Intro:
This miniseries centers on Lucifer, formerly Lord of Hell. It's
connected with how Lucifer was portrayed in "The Sandman." He was in
issue 4 of The Sandman and played a part in the "Season of Mists" and
"The Kindly Ones" story arcs. He is described by Morpheus in issue 22:
He [Lucifer] was the Creator's finest creation: the angel Samael, called Lucifer. It means "the bringer of light."In issue 23 Lucifer resigns as Lord of Hell and later moves to the Los Angeles area to run a nightclub, Lux. This story occurs while Lucifer lives in LA.
Of all the angels he was the wisest, the most beautiful, the most poweful.
Saving only the Creator, he is, perhaps, the most powerful being there is.
Title Page. Apparently the ashtray says, " HOC OPUS HIC LABOR EST ", with the full translation of Virgil's saying being,
Page 1. This page is evidently what Lucifer says to Rachel between issues 2 and 3. It establishes a theme of light that appears to be important to the series.
Panel 6. Might be significant that one of Lucifer's titles is Light Bringer.
Page 2.
Panel 4. Left to right:
Panel 5. "...close to classic Rett Syndrome as I've ever seen
in a male patient." Rett Syndrome: loss of communication skills.
According to one reference it only occurs in girls, which is why the
doctor phrases the statement that way. Details:
www.rettsyndrome.org and
www.rett.org
Page 3.
Panels 4-7. Our first indication that something's wrong with the world. The woman has found something that makes her think Jesus loves her and the street person has evidently found a bag of cash.
Page 4.
Panels 1-2. Continued indication that something's up. Like the examples on the previous page, these occur in the area that Paul lives in.
Panel 6. Early photo of the family but hard to tell if Paul is already in a chair or wheelchair or if that's Rachel.
Page 5.
Panel 1. Lux, Lucifer's nightclub. lux means "Light" in Latin. It's also a unit of light.
Panel 3. Lucifer is sitting at the bar. The woman in grey is the demon Mazikeen, who chose to stay with Lucifer. The left side of her face is open brains, skull and veins. She keeps it covered in the nightclub. Mazikeen is a daughter of Lilith, according to Sandman 23, page 21. In Sandman 69, in "The Wake" story arc, Lucifer says he's going to shut down Lux after one more day. He must have changed his mind.
Panel 4. Lucifer shows an ability to know what's going on even though he hasn't seen the customer yet.
Page 6.
Panel 2. The customer evidently doesn't know that Lucifer is not quoting Scripture, which may mean he's at a lower cruder level of the angelic host than what Lucifer once was. Lucifer actually tempted Jesus by quoting Scripture in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, which is what the customer's quote refers to.
Panel 3. The Panel 1 quote is from John Trithemius, b. 1462, d. 1516. Lucifer calls the customer, "Amenadiel."
Page 8. We get details about why Amenadiel is visiting Lucifer. A power is granting wishes, as seen on pages 2 and 3.
Panel 7. "They'll rip each other apart like rats in a sack." Amenadiel might be a cruder form of angel, but he still doesn't have a high opinion of the human race.
Page 9. Panel 2. Amenadiel knows Lucifer will name a price.
Panel 7. I don't know what Lucifer is talking about here, unless it's a jab at the Creator.
Panel 8: Has Amenadiel made a wrong guess about what Lucifer wants? Lucifer says, "A letter of passage."" and Amenadiel replies, "Your pardon?" Maybe he thinks Lucifer wants to be pardoned for leading a revolt against the Creator. Or maybe he's just saying, "I beg your pardon?" skipping the "I beg" bit.
Page 10. Panel 6. Mazikeen's speech is difficult to make out because she has only half a mouth. Here she says, " Yes, my lord."
Page 11. Panel 1. In the Sandman series, Lucifer would make up songs that predicted future events. Here he appears to describe himself as a "false knight" and also asks himself where will he be going. I don't know if he is asking where this quest will take him or where he'll go with the letter of passage.
James Moar posted the following to USENET:
Here's a reference I got (I haven't read the comic, BTW): this seems to refer to the folk song 'The False Knight on the Road', in which a boy meets a 'false knight' (the devil), and answers his riddles, rather sarcastically.It may be relevant that the last two lines of the song are: "'I think I hear a bell' said the False Knight on the road 'They're ringing ye to hell!' said the wee boy and still he stood."
The lyrics to various versions are on the web.
Panel 2: Mazikeen: "My lord, shall I bring you a bowl to catch the blood?" She thinks Lucifer is going to sacrifice the bird. As he points out, who would he sacrifice to? Not the Creator and Lucifer is the next most powerful being in existence.
Panel 6: Lucifer had Morpheus cut off his wings in the Seasons of Mists story arc when Lucifer left Hell, Sandman issue 23, page 23.
Panel 7: Mazikeen: "Yes, my lord."
Page 12. Panel 4. Mr. Begai is referring to Paul's mother. My guess is that she's deceased.
Page 14. Panel 2 Lucifer appears to have Morpheus's ability to open doors.
Panel 5: Mahu, the guy with goggles, is one of the Lilim, the children of Lilith, rumored to be Adam's first wife. Mahu claims to acknowledge no master, but says different in issue 2, page 19. There is no indication in issues 1 and 2 that the Lilim know that Mazikeen works for Lucifer.
Page 15. Panel 4. Evidently Lucifer doesn't think the Lilim are going to win their war.
Panel 5. Briadach evidently only expects two visitors. The woman might be Lilith, mother of the Lilim, or possibly Bast, the cat goddess from the Sandman series. Lucifer, also known as Samael when he was an angel, is the second person who might show up.
Page 16. Panel 5. "...the lethe water..." - The Lethe was a river in Hades whose water caused those who drank of it to enter a state of oblivion or forgetfulness. As Lucifer says on the next page, he no longer has a steady supply since he's no longer Lord of Hell.
Page 17. Panel 3. "...Mab closed her borders..." - The Land of Fairie no longer touches our world. The border was closed during the time of Shakespeare in the Sandman series, issue 19.
Page 18. Panel 2. Rachel is half-Navajo and her grandfather was a shaman. As Lucifer points out a couple of times, Rachel doesn't know much about her heritage.
Page 19. Panel 3. Paul appears to be saying his sister's name. What's odd is that it makes the last syllable of her name, "EL" stand out. That's the last syllable of most of the angel's name, including Samael as Lucifer was known. "EL" is one of the words for God in Hebrew and most of the angels' names translates into phrases like 'the light of God.'
Panel 4. Rachel commands Paul to choke. Unfortunately, wishes are in season.
Panel 5. Paul chokes.
Page 20. Panel 1. Lucifer appears. Looks like Rachel doesn't know how to resuscitate Paul.
Panel 4. Velleity: noun, meaning either 'volition in its weakest form' or 'a mere wish unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.' In this case velleity appears to mean that weak wishes take on full force.
Page 21. Panel 4. Rachel tells Lucifer to go to Hell. I don't think her wish provided a means of transport, but he's there on the next page.
E-Mail Welcome - dhawk@river.org
Last Updated: March 13, 1999