Comic Book Review: Lazarus #14

Tough choices, new information, and high drama shape Image’s Lazarus #14 as Greg Rucka and Michael Lark continue to explore Forever’s character and her relationship with her family. Is it good?

The beginning of the issue was quite a shock for me; I actually had to go back and look at the ending of Lazarus #13 to confirm what I remembered. Rucka and Lark perform an excellent sleight of hand that sets up the majority of the issue to continue to develop and build the characters focusing primarily on Forever.

Forever continues to feel incredibly real and believable as Jordan has mentioned before, but her development is taken to the next level in this issue. All of her doubts and concerns are brought to the surface in a fiery outburst, which is just as quickly extinguished with a few key words that pierce at her being.

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Review: Lazarus #12

Greg Rucka and Michael Lark are putting the pieces on the board as the Carlyle and Hock families begin a deadly dance for power. Is it good?

Rucka and Lark begin Lazarus #12 with an in-depth discussion on which families have taken the Hocks’ side and which are vulnerable to be swayed to join the Carlyles’. The sequence solidifies Malcolm’s role as a master strategist and the reason he is the head of the Carlyle Family; but, more importantly, the sequence exposes Forever to an increased role within the family. She is able to comment and give her own analysis of the situation. Malcolm treats her as his heir and daughter rather than a tool to be used; he even suggests she relax and enjoy herself.

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Review: Lazarus #2

What is a Lazarus? This is the question Greg Rucka begins to answer in Lazarus #2. The book opens with Forever being examined by her sister, Beth. Beth prescribes her a cocktail of all sorts of colorful pills, injects her with some type of serum, and even performs a type of full body scan which appears to break down her genetic code!

Figuring out what is a Lazarus, is not all about physiology. Forever is able to give an apt military intelligence report on the Family Morray’s attack of Harvest One in Lazarus #1. Her report also included an investigative ability in determining how the attack occurred and the defenses were breached. Forever’s mental state is also put to the test with some grueling questioning by her Father. The sequence reinforces Eve’s moral dilemma revealed in the first issue.

Rucka isn’t alone in telling the story. Michael Lark's art especially the full body scan really highlight Forever’s physiology and how her body operates from a skeletal breakdown to a brain scan, all of it being accomplished on an ipad-like device. The report breakdown also features some futuristic although familiar technology with a 3-D map of the Harvest One facility coming out of a nifty projector the size of a coffee mug.

The biggest reveal on what and who Forever is leads to a sibling fight which quickly escalates to a life or death scenario between Beth and Jonah. All is not well in the Family Carlyle. Arcas is once again up to the task drawing heads slamming into tables, trays being thrown out of the maid’s hands, and Stephen attempting to separate the two warring siblings. The sequence is full of tension and really motivates the reader to learn more about the Family Carlyle and what motivations and goals each of them have.

Setting up the chance (opportunity) to delve deeper into one of the family members, Rucka takes full advantage and gives the reader a look into Jonah and how he has managed Los Angeles, not to mention his relationship with his sister Johanna. Definitely hints of Cersei and Jamie Lannister.

Rucka returns to Forever, and displays her skills at deception, easily throwing off a tail and even leaving him a note just in case he thought he was outsmarting her. The Lazarus has a ton of talents, a superior physiology, and a hint of mystery to (in) her past. It will be interesting to see how these traits will be put to test especially when she has her first run-in with Family Morray.

8.4	Forever Carlyle is fleshed out, both literally and figuratively. The drama and politics surrounding Family Carlyle keep the tension high as intrigue swirls about in this dystopian future.

Review: Lazarus #1

Greg Rucka surgically introduces us to the world of Lazarus using the voice of a coroner relaying an autopsy. Collaborating with Rucka on the project is Michael Lark. Lark’s gritty artwork with large bursts of light from the barrel of a revolver followed by blood spraying out of the silhouetted female body paint a gruesome picture to accompany Rucka’s emotionless medical monologue. The reader is sucked in from page one.

Lark’s artwork is so powerful throughout the book there are full sequences where Rucka allows Lark to do the storytelling. Lark’s action sequence is just as good as his first page. The characters’ facial expressions are extremely detailed conveying the emotions the characters are feeling whether it is shock, determination or the last gasps of life. A panel that does this exceptionally well is a close-up of the heroine’s eyes. (You can’t miss it!) The amount of blood and the detail Lark takes to show the blood spatter not only on the characters but also on the floor make the harshness of the world apparent.

Not only does the art give the reader a sense of the type of world we are in, but the coloring used by Santi Arcas just adds to the believability of the world and its ruthless nature. The art and coloring is fantastic, but Rucka’s story is truly excellent.

The reader makes a connection with Forever Carlyle straight from the beginning. She is regretful and questioning, unsure of the momentous choices she has taken. Attempting to push her in a certain direction are her brother, Jonah, and the family doctor, James. The relationship Forever has with her family is almost complete dedication; she is devoted to them. This devotion leads her to investigate an attack on one of her family’s facilities by a rival family, the Morray.

The investigation further highlights the moral dilemma she is experiencing -- whether her actions are right or wrong. It also highlights the political and socioeconomic world Rucka has been building where a certain class of people are treated as aptly as their name, Waste. Ultimately Forever makes a tough decision, but will that decision eat away at her already vulnerable conscience?

Rucka, Lark and Arcas’ dystopian future in Lazarus is filled with peril, desperation, violence, political intrigue, and moral dilemma and the three weave them together making for a compelling opening book. Rucka doesn’t even leave the reader with a cliffhanger, but definitely has them (and me) wanting more of Forever and Lazarus. This is a definite must read.

8.8	Lazarus drops us into a dystopian world rife with political intrigue, violence and a heroine with a conscience. Stunning artwork combined with a gripping story have readers wanting more.