Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good
Review: "I admit, I'm not well versed in Gaiman's work." Boy, that's true, since Neil Gaiman didn't write this.! You seem to be unable to grasp the obvious. As for the comic, it's above average but not fantastic. The artwork is great but the story is only average. Still, it's a very promising idea and can't wait to see what is don with it in future installments.
Rating: 
Summary: very average read for the non-gaimanite
Review: I admit, I'm not well versed in Gaiman's work. Apart from reading 2 TPB's of the Sandman several years ago which I had borrowed from a friend, I am mostly clueless about the world his stories revolve around.
Therefore, I evidently did not grasp the level of wonderfulness which apparently abounds within this book, according to my fellow reviewers.
For me, the road to purchasing this book began at the Vertigo site. There I viewed some preview pages, and I was enchanted by the fabulous artwork of Scott Hampton. The characterrs seemed flawed and appealing; real and human, something that I thought would allow me begin investing some emotion in the story, assuming they would be recurring characters. Add in Lucifer (at this point simply my assumed concept of Lucifer as a character) for a bit of the old supernatural kook, and we would have our book. Something which I would enjoy reading. Sadly, this magical vision of how the book would be, did not pan out.
Most of the first story within the book held my interest firmly within its grip. Unfortunately, Carey for some reason decided half way through to begin rushing us through scenes treating the characters with seemingly no regard! Nor any regard for the reader who is not well-versed in Gaiman's world of literature. Should there be a warning label on this book for clueless comic store browers so that they fork out for however many Sandman books there are (15 or so?) to get a grip before continuing onto this series?
After the disapointing detriment of the first story due to Carey's rushed conclusion and bizarre treatment of characters, we are suddenly plunged into "A Six Card Spread", a confusing mix of germans speaking english while demanding that other english-speaking germans speak german, and horrible art (compared to the artistry of Hapton's painted panels). From this point on, artistically and storywise it's a major downhill spiral. It eventually hits rock bottom. "Six Card Spread" felt like the 'difficult second album'.
Luckily, Dean Ormston comes in to save the day with his simple dark style of art, and picks up the ending of the book for a relatively ok Carey story (at least in comparison to the previous one) leaving the whole book evening out for a slightly below average 2 stars out of 5.
My suggestion : DO NOT PICK UP THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU ARE A DIEHARD GAIMAN FAN. Or unless you are one of those fat 40 year olds business men who can spend all their money at the comic shop because they have a cushy job and no children. Unemployed non-Gaiman literate humans beware.
I am not even sure if diehard Carey fans will get a kick out of this. I've read some of Carey's work on Hellblazer, and I have found it far superior to his work here. Lucifer is perhaps the least likable protagonist I have come across in a book or comic. Nothing in the way he behaves, the way he speaks (not to mention his bizarre and offputting penislessness (?!) makes for a remotely likable character. His inhumanity, his lack of want and need, his dry and to-the-point dialogue which spills out when necessary (usually it seems to tell people he has "no time for them" or that he wants something) with occasional flares of horrid 'sassiness' don't make him endearing as I'm assuming Carey meant for him to be. Generally to make a 'bad' character likable they need an ounce of 'cool'. Lucifer is a void of cool.
So far from what I have read, the characterisation is vapid and bordering on non-existant for the rest of the cast too. This may come down to not understanding Gaiman's world, and there's things going on deep within the characters that I'm not privvy to at this point in the story. It is nice when there is something on the surface of a character though. As far as likable characters, Rachel Bagai was as it close as it came to likable for my money. Everyone else just seems to be moving through their motions unrealisticly and with zero sense of humanity, depth or motivation. Mind-numbing. (And hell, even Arseface is easier to understand than whatever Mazikeen is going on about whenever she starts mumbing.)
Also, the tone of the books just feels too watered down for my liking. Perhaps it's keeping in line with the feel of Gaiman's work, but for me, this book could have really shot to some great heights based on the core material of it. Which I think is what is most disapointing. Conceptually quite nice, but it gets beaten to death in the execution.
So in conclusion. If this book (and 'Children And Monsters' which I am currently half-way through) are any indication, this series will be a very average, monotonous and not remotely challenging or fun read, with zero character development, zero likable characters, and zero challenge for our protagonist as he goes through the motions of setting up whatever he has planned while rarely giving us glimspes into whats going on, and framing everything with a seemingly random series of substandard artists doing visuals.
And who really wants to waste money getting the start of a story they never want to finish. Save yourself the trouble and avoid this book. Simply not worth reading unless you're a Gaimanophile and desire anything at all which may mention Dream and Death! Ooooh. And they don't even INCLUDE THE COVERS IN THE BOOK. You jarringly just slam from one story to another without any seperation or cover art. Poor work by whoever put together the collection.
Final words : Go read Preacher. You'll have a MUCH better time.
Rating: 
Summary: Excuse me if I fawn
Review: I thought it was great, just great.Carey functions within Gaimen's world, yet he goes way beyond stale imitation. Weaving together eclectic mythological influences, he makes a series that is very much uniquely his own. This series contains many elements I don't think many authors could make work. How do you build up, ehem, sympathy for the Devil? With a main character of such incredible skill and power, how do you put him in suspenceful situations. Similarly, how do you get him out of those situations without it looking like a silly Deus Ex Machina? I've only read this first trade paperback of the series. Sure, there a lot of open questions, but that's the way it should be. This is, on the whole, a darker series than Sandman, it's mostly about despair and imprisonment, whereas Sandman conveyed a fair bit of hope and freedom. But you have to consider the main character. Overall, the only comic to make me want to stick with the Sandman Universe.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad - But Not Gaiman...
Review: In Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, Lucifer Morningstar - the devil - was a fairly minor character. During the "Sandman" series Lucifer lost his wings, resigned from hell and went on to pursue other unknown activities. In "Devil in the Gateway" we finally learn what happened to him - that he started running a nightclub in LA. "Devil in the Gateway" contains three stories. The first one tells us how Lucifer is being contracted - by none other than God almighty himself - to eliminate some ancient competition: terminate some
primordial gods. I think this was an interesting story, but it didn't have Neil Gaiman's "magic". It just didn't have "it".
The second story tells about Lucifer's encounter with an angel - an encounter which gives strange superpowers to a mortal. Again, this was an OK story, but I didn't find it to be particularly good. The third - and the shortest - story tells about a young girl who has magical powers. Lucifer barely appears in this story. Nevertheless this one was my favorite story - it was a definite improvement over the previous two. All of these stories tie in together - but this pretty much happens in the next graphic novel. Overall, the stories were good, but felt unfocused, vague - and sometimes just plain cryptic. Even though this is Neil Gaiman's world, Mike Carey did not capture its spirit successfully. I was hesitating
whether to continue with the series, but (as I later found out) it is totally worth it. I recommend this graphic novel mainly because the sequel is much better!
Rating:
Summary: Lucifer working for Heaven, but mainly for himself
Review: It's been over a decade since Sandman #23, in which Lucifer closed up Hell, had his wings cut off, and (as we later learned) opened a night spot in L.A. Now he stars in his own saga, under a new team of writer and illustrators. The result is the most successful to date of the various attempts to keep the Sandman franchise going since the climactic events of Sandman #69. As is usually the case with compilations from an on-going series, "Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway" leaves too many loose ends to entirely succeed as a stand-alone graphic novel. Nevertheless, the cast of characters and original stories are very much worthy of its progenitor. The stories in this collection aren't really dependent on familiarity with the Sandman series to understand what's going on. Still, Gaiman's Sandman is a classic and the keystone of DC's Vertigo line to which "Lucifer" belongs, so I would recommend reading at least the collections "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "Season of Mists" first. Those who have done so are very likely to enjoy following these new tales of Lucifer.
Rating:
Summary: Lucifer working for Heaven, but mainly for himself
Review: It's been over a decade since Sandman #23, in which Lucifer closed up Hell, had his wings cut off, and (as we later learned) opened a night spot in L.A. Now he stars in his own saga, under a new team of writer and illustrators. The result is the most successful to date of the various attempts to keep the Sandman franchise going since the climactic events of Sandman #69. As is usually the case with compilations from an on-going series, "Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway" leaves too many loose ends to entirely succeed as a stand-alone graphic novel. Nevertheless, the cast of characters and original stories are very much worthy of its progenitor. The stories in this collection aren't really dependent on familiarity with the Sandman series to understand what's going on. Still, Gaiman's Sandman is a classic and the keystone of DC's Vertigo line to which "Lucifer" belongs, so I would recommend reading at least the collections "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "Season of Mists" first. Those who have done so are very likely to enjoy following these new tales of Lucifer.
Rating:
Summary: Giving the devil his due!
Review: Mike Carey had the daring task of following Neil Gaiman's portrayal of Lucifer (from the Sandman series)and he has passed the test with flying colors! Carey's Lucifer,IMHO,actually surpasses Gaiman's and that is a very difficult thing to do. Even though he is devious and shrewd, you can't help but like the guy! This book contains the three issue "The Morningstar Option" from Sandman Presents and the first four issues of the regular series which has been nominated for five Eisners. Read this book and give the devil his due!
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Neil
Review: Okay, this isn't Neil Gaiman's genius level work. What is? But this is the first work I've seen in the Sandman universe that's worthy of Gaiman's imagination. It is compelling, horrifying, enthralling, and true.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Neil
Review: Okay, this isn't Neil Gaiman's genius level work. What is? But this is the first work I've seen in the Sandman universe that's worthy of Gaiman's imagination. It is compelling, horrifying, enthralling, and true.
Rating:
Summary: Good start for a promising series
Review: Positive reviews makes me curious about any comic book and I picked this one up with high expectations, after I finished I was a bit dissapointed because it didn't filled up all my expectations.
Lucifer series is a bit slow moving and vague for my taste but I heard that it gets better and I'm looking forward to read the next issues.Carey's writing is stylish and erudite and his main caracther is well developed.The art of Chris Weston is very good ;unfortunately he left off after issue 3 and was replaced by Peter Gross(Books of Magic).
In some parts Lucifer lacks narrative drive and demands attention because Carey loves cryptic sentences.Overall a good comic book but a little overated too.
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