There should be more comics written by Greg Rucka. There should be more comics drawn by Michael Lark. There should be licensed comics, super-hero comics, westerns, fantasy, noir, and creator-owned work by both of these guys, because they are true modern masters that transcend any genre. When the pair teamed up with Ed Brubaker on Gotham Central, they gave the industry a stiff kick in the behind. In Lazarus, Rucka and Lark bring their brave form of sequential storytelling to Image and craft a world like no other.
Lazarusis the story of what happens when all the resources on Earth are controlled by a few powerful families. The world is divided into a modern feudal system of the elite Families, those that are useful to the Families, called Serfs, and the rest, called the Waste. It is a brutal social commentary that never devolves into preachy glad-handing.
Each Family is protected by a genetically modified warrior called a Lazarus. The protagonist of the book is a woman named Forever, Lazarus of the Family Carlyle. The majority of the first issue follows Forever as she enforces the will of the Carlyles on a group of Wastes who dare to steal food from her Family. The opening thrusts readers into a scene where a beautiful woman (Forever) is viciously beaten and gunned down by seemingly-violent tattered thugs. Rucka turns perceptions on their ear as it turns out the gang members are the victims of marginalization and forced starvation who were fighting a brutal enforcer just to get desperately needed supplies. When Forever awakens and heals, she takes ruthless vengeance on the gang. Welcome to the world of Lazarus, where beautiful enforcers protect the assets of a tiny elite minority from a desperate majority.
Rucka and Lark are one of the most natural creative teams in comics today. A reader can see Lark pull out every bit of drama and pathos in Rucka’s script. The beating Forever suffers is tough to witness, and the gang’s starving appearance enhances Rucka’s class-war motif to the fullest.
This is the type of book Image was made for: an original story that does not easily fit into one genre. It's two great talents riffing on an idea like two brilliant jazz musicians jamming late into the night. Rucka doesn’t even have to waste time on expository dialogue. Readers know from the look on Forever’s face that she is having a change of heart regarding her place in this society. When she is forced to execute an old man who claims responsibility for the earlier raid in order to save his people, Forever learns the meaning of nobility, a concept that will drive the external and internal conflicts that will move the series forward.
Rucka’s unflinching writing style has been greatly missed since the end of his run on Punisherand the industry is in a better place when Michael Lark is drawing a monthly book. It will be a pleasure watch the brutal visually poetry as Lazarus unfolds.
Story: 9/10
Art: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Lazarus #1 (Image)
“Family: Part 1”
Written by Greg Rucka
Art and letters by Michael Lark
Color by Santi Arcas
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This is on the list!!! Thanks :)