The alliance between Carlyle and D’Souza is nothing more than a trap—and now Forever must face not one, but two Lazari in a desperate battle to the death. And at Sequoia, Marisol finds herself following Eight’s footsteps into a snowy night. The secrets are beginning to take their toll, and when they come out, the results will be shattering.
All this, plus artifacts from the firm of Trautmann and Howe, another installment of World of Lazarus: Tools of War, and original short fiction by award-winning author ADAM CHRISTOPHER.
Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.
Still getting used to this new format: more pages but a longer period between issues. And the cost per issue: $7.99. Takes a bite out of your budget. Still, great story, great art, and a great setting. I am all in for Forever.
Joaquim and Forever are reunited, but not in the good way. His betrayal is violent and terrible. But Forever deals with it, the best way she knows how, but even with that in mind, she still suffers from the emotional impact it has. Gone are the days where she and Joaquim were close, hoping to become more than just friends. It's a sad and gut wrenching blow to the story. But with the ending cliff-hanger, we hope that Forever will get to exact her revenge against the Zmey and his part in forcing Joaquim's family to override his programming and turn him traitor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book is good enough for it's own Netflix or Prime series. It is a modern mashup of techno thriller, political thriller, super genetics and badass combat. Looking forward to the next installment
I spotted this comic in a used bookstore and it looked interesting, so I bought it. It remained interesting throughout the read, even though it was difficult to understand due to no context being established in the images. The reader is dropped right into a three-way battle where the heroine is going against two allied protagonists. Fortunately, there is a page of text at the beginning that explains some of the situation. It is a dystopia, where the world is ruled by a few very powerful families. Their power is based on economic control of nearly all the world. Almost seventy years ago the families made an agreement as to how the world would be parceled and governed. Each family names a champion that has great powers to do battle and recover from severe wounds. That champion is known as a Lazarus. While war is still the killing grounds that it has always been, there are now strange protocols, for even within the domain of a family there are other families that will not hesitate to attempt to usurp the leaders. In many ways it is similar to the days of royal houses, where loyalty to the ruling house is based more on the perception of power that can be lost at any time. The opening action is brutal and bloody, but after that it shifts to being more in the area of intrigue and maneuver than a physical battle. The reader learns that even though there are agreements in place between families, there is a lot of room to maneuver, even before the rules are bent. This is a dark dystopia with a heroine capable of whipping all comers. Yet, despite her fighting ability, in many ways she is a mere tool to be used in a deadly game of great political and economic power.
Forever is in the rematch of her life, with the only person that she has shown romantic feelings for.
The rematch was handled well and efficiently, both storywise and artwise. I like the new, confident Forever as she fights much more tactfully and intelligently. She's able to separate her feelings for her past lover, as she knows he is already gone - only the lazarus/cyborg creature remaining. Most of the issue deals with the fight, and it was a great decision by Rucka to really let Michael Lark take the helm and showcase his amazing talent with the fight choreography.
This issue also deals with 8's realization of what she is - or at least suspicion of it. She tries to hurt herself to only realize that she really cant. We also get a glimpse at the Carlyle matriarch... can this be Forever's mother?
Next issue seems to deal with another rematch, and this time Forever better be ready for a brutal fight.
4.25 Stars. Excellent, I really like the new format. I think with the new longer quarterly format Rucka is expanding the scope of the story, but is also focusing on a lot of character & plot development. Due to the new format I think what we're gonna get will be a longer more detailed story by the time Lazarus comes to a close. Highly recommend!
LAZARUS: RISEN #2 Slow-burner that suggests the series will have long ranging development. “Stop fxxxing around, just take her head and be done with it.” – Zeferino to Joacquim regarding Forever. Short story referencing Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
3 months between issues is a long time to wait, but I really like the new format for the series. The blend of comics and prose fiction works really well.