Lazurus 1-3 Review
Writer: Greg Rucka
Art/Letters: Michael Lark
Colorist: Santi Arcas
Cover Artist: Michael Lark & Santi Arcas
A review by Scott Bachmann.
Mad Max meets the Mob!
I’ve been listening to interviews with Greg Rucka and had most of the series spoiled for me before I opened the book, but not in the way you ‘d expect. Greg has a deep background for this post apocalyptic world that we barely get to see in the comic, and his rhapsodizing about those ideas got me intrigued enough to by the comic, but it’s clear those ideas will stay hidden for a long time as this is a slow burn story. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means that that there are more interesting themes to come.
So what did we get? After the world ended, there was a lot that needed doing, so companies stepped up to fill that role. They act like a cross between the mafia and Stalin. For reasons not explained yet, each family has a near immortal badass enforcer called a Lazarus. Since only family blood is permitted to have power in this heavily classed society, they pretend the Lazarus is part of the family. They know she’s not, but she doesn’t. In fact they brain wash her quite a bit and lay on thick the family propaganda.
What sets our protagonist apart from the others is that she seems to have a morality that is being moderated by her slavish devotion to her family. We quickly see the family is plotting against itself in a coup, so we may get to see what she’s like once that cord is severed in the coming fratricidal smack down, but until then, she’s fairly one note.
Do we care? On the one hand, yes. There is clear set up and story here. The operatic movement of players and double crosses tells us this story has plans and going there. On the other hand, no one in this comic is likable. The world is a mess. It’s gloom and blood and not much else. Lazurus seems to be the exception, she seems to be the one who would care if the mind control loosened just a little, but she’s a cipher. We don’t know what she wants or who she is, and she doesn’t either. She’s a machine that we slowly get to know by her actions, but after three issues I only sort of like her. She’s clearly a person, but the story uses her as a tool, her family uses her as a tool, and she feels like hardware. When this sort of thing is done well, like Blade Runner, the bio-war machine is shown striving for independence from what it was made to be. There are strong hints that this is coming, but until issue 3, the comic felt too cold for me. That said, every element in this tale was well plotted. Nothing is throwaway. Every moment seems to be pushing towards something. This doesn’t feel like a comic that had an idea and didn’t know where to go once they stated it. This feels like the early chapters of a novel.
The art is stellar. Michael Lark delivers grit and grim with a nod towards realism. The art alone is reason enough to pick up the book. The colors by Santi Arcas are subdued and limited, increasing the sense of desolation and the dire mood of a world drained of vibrancy and life.
I’m on the fence on this one. It’s amazingly well plotted and beautiful art, so it deserves accolades. It’s perfect serial storytelling. I’m sold on the possibility this would be amazing. It’s hands down better than most of the comics on the rack, I’m just finding I’m not that invested in it yet. That’s likely just me, because from what I’ve seen, it’s flying off the shelves. However, I have liked each issue more than the last, and I think this has the potential to end up at the top of my reading stack. So I don’t hesitate in recommending it.
4/5
Scott Bachmann writes his own comics and novels over at Scottcomics.com