Lucifer Omnibus, Volume One collects Lucifer: The Morningstar Option #1-3, Lucifer #1-35, and Lucifer: Nirvana #1, written by Mike Carey with pencils by Peter Gross, Dean Ormston, Scott Hampton, Ryan Kelly, Chris Weston, Jon J. Muth, Craig Hamilton, and Warren Pleece, inks by Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, Peter Gross, Scott Hampton, James Hodgkins, Jon J. Muth, Craig Hamilton, and Chris Weston, colors by Daniel Vozzo, Scott Hampton, John J. Muth, and Marguerite Van Cook, letters by ComiCraft, Ellie De Ville, Todd Klein, and Fiona Stephenson, with a foreword from Neil Gaiman and introduction by Mike Carey. The stories pick up following the events of The Sandman: Season of Mists, with Lucifer and Mazikeen of the Lilim having quit Hell and set themselves up at Lux in Los Angeles.

Throughout the stories collected in this volume, Lucifer runs an errand for Heaven to defeat ancient, shapeless gods. In doing so, he receives a letter of passage beyond creation. He seeks out knowledge from various other deities and spirits, learning how to use the letter as a gateway, though he incurs the wrath of the Basanos – a sentient tarot card created by the angel Meleos and imbued with Destiny’s powers – as well as one of the gods of Japan. He seeks further aid from Elaine Belloc, the daughter of the angel Michael, through him Lucifer can gain the power of creation. Meanwhile, Mazikeen rallies the Lilim, further alienating demons from Lucifer. While Mike Carey connects many of the stories, there are several distinct storyarcs collected within this volume. The longest is a reverse Divine Comedy, beginning with Paradiso in which Lucifer is challenged for rule of his cosmos. In Purgatorio, he must face Death of the Endless, while he duels Amenadiel in Hell in Inferno. Carey carefully lays the groundwork for these stories well in advance and offers a dénouement of sorts in the final issues of the first Lucifer Omnibus volume. The omnibus concludes with Peter Gross’s character designs and sketches as well as his layouts, sketches by Dean Ormston, process artwork by Duncan Fegredo, and the script to Lucifer #1 by Mike Carey.

The sheer size of this volume makes it somewhat ungainly, though it is a great way to collect a large chunk of DC/Vertigo’s Lucifer stories in a single book. The construction is high-quality, too, with a strong binding to support the weight of the heavy pages. A great introduction for those looking to read the comics after watching Fox/Netflix’s Lucifer television series or for those looking to collect the first half of the first volume of Lucifer. ( )

Lucifer is sent to track a rogue magic