Question about Lucifer's Wings

[jabrams007]

Hi, I just finished reading the entire run of Lucifer (loved it by the way) and I have a quick question that I was hoping I could get an answer for.

Sometimes, especially in the later volumes, Lucifer's wings seem to change between the "normal" feathered wings and his "fallen" bat wings. This has happened numerous times, sometimes even in the same issue where in one panel he's flying around with the white feathers and the next time they show him, he's got the big bat ones.

Anyone know if there's an explanation for this? A guess? This seems like something too important for the artist to just decide "eh... I'm tired of feathers, I think I'll go with the hell wings in this panel."

Thanks!

[carabas]

I don't recall this. Can you give me some issue numbers where this happened?
I do know that he originally had feathery angel wings, which were transformed into batwings with the Fall.
The batwings were cut off by Dream of the Endless when Lucifer quit his job, and when he obtained some knew wings, they were of the feathery variety, probably because he no longer was fallen.
Maybe the switching you saw involved flashbacks?

[Kevin Vetter]

He didn't get new wings. The ones he got from izanami were his own. Don't know an issue to give you but when he gave lux to rachel begai and then a few pages later destroyed meleos eyes his wings changed form.

[carabas]

Issue 71.
His wings changed back to batwings some 20 issues prior, while travelling to Ygdrassil.
I can't explain #71 though, where he doesswitch wings multiple times. The art does look incredibly rushed though. I'm not ruling out artist's mistake.

[Jack Zodiac]

Wasn't 71 part of the arc where he, Elaine, and Michael are traveling through that void to get to Yggdrassil before Fenris? If that's the only instance of his wings getting twisted between angel and demon wings, it might be because that void was just a mess of crazy.

Also, wasn't there a mirror Lucifer around those issues, too? Who, I think, also had the big bat wings.

[carabas]

Wasn't 71 part of the arc where he, Elaine, and Michael are traveling through that void to get to Yggdrassil before Fenris? If that's the only instance of his wings getting twisted between angel and demon wings, it might be because that void was just a mess of crazy.

Also, wasn't there a mirror Lucifer around those issues, too? Who, I think, also had the big bat wings.No, Ygdrassil was #51 or52 or thereabout. 71 is when all the fighting's over and done and with we're well into tying up loose ends like blinding Melenaos, taking care of Lux, and healing Mazikeen's face.

[jabrams007]

I only have the Lucifer trades, so I'm going to go by that:

Vol 1: Devil In the Gateway

Page 38 and 39: feathered wings but dark (maybe black feathers?) not his actual wings... using magic

Vol 2: Children and Monsters

Page 86: feathered wings... regains them from Izanami

Feathered wings throughout this whole volume

Vol 3: A Dalliance with the Damned

Feathered wings

Vol 4: The Divine Comedy

Feathered wings

Vol 5: Inferno

Feathered wings

Vol 6: Mansions of the Silence

Feathered wings

Vol 7: Exodus

Feathered wings

Vol 8: The Wolf Beneath the Tree

Page 136: Goes with Michael to find Yggdrasil. Is injured.
Panel 1: falling with feathered wings. Panel 4: on ground with bat wings

Bat wings for the rest of this volume

Vol 9: Crux

Bat wings

Vol 10: Morningstar

Bat wings

Vol 11: Evensong

Page 31 You don't really see the wings, just an outline of Lucifer, but it looks like the feathered wings. Also in the 5th panel, a white feather floats down from the sky

Page 34: Panel 1 A clear shot of Lucifer with the bat wings

Page 42: Bat wings again

Page 43 Panel 5: Back to the feathered wings

Page 44: Still feathered wings

So it wasn't quite as often as i thought it was, but it still seems odd that they would go back and forth without any apparent explanation

[carabas]

Page 34: Panel 1 A clear shot of Lucifer with the bat wings

Page 42: Bat wings again

Page 43 Panel 5: Back to the feathered wings

Page 44: Still feathered wingsYeah, that'd be the aforementioned issue 71. Frankly, I m' stumped.

[jabrams007]

Yeah, granted issue 71 is the most extreme example, but from volumes 2-7 Lucifer has the feathered wings. Why the change in volume 8? Was it because he was injured? Then he keeps the bat wings for volumes 9 and 10 and then in 11 you have all the confusion.

Everything in Lucifer seems to have an explanation or at least some sort of "design" (joke intended) to it. I just don't understand why they would suddenly switch wings. Something as big as that (at least I think it's pretty important) deserves some kind of explanation or story.

[kevdude]

Lucifers wings never really change, he may make them change there apperance. Maybe to impress someone or show off or just because he wants to, he's the Devil he does what he wants :). The only time his wings ever changed was when Dream cut them off and he was without then had to I believe borrow a birds wings and use those. After getting his regular wings back and fighting with the Basonos, they are back to normal.

[jabrams007]

That may be true, kevdude, but the way his wings are drawn changes. I was just wondering if that was on purpose or if the artist just decided he or she wanted to draw one kind versus the other.

[mgs]

interesting...I wonder if it's past of the script at all, as it sounds like it could not be some mistake or whim of the artists. given the changes so frequently. :confused:

[dancj]

interesting...I wonder if it's past of the script at all, as it sounds like it could not be some mistake or whim of the artists. given the changes so frequently. :confused:

Going by jabrams007's list, it looks like they started off feathered, turned in to bat wings in vol 8 and then changed back in vol 11. I would hardly call that "so frequently".

I can't remember the details of where he was falling to/from or why in vol 8, but if the original pattern back when he was an angel was that falling from heaven changed his feathered wings into bat wings then could a similar thing have happened here?

[jabrams007]

Hmmm... that's an interesting point dancj. I don't know though. When Lucifer Fell (capital F), yeah, I can understand if his wings changed from feathers to bat wings. But in volume 8, both he and Michael (who had already left the Host by this point, and whose wings don't change) are seeking out Yggdrasil to stop Fenris from destroying Creation. Yes, they fall from the sky because they're attacked, but I don't think they "Fall."

Interesting point though...

[Kevin Vetter]

I don't think the "fall" would have changed his wings since he left heaven willingly. If that was the cause then michael should be the one with bat wings since he's the one that was kicked out and lucifer was bribed and left on his own.