When comic book scribe Greg Rucka stepped down from Punisher, citing his need to do more creator-owned work, I was bummed. I dig Rucka, I loved his Punisher, but even away from Marvel, I was interested to see where he went creatively. This week sees the release of Lazarus, Rucka’s latest creator controlled series. Part La Femme Nikita, part Highlander and part Road Warrior, Lazarus is a look at a future divided by financial status. The hierarchy works this way: There are a series of wealthy families, the people who work for them, and then everybody else. The families, and their workers, are provided for. The rest of the world has been rechristened Waste, and are left to their own devices.
Rucka wants to grab us from the opening page, so he starts Lazarus with an execution. Sort of. A woman is being shot several times by three attackers. Left for dead, the woman rises up, healing from her wounds, and proceeds to assassinate the three attackers. Her name is Forever, and she is the Lazarus of the Family Carlyle. A Lazarus is one member of any family, who are given special technology, training, and weapons, to become an invulnerable hammer, often swung to protect the family. Forever is not shy about violence, but she’s also starting to question her mission. After all, the men who shot her were starving and only looking for food.
When Forever returns to her family, she is questioning herself and her deeds. Meanwhile, Forever’s greedy brother is trying to keep her drugged and question free, with the help of her physician – a man supposedly dedicated to what’s best for the Lazarus. A break-in at the Family Carlyle compound reveals a betrayal, one that has to be dealt with harshly. For reasons better left to reading then describing, Forever is forced to kill an innocent man, and it gnaws at her. The Carlyle Family can’t lose their Lazarus to the secret they’re hiding, but Forever is beginning to question what’s happening around her.
Thematically, Lazarus deals with some pretty standard sci-fi, dystopian future plot lines. A world divided, families fighting, a super soldier who becomes disillusioned with the injustice he/she once believed in, etc. However, Rucka’s crackerjack writing and ability with snappy dialogue gives Lazarus a spark. I’m hoping Rucka goes deeper into how the world ended up this way, and I hope he expands Forever’s character into a three dimensional being, instead of an ass-kicker with a heart of gold. Only time will tell, but for now, Lazarus #1 is a solid read.
Michael Lark’s work is very hit or miss. The entire opening sequence is amazing. Lark’s shadowing gives the whole scene a sense of urgency and serious brutality. Rucka places the scenes so you cheer for the woman who raises up and kills her attackers. Lark pencils the panels the same way. Forever seems so innocent, until she raises up and kills everybody. When Lark is working with shadows he’s on point, but when he works in daylight, his art becomes stagnant. The pencils are thin and unimpressive, the faces soulless. Hopefully, Lark gets better at working outside of the shadows, or Rucka brings in somebody a bit more consistent.
Bumps aside, Lazarus #1 is a promising first issue.
(4 Story, 3 Art)
