DCU Comic Book Reviews

SHADOWPACT #11

The Lucifer Trident:  Part Three Of The Demon Triptych

May 2007

Written by Bill Willingham

Pencils by Tom Derenick

Inks by Wayne Faucher

Cover by Tom Derenick and Wayne Faucher

Synopsis

In Hell, Ertigan possess the Lucifer Trident and with it he is leading a horde of demons on an attack on the imperial city.  Shadowpact, consisting of Blue Devil and Nightshade, along with several new “recruits,” have followed Ertigan with the intent to get it back.  As soon as Blue Devil reaches the trident, he grabs it and the team leaves via Nightshade’s portal.  Elsewhere, Blue Devil’s new servant Voritgar is searching for Blue devils parents and possibly a sister.  At the Oblivion Bar, Enchantress is having trouble keeping Nightmaster alive, after he had been stabbed through the heart by Etrigan while Ragman tries to gain back his own powers.  Meanwhile, Blue Devil and Nightshade return to the bar, but are followed by Ertigan, who attacks the small group.  Midnight Rider shoots Ertigan and turns him into sun, at least into the sun comes up.  Because there is no sun in the bar, Ertigan will remain that way forever.    

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue really belongs to the art team.  Derenick and Faucher have created a wonderful display of demons with a great sense of energy to the quick battle.  I love the credit page as well as the full page of Nightshade and her creations.  While I liked the fight and enjoyed watching all of them own the battle in their own ways, it seemed very light and frothy given the battle’s location.  Willingham puts the characters literally through hell but it doesn’t have the gravitas that it should have.  Part of this, I think, is that Willingham has been keeping this book on the lighthearted side, so a switch in tone would not be welcome. 

One thing I have noticed with Willingham and the way he is writing this series is that he tends to write an overreaching plot and story, but will break it up with small plots and resolve them.  Take for instance the Lucifer Trident or Nightmaster’s current condition.  The recovery of the trident or Enchantress attempt to keep Jim Rook alive is really a minor plot point to the bigger story:  Blue Devil’s demotion.  Yet, it looks as if both will be resolved while Danny’s plight will continue onward.  In fact, Blue Devil’s story falls smack into the Dr. Gotham storyline which has not yet been resolved.  Hopefully Willingham has a plan otherwise we might pin-pong from one big story to the next without any real resolution to the BIG stories, only the small stories.  

Who was the dark figure talking to Vrotigar?  Was that supposed be Lucifer or is there someone pulling the strings, like Dr. Gotham or something along those lines.  My guess is that it was Lucifer, but he wasn’t fully drawn because no one should know the real face of evil. 

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