Comics
Review: ‘Lazarus’ #6
An exciting sci-fi thriller, “Lazarus” #6 takes readers on a futuristic adventure into an unmarked frontier. Forever Carlyle sinks deeper into the wastelands, where the truth about her past lies buried. The “Lazarus” series takes an interesting look at the western genre and creatively spins it around.
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka
ART BY: Michael Lark
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Feb. 5, 2013
Trained since she was just a little girl, Forever Carlyle has been genetically altered to obey and protect the Carlyle Family. But after a strange message appeared on her cell phone, Forever has been seeing the cracks in the political system built by the Carlyle patriarch. Elsewhere, the Barrets are struggling to stay afloat after a flood destroyed their only home. Because they cannot pay for the Carlyle land anymore, they will have to take drastic measures to find new shelter. While Forever is under orders to protect the scheming Johanna, the Barrets will unfortunately end up crossing paths with the perfect solider.
Writer Greg Rucka provides a heart wrenching flashback into Forever’s training days as a little girl. Never having a regular childhood, Forever has been taught how to fight and kill with great skill. When she should be sleeping, Forever is learning how to speak to Latin. Because she never had any friends her own age, even the adult trainers know this is not how a little girl is supposed to be raised. Now grown up, Forever is haunted by a message that says her family is not who they seem to be.
What makes Rucka’s narrative feel grounded is his social commentary about the economic war between the haves and the have-nots. With the Barrets struggling to pay their bills, after a flood washed away their home, the Carlyle family decides to raise the rent. Did the Carlyle family purposely give Barrets their land, knowing full well that the terrain was in a dangerous zone? The Barrets aren’t stealing to make a profit, but to provide a better future for their young ones.
In the flashback sequence, artist Michael Lark plays around with the character design of Forever as a little girl. Though she looks like a child, Lark illustrates Forever with prefect stances and poses as she learns sword-fighting and karate. Notice how Lark never puts a single personal item in Forever’s bedroom. There are hundreds of books in shelves, but the unwanted teddy bear is tucked away in the corner.
What really makes the panels stand out is Lark’s portrayal of the western landscape. As the story moves away from the city, Lark uses wide shots to depict the mountain ranges and grassy fields. In a small but important detail, the Barrets drive an unwashed jeep low on gasoline. Because the Barrets cannot pay for gas, they have to settle on riding on horses.
An inventive mix, “Lazarus” #6 effortlessly blends in both elements of the sci-fi and western genres. I hope I’ll be seeing Forever Carlyle getting involved in a quick-draw shootout in a later installment.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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