There are difficulties inherent in treating mythology as you would a soap opera. Introducing cliffhangers and subplots can serve to trivialize what are essentially short, pithy morality tales or adventure stories. There are also difficulties inherent in following in the footsteps of comic writers with large and opinionated fan-bases. And there are still further difficulties when attempting to write a story whose protagonist is an infallible antihero - i.e. where's the tension and conflict if your hero is always right and never loses? To undertake such a venture requires a real sense of balance and an understanding of how information can be conveyed, how a story can progress without overstatement and how readers will ultimately interact with the finished tale.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Carey has accomplished all of the above with a flair that will leave you breathless. He's taken on the Devil himself, one of the most frequently-played-with archetypes of the literature of Christendom, and crafted him into an irresistible figure. Glib and wry, yet imperious with knowledge of his own power. Handsome in a subtly effeminate way, evocative of a James Dean or David Bowie. Carey's taken loose ends from the SANDMAN series and woven in his own intricate story, showing himself an adept writer, rather than mere Gaiman-wannabe. He's developed and sustained a fictional universe enticingly rich in its history and detail, and he hasn't for a moment revealed any more than is absolutely necessary to keep his readers interested and the story ticking over at an appropriate pace.

LUCIFER: DEVIL IN THE GATEWAY collects the first three-issue LUCIFER miniseries originally released in early 1999, as well as the first four issues of the ongoing LUCIFER series, which debuted in mid-2000. The first story, "The Morningstar Option", concerns Lucifer's "return to the stage" after a period managing and performing at the LA-based Lux nightclub. Approached by an intermediary of God to assist with a mysterious trend whereby humans are being granted their every wish, Lucifer agrees to lend a hand in return for "a letter of passage". He then makes contact with various former associates (some familiar to readers of SANDMAN) before taking Rachel, a young half-Navajo woman, as a traveling companion. Together, they move through levels of reality to the primordial place, where the true nature of the problem is revealed. As one would expect, the Lord of Lies is not the safest of companions, though Rachel learns this too late for it to be of use to her.

The ongoing series commences with "A Six Card Spread", in which Lucifer considers the nature of the prize he's won and tries as best he can to second-guess God. To this end he seeks the aid of the Basanos, a murderous, sentient deck of fortune-telling cards created by one of Lucifer's fellow angels. The story takes place in Amsterdam, with stage magician shows, musty bookstores and back-alleys where neo-nazi thugs beat foreigners to death. What Lucifer discovers about his "letter of passage" allows him to take the plans he initiated with his War in Heaven and develop them to a new level of sophistication, greater than his last attempt. There's some good characterization in this story, particularly in Carey's rendition of the ex-pat Pakistani family running the convenience store and the sexual tension between their eldest son and the youngest of the Nazi skinheads.

The final story in this collection, "Born with the Dead", introduces Elaine Belloc, the young girl who will prove to be pivotal in Lucifer's future plans. For the moment, Elaine is concerned with solving the murder of her best friend Mona, who visits her the night of her own funeral to ask Elaine for help. Lucifer figures only tangentially in this story, appearing right at the end to foreshadow events in future issues.

There is a real sense of movement in Carey's plotting, a momentum and a direction that keeps the reader reading. Each resolution in the story opens further doors for his characters to step through; each quest is completed only to have another presented. Lucifer obtains the letter of passage and discovers the its true nature, but what will he do with that knowledge? He makes contact with Elaine Belloc, but what will he do with the debt she now owes him? This ability to keep the reader hanging absolutely sustains the series.

At the time of this writing, issue 13 of the ongoing series has just been released, presenting the culmination of Lucifer's plans. But again, it's not so much an ending as a beginning, and an exciting one at that. The pacing and detail Carey has employed throughout the series to date promises this will be a series to keep a very close eye on.

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