‘Lazarus’ Is Back with Issue #27

Writer: Greg Rucka / Artist: Michael Lark w/ Tyler Boss / Image In true spirit of its title, Lazarus rises again. After issue #26’s release of the ongoing series in March 2017, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark return to continue to their dystopian epic. In the break between issues, Lark took time off for other projects, while Rucka worked with a roster of artists to release X-66, a limited series of self-contained stories of the supporting cast.  Issue 27 brings the creators back together for a new story arc –  “Fracture.” THE DEAL WITH LAZARUS Lazarus is a series that in many ways echoes the current day of political oligarchies, corporate monarchies, and the reality that power rests in the hands of the very few.  Writer/creator Rucka’s own pitch for the series described it as “The Godfather” meets “Children of Men.”  No statement captures the tone more perfectly. In the series, the wealth of the world is controlled only by a handful of “families”. Society itself is stratified of only of 3 classes – family, serfs, and waste. When disputes arise, each family has a chosen warrior referred to as a “Lazarus.” Forever Carlyle is the Lazarus of the Carlyle family, and the central protagonist of the entire series. In the year X+64 the twin siblings (Jonah & Johanna) of the Carlyle family conspire to wrestle power from their father. When the coup fails, Jonah flees and takes refuge with a family enemy.  Of course, he is betrayed and ends up the subject of cruel torture and experiments…