writer: Greg Rucka / artist: Michael Lark w/ Tyler Boss / Image Comics
One of the things that Lazarus does so well, expertly really, is knowing the appropriate time hide something away and when to bring it back into the light. So many important plot points hold whispers of things hinted at or driven by quickly in the past just to pay huge dividends down the line. Jonah’s disappearance through the second arc was hardly missed as the conflict went down in Denver, but now he is the catalyst for everything: Hock possibly cracking the Longevity code, the summit, Forever no longer trusting her family and ultimately what looks like our first battle between Lazari. The same with the the Lazarus Sonja Bittner. The small touches shown previously of how she seeks Forever’s company and looks up to her, just to be put in a position of facing her. This book is a masterstroke, probably the leanest and yet most effective storytelling on the shelves. Nothing is wasted. I read this book fully expecting every sideways glance, every text-less panel, every specific shot of a door, or person, or symbol to mean something down the line.
As usual, the art is in such harmony with the story. The silence of the men moving through the resort doing sweeps. Forever frustration and punching a wall just to see herself heal instantly. And my favorite, the emotions shown near the end of the book when Hock puts everyone in an uncomfortable position. I kind of just want these guys to make this book forever, to be honest.
Lazarus gives some big revelations about the Carlyle Family and sets up one of the most anticipated issues of the book to this point. To say that you’re not reading Lazarus is to say that you’re probably not reading the best comic book out. Period.
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David Bitterbaum
I had been reading “Lazarus” but got tired of it being so much talk and so little action–in the sense of anything interesting happening. Still, the concept is really good and has me wondering if I dipped back into the series via trade if I would enjoy it.