STORY BY: Greg Rucka
ART BY: Michael Lark
COVER BY: Michael Lark
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
COVER PRICE: $3.50
REVIEW
Greg Rucka and Michael Lark continue their stunning series with a break from our regular
programming.
Rucka chooses to focus this issue away from Forever and the Carlyle domain and instead move
things to the other side of the states and an area that has only previously been eluded to, the Hock
domain. After his failed attempt at a coup in the first arc, Jonah Carlyle attempts to make a bargain
with Jakob Hock, safe to say, this has great ramifications for the Carlyle family.
I was really pleased to see that this issue focus’ on an area that we have not seen yet in the world of
Lazarus. Rucka has spent a great amount of time fleshing out the Carlyle domain, Forever and her
supporting cast but, we are still only scratching the surface of how this new world works, whom the
major players are and their motivations. We have heard of other families and seen the Morray
family briefly but, not in the level of detail that we are treated to here with Hock, what we see is
something at the other end of the spectrum from Carlyle, a totalitarian nightmare. I can’t say that
anyone is Lazarus is “good” I think that is merely a point of view in this world, but the Hock Domain
emanates and evil foreboding presence, much like what you would expect living under the Empire in
Star Wars would feel like. All of this serves to flesh out the world and the story is much better for,
especially as we are going into a new arc where we will get introduced to a lot of the major players
of this world, it is clear from this issue that battle lines are being drawn and I can’t wait to see where
it goes.
Lark’s art is as ever stunning, there isn’t anything that this guy has done that I have not loved. He is
knocking it out of the park on Lazarus, every page is gorgeous. One of the great things in this issue is
early on you really get to see the fear and realization dawn on Jonah that he is in way over his head
and he has absolutely no say in what happens to him next. You can really feel the characters fear, his
designs on the Hock family soldiers armor is also fantastic, looking every bit like near future storm
troopers. The whole book is just a wonder to behold, yes this is a very grim book with plenty and
browns and greys due to the world it inhabits but, Lark finds a way to make this interesting and not
have everything get lost in the background.
Quite simply, Lazarus is something everyone should read. The art work is stunning, the world is a
frightening realization of our own taken to one extreme, the characters are engaging and the
creators are putting out a comic that will be remembered very fondly for years to come.
5/5
By Matt Deery
Author Profile
- Matt Deery is an avid comic reader from the UK, relatively new to the writing scene but, enjoying being part of the Comic Crusaders team and getting to talk about some the books that I adore. Will read almost anything Marvel, with Spider-Man and Iron Man being my all time favorite comic book characters and has recently found a love for Image and Valiant books and generally anything Sci FI or Espionage related. Check out my twitter @brujah69ad if you want to stop by and talk comics, video games or movies!
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