By all rights this volume is kind of a mess with the different storylines and randomly sticking an issue from several issues back right at the beginning, but it still weirdly works for me.

I love the Lilith issue and how she kind of planted the seed in Lucifer's mind for rebellion. I also can't help thinking of Gaiman's Murder Mysteries when I read it just because they are both an extremely different take on the first murder in heaven. Also I really love seeing child!Mazikeen and seeing how much Lucifer has been a part of her life right from the beginning.

I love The Wolf Beneath the Tree as well, not only for the big showdown at the end and what comes next, but also because I like how it blends other mythologies into the overall story. And I love Michael, Lucifer, and Elaine having an awkward family dinner with Destiny. Awkward family dinners are like one of my favorite tropes so that was great for me. And just Elaine in general! I'm so excited for what's about to happen! I just love her story line so much.

Some highlights:















And then mentions of will:

I took a break from Lucifer after volume seven because it was starting to feel a bit repetitive to me, but this volume more than made up for it. It's really starting to pick up. Can't wait to see how Carey pulls the series together.

These are interesting, but I always feel like I'm missing things. Of course, that could be because I happen to be reading them a bit out of order-I only read the ones I get through paperbackswap, so I'm kind of at the mercy of that. Still, interesting is the furthest I really get with these, never really that attached or invested in how the plot is going.

The Wolf Beneath the Tree is probably the hardest volume in the series for ne to review. In some ways, it’s a mess. A series of one-shots combined with a highly disjointed main arc which introduces a flux of new characters makes for bumpy storytelling, and the second issue contained here—regarding a demonic meeting of the minds and a law clerk/punk rocker—could easily have been left out of the series entirely and nothing would have suffered for it.

But for all the moments of frustration, there are moments of brilliance here, too. Most notably in the opening story, which details Lilith’s history and how her relationship with two angels with very different agendas both shaped the face of the Silver City and gave the spark that launched Lucifer’s rebellion against God. It also shows how Mazikeen came to know Lucifer, back when he was still the archangel Samael, and goes far to explain why she reveres him as she does.

(As a side note, it seems like my favorite Vertigo stories involve P. Craig Russell’s art. “Ramadan” remains my favorite Sandman story, and “Lilith” is probably my favorite one-shot in the Lucifer realm. )

So we have the “Lilith” issue, we have the “I don’t know why this story about the accountant and the lords of Hell is relevant and by the way when did they all stop dressing like Feudal lords” issue, and then we have the (pardon a bad pun) meat of this collection, the titular “The Wolf Beneath the Tree.” And, by the end of that particular story, if you’re not staring at the last page with your mouth hanging open and mentally reacting the way most people these days do to a “Game of Thrones” style cliffhanger, you should be.

I can still remember the month-long wait between the last issue in this collection and the beginning of “Crux.” It was painful. The most painful wait for a new comic book I have probably ever endured.

But here’s the problem with “The Wolf Beneath the Tree.” Well, the potential problem. This particular arc assumes a lot about its readers that may not necessarily be true. It assumed they will be familiar with Norse myth, particularly the World Tree and Fenris, both of which are critical to the telling of this story. They, and the other deities who travel with Fenris, are introduced very abruptly, and with only the bare minimum of explanations given. Though the comic gives you enough to get by, it’s not enough to really (again, another bad metaphor) sink your teeth into the story.

It assumes the readers will have a certain familiarity with the Endless that they might not necessarily have. (I’ve introduced a few people to Lucifer who have little to no experience with other series, and the appearance to Destiny and Delirium is where they inevitably start getting confused.) It assumes we still care about whether or not Jill Presto is still pregnant (and, seriously, shouldn’t she at least be showing by now?)

It’s a story that could have benefited from a lot less time spent on Charles Gilmour and a lot more spent on Fenris and his companions, who deserve more of a story than they got.

In truth, this volume would probably be a 2 or 3-star rating, except for the strength of Lilith’s tale, and the climactic battle that ensues from Fenris’s treachery, and which ultimately concludes with Elaine rising to fill a key role in the series.

If you haven’t figured out this kid’s destined for great things by now, you’ve not been paying attention.

داستان‌های جداگونه این جلد جالب بودن، به خصوص قضیه لیلیت :)
اما در مورد آرک اصلی: مشکلات و بدبختی‌ها کم بود، فنریس هم اومد وسط رگناروک راه بندازه :)) و چقدر خر بود!
و آه از آخر این جلد، اشکم در اومد

Note: 3 stars for series, not individual volumes

No estuvo tan interesante como el volumen anterior pero la calidad no baja.

I'm not use to Gabriel being a dick. Ha!