ARCHANGEL JOPHIEL by Michael W. Kaluta

Mike Kaluta, as on of the four “Studio” artists (that also includes Bernie Wrightson, Jeff Jones, and Barry Windsor Smith) is not just a comic book Hall of Famer and industry legend, he is one fo the very best fantasy illustrators who has ever lived. His late career association with the Vertigo line at DC comics and covers featuring many characters created by (and rebooted by) Neil Gaiman has made added a whole other level to his legacy. His drawings of angels, sprites and other waldleute are his most highly sought.

Due to the association with beauty, Jophiel is one of very few angels to often be portrayed as female. So, while angels have no canonical gender, and are most commonly referred to by male pronouns, this Dionysian warrior of Heaven is special even among the seraphim. In the Pseudo-Epigrapha we can trace the parallel lines of Jophiel and Hecate, and this dynamic depiction provides a bit of reference to both. The mythical history of Lucifer’s Fall has been richly mined by Neil Gaiman –not just in the pages of Sandman and its many offshoots, but in Murder Mysteries, which was adapted into an award-winning audiobook by Sci-Fi Channel and Seeing Ear Theatre along with Snow Glass Apples, which won the Bram Stoker Award. It is possible that this pin-up is a character concept illustration for a project that has yet to see publication, since Kaluta has been known to labor in secret for extended periods. This piece was originally offered as a fundraiser for the Hero Initiative.