Writer/Artist: Joseph Michael Linsner
Publisher: Image Comics
Let’s get the following out of the way first: the above bullet score is suggested only for casual readers who have already read the core Lucifer’s Halo series. If you’re a Dawn or JML fan, you probably already own this book or you have it pre-ordered and there’s absolutely no chance or reason to dissuade you. If you buy this book without ever having read Lucifer’s Halo, much less a single issue of a Dawn series, you might as well ask someone to water you twice a week before you go stick your head in the ground. No, this review goes out to the casual reader who bought Lucifer’s Halo out of one matter of interest or another.
So you bought Dawn: Lucifer’s Halo, you liked it somewhat, or you liked it a lot, or you didn’t like it but the style and aesthetics drew you in, and you’re wondering whether it’s worth spending more money on the same story.
The Supplemental Book originally appeared bound to the core book in a hardcover collection of Lucifer’s Halo, as bonus material for fans who took the more expensive option to buying the series. Now that Image has re-released the core series in softcover form, there’s enough additional material from the hardcover collection to fit into its own package. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the core series from three perspectives: an interview with the creator, a sketchbook of incomplete illustrations and nearly the entire Lucifer’s Halo story sans paint.
If there’s one reason to buy the Supplemental Book, it’s to compare the pencils-and-ink version of the story with the finished painted product. There’s more revealed in this comparison about Linsner’s artistic sensibilities and his composition process than could be discussed in any interview. It also shows off his stunning line work, and even though the painted version is worth waiting the many months required, I’d love to see him attempt a monthly penciling gig.
The sketchbook section isn’t overly necessary. The included text merely reiterates the developmental process of certain character designs already described in the interview, and though his sketches are as beautiful as anything else he draws, most of them are still only half-realized and variations on poses that already appear in the main book. I can only see the sketch fanatic crowd taking a real interest.
The interview itself is rather a letdown. When you read creator interviews about their intentions in constructing the various concepts of a given work, you expect to find deeper meaning and more intended symbolism than you had gleaned on your first reading. What’s frustrating about this interview is that Linsner reveals some of his designs and plot points had a symbolic and archetypal significance, and other concepts were thrown in just to look cool. There’s no harm in balancing the meaningful with the aesthetically pleasing, but I found too much of his intentions falling within the latter goal. Moreover, in the case of many of his symbolically-loaded themes, he gives the evasive explanation that “metaphors run as deep as you let them”. This mentality recurs much throughout the interview and it seems like quite a copout to essentially tell readers “if you think it means something, then that’s what it’s supposed to mean”.
Aside from the visual comparison in the non-painted pages, if this book did anything, it weakened my appreciation of Lucifer’s Halo. As bonus material in a hardcover collection, I can see it being wholly worthwhile, but it doesn’t have enough substance to stand on its own. Give it a flip-through at the store, see if the opening of the interview is striking enough to hook you, but there are better things to spend your money on. However, if Linsner is your Blue Oyster Cult and Dawn is your Don’t Fear the Reaper, the Supplemental Book is the cowbell you’re looking for.
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