunque la última palabra la tendrá Duma, y este cómic acabará con un nuevo señor en el infierno.

Y posteriormente, pasamos a la trama principal, que en este tomo y ante la supuesta destrucción de Lucifer y Elaine Belloc (supongo que ninguno nos creímos nunca que ninguno de los dos había desaparecido para siempre... no lo hacen, por supuesto. Elaine y Lucifer están más vivos de lo que nadie parece sospechar), va a situarse alrededor de Mazikeen y de su madre, Lilith, que va a comenzar aquí sus planes para tomar la Ciudad de Plata, que como ya sabemos, construyeron los Lilim. Además, vamos a descubrir que Lilith forma parte de una cábala que utiliza una mansión en un lugar blando (la Barrowjane, al estilo de la Posada del Fin de los Mundos), y de la que forman parte en malévolo Sandalfón, Berim de los Jin-en-Mok, y algo que se hace llamar el Hombre de Seda, y que son todos enemigos de Lucifer... y que van a intentar acabar con Mazikeen, aunque la Lilim es más dura de roer de lo que parece. Y además, Lucifer y Elaine Belloc, después de que esta practique con el poder demiúrgico en un universo del que es la creadora (es decir, una tercera creación), van a recuperar a sus aliados... para decepción de sus enemigos. Y mientras, en esta recolocación de piezas, Jill Presto se reubica, intentando descubrir qué hacer con el hijo de los basanos que aún continúa en su interior, ya mató a uno de los gemelos, pero queda otro por nacer... y la relación entra la madre y el hijo nonato va a ser tensa... como poco. Y además, va a incorporar a la historia a un personaje que viene de lejos, Rachel Begai, la protagonista con Lucifer del prólogo de la serie en las páginas de Sandman Presenta.

En fin, aquí tenemos una recolocación del tablero para afrontar una nueva etapa de la serie, con la batalla por la Ciudad Eterna en primera línea...

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

55: The Eighth Sin
"These guys set a lot of store by routine. And in their case, it's not a routine unless you've been doing it for a hundred Millenia or so. When someone steps out of Line -- you just KNOW there's going to be trouble."

The cover is nice but the art inside is horrible, in this story of how after God's absence, Christopher Rudd has become a new prophet in Hell and it's messing up Remiel's peace of mind as the order and routine to which he is accustomed is broken. Interesting writing, with a plot twist, but terrible, terrible art.

56-57: Crux
Lilith: "It will end. Everything will END. Because of our efforts, or in spite of them. It matters NOT. I've SEEN it. If I seem ruthless now -- it's because I've already MOURNED you.."

Lilith leaves after Ibriel's death, and meets up with some who live in a shack that can time travel. They make their case, and she allies with them, then makes a power play, dispensing of both her murderous children, Mazikeen and Braidach, to reclaim her leadership of the Lilim and make war on the Host of the Silver City. This is some Game of Thrones level deceit, deception and plotting right here. Intriguing.

58: The Yahweh Dance
The Mocker: "What a fool you are, Elaine, to go thus about to make a world."

This cleverly uses different styles of art to tell the story of how Elaine made the 3rd creation and how she learned from it.

59-61: The Breach
"God made this world, and the first 5 billion years or so just rattled along like a freight train. Stars. Planets. Sentient Life. Recordable DVD. But then God takes his bow, and suddenly we're here. Stumble. The show seems all set to fall apart."

Lucifer tries to help Elaine control Michael's demiurgic powers. Lilith returns to reclaim the Lilim, casting aside Braidach and Mazikeen along the way. She doubles their forces with their half angel allies and they march to Heaven. Jill goes several vision quests, incorporating Native American Shamanic things, as she has to resolve issues before her child is born. There are so many threads of stories to tie together to make this one complete, the art and story are both Chaotic, which is probably the intention.

[David Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of Carey's ninth installment of Lucifer is perhaps the epitome of truth in advertising. Here, finally, we get to the crux of the stories told thus far: Lilith's plan for revenge, Jill Presto's desperate struggle to end her pregnancy, Elaine Belloc's rise to godhead, and the little matter of just who precisely shall reign in Hell now that Lucifer's outgrown that throne.

God abdicated his throne a couple of volumes back, leading directly to the re-emergence of Fenris and the beginning of the end of both our universe and Lucifer's own creation. There were other repercussions too, and as Crux opens, we see the first of them. A dying Michael tries to pass his power into Elaine, but the resultant explosion sends both Elaine and Lucifer into another realm entirely, leaving the way clear for the Lilim to attempt to size control of heaven. As if Fenris weren't enough of a problem. While all that's going on, Lucifer's giving Elaine a crash course in how to use her newfound power. She'll need all of it if she's going to hold worlds together in the face of such an assault. Very, very good stuff, this, and well worth your time if you're a Sandman fan (and aren't we all?).

Carey's closing in on the final volume of his series and so the pace here naturally escalates, but there's still time for the little touches that have always made Lucifer so much fun, like Gaudium's snarky asides or the fantastic set-piece wherein Jill Presto summons the god of Las Vegas by letting it all ride on red. Or the lessons Lucifer teaches Elaine about good intentions while world-building.

The final panel is perhaps one of the best in the series, and a perfect close for the penultimate volume. All things come together. All things are poised, as was intended. And now, Carey will push.

Just read the damned story. It'll stick to your ribs.

[SaraKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit to being a little less interested in this installment than previous ones since the main character was hardly in it, much like number 4. Also, so much is happening now that the climax of the end of the world is nigh that I am constantly trying to remember who is who and which threads of the story I've forgotten to account for. :) I think this is a series that can be read multiple times to catch all of the references.

I did love the way the end of the world is described. It begins with more of whimper than a bang.

...the hands of the artists lose their cunning. The minds of musicians their sweet calculus. And emotion dies too. Lover looks at lover, parent at child. Feeling nothing save the dead grey void of anomie. The world loses its savor. The senses dull. Sweet, sour, bitter, salt, all bleed into one nothingness. In sheer despair of feeling anything at all, people begin to hurt themselves.

I think that is definitely a more likely end of the world scenario. Apathy is a more dangerous thing than unrest.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Všechno směřuje k neúprosnému konci, ale někteří nechtějí, aby se vesmír rozpadl jenom tak, bez pomsty, bez zadostiučinění. Ale možná že ještě existuje naděje. Ale naděje na co?

Na deváté knize jsem se trošku zasekl. Přestože předchozí díl končil brutálním cliffhangerem, tak jsem si od této série musel na chviličku odpočinout. Po návratu jsem se trošku bál, že mé nadšení z Lucifera vychladlo. Ale Mike Carey mi zde zase skoro vystřelil mozek z hlavy. Ten chlap je zkrátka geniální. Většina knihy je klasický vysoký Luciferovský standard, takže paráda. Jsou tam ale dva sešity, které silně vybočují. Jedením z nich kniha začíná a v něm se pomocí velmi stylizované kresby podíváme do pekla, kde dojde k tak trošku sametové revoluci. A ten druhý sešit? To je ten geniální a mozek vystřelující. Nebudu k němu nic prozrazovat. Ten si musíte užít na vlastní bulvy.

[Zec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: The Eighth Sin, The Crux, The Yahweh Dance, The Breach.

I wasn’t a big fan of Lilith, but I really enjoyed her interactions with Mazikeen. I do wish that there was more inner conflict among the Lilim before they turned on Mazikeen and Briadach. This was an enjoyable set of arcs that impressed but didn’t wow. The standout was Jill and her conversation with her not-yet-born-daughter. It was also cool to see Rachel from the Morningstar Option. The plot has been taking centre stage for a long while, leaving less room for character moments. While not necessarily a bad thing does accentuate the uneven pacing of the series.

[Izabela Raittila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightfully entertaining part of the Lucifer saga. The Morningstar and his niece, the nephilim Elaine Belloc must fix the problems created by Yahweh's abscence. Meanwhile Lilith aided by Sadalphon makes her move in Hell, betraying her own children. Can Mazikeen stop her before its to late. My favorite part was 'The Yahweh Dance' where Elaine test her divine powers for the first time with Lucifer's guidance.

Another cliffhanger ending ensures that I will definitely be grabbing vol. 10 of this series.

[Đenis · Rating 5 out of 5]

V pekle zavládla vzbura. Lilith, prvá žena, matka Zástupu démonov Lilim prichádza prevziať vládu nad légiou, aby zaútočili na strieborné mesto anjelov. Licifer pomáha Ellie získať vládu nad novozískanými silami po otcovi. A Jill rodí dieťa Basanos. Škoda výberu niektorých ilustrátorov. Peter Gross sa k tomu hodí najviac.
A samozrejme som zvedavý na finále.

[Josef Horký · Rating 5 out of 5]

Předvečer velkého finále je tady a člověk musí zachrochtat blahem z toho, jak se před ním otevírají dveře a on objevuje všechny ty možnosty za nimi. Jedno je jasné, Carey má tohle absolutně pod palcem.

[Miles McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ready or not, the epic adventure of Creation's favorite bad boy is drawing to its inevitable conclusion - the board is set and the major players are preparing for their final play to claim the Primum Mobile - ruler of all God's Creation. Can't wait to see how Lucifer fares in the next book!!

[Venus Maneater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yahweh Dance on it's own merits one star! The story doesn't surprise or astonish me, at this point. You can only be threatened with the end of all existence so many times until it becomes mundane. I'm becoming jaded, kinda like the new gods.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite volume. Lore and deities are starting to blend together and the cast of characters has expanded to the point of confusion. Art style was slightly off in this volume as well. Still one of my overall favorite fantasy comics ever.

[Kieran Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Issue 58 is the best so far and standalone too. Remarkable rumination on religion, creation, systems and dumb luck.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are really ramping up in Heaven, not Heaven, and everywhere else. I can't wait to go back through this series afterwards and pick up all the pieces from the outset.

[Drizztl · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Steven W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series, as usual, but this particular volume was a bit grim for my taste. I'm also sick of cliffhangers!!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Yggdrasil storyline is still one of my favourites.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

War on all sides. Great changes are afoot.

[Zachariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is becoming one of my top ten favorites.

[Keeloca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the sudden return of Karl and Jayesh, and the Jahwe dance is spectacular, but the Lilith storyline leaves me cold. She's boring. Her main squeeze is boring. Maz, crush them!

[Jon Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this before, but still have no idea what is about to happen. Bloody brilliant.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good and that ending!