Table of Contents Show
Keeping the consistency of a monthly release schedule is a rarity for Lazarus as a whole, but these past few issues really work well when released like that.
Lazarus: Fallen #4 and #5 give the reader several gut punches of emotional storytelling as Greg Rucka’s character writing and Michael Lark’s character art take centre stage. In the end, you just feel bad for everyone as this has been a rollercoaster for them and it is only going to get more intense.
Silent Wars — Duty, Desire, & Duality In Lazarus: Fallen #4
In Lazarus: Fallen #4 both Sonja and Forever are put in situations they never expected to be in. This series is really good about quiet moments, when it slows down to try to examine the emotions of the characters, to live in their head so to speak. And I think Lazarus: Fallen #4 might just have the two best examples of that in the entire series.
Sonja and Forever have been friends for a very long time, their families are allied, they have been through a great deal together. So now that Sonja is being treated almost as the Carlyle Lazarus for the time being is an insult to her and her family. Worse still is that she is having to track down her friend Forever. There is a fantastic moment where no words are uttered, just Michael Lark’s beautiful art doing the storytelling.
We see Sonja struggle with this mission, what Forever means to her, and as we see in Lazarus: Fallen #5 what her family means to her. This scene is then echoed by the end of Lazarus: Fallen #4 where she watches Forever, Infinity, Jonah, and the rest of this cell of Free get on boats. She is stuck between the duty of her rank as Lazarus, her family name, and her friendship. No words need be uttered, just the sad reality dawning on her face.
Meanwhile, Forever has a similar moment that isn’t as silent. We’ve followed Forever for years; we watched as her romance with Joacquim blossom before ending in a very sad way. But it was slow and awkward, almost child like in a way. Forever was uncertain of these feelings because of her conditioning and she really never got over it, which is why the culmination of all of that was simply a kiss. Meanwhile her clone, successor, and sister Infinity is far more in tune with her desires and emotions. Infinity sees what she wants and takes it. She saw Anton, thought he was cute, so took him to her bed.
For Infinity this was natural, for Forever this is alien. The concept of seeing your sister, who is identical to you in nearly every way because she is a clone, do something you could never bring yourself to do despite how much you wanted to must sting. Rucka chooses to use Jonah to bring this to the forefront with Forever. Jonah early in the series was crass and sleeping with Johanna his sister. Now he has grown, changed, become a better person. So has Forever just in a different way. It becomes one awkward brother sister talk and it’s exactly what these characters needed.
Loyalty In Ruins — Love & Betrayal In Lazarus: Fallen #5
In Lazarus: Fallen #5, things get really really, I mean really messy for Casey Solomon and Michael Barrett. These characters were introduced in the second arc of the original series as they attempted to make it to the Lift in order to become Serfs. They got their wish in a way, but through different means.
Little did they know that those different means would lead them to the same spot but under really unfortunate circumstances. They were young lovers, and we see how when they reconnect in previous runs of this series how they try to find each other again through different means be it dates, sex, or anything else. But there was a rift clearly forming between them, one Malcolm takes great joy it seems in widening.
Casey saved the life of Forever more than once, she became a Dagger, soldiers sworn to protect and serve the family Lazarus no matter the cost. Now the person she looked up to saw as an immortal beacon of the future go against what she believes. Casey sees Forever not for what she believed or even for what she is, instead she sees her as a traitor and an enemy.
The Dagger has been shattered and needs to be reforged as it were. She is to be the next Lazarus for the Carlyle family as decreed by Malcolm Carlyle. And this operation must be overseen not by just any geneticist Carlyle has access to but Michael Barrett, all because of the feelings Casey and Michael have for each other. It gets worse when Casey plays this off as almost revenge against Michael for cheating on her despite him never doing that.
As a soldier, a Dagger no less, she sees how the Waste and the Serfs get chewed up in service of the Family. If she wants to survive, she has to become a member of the family in some way. And Michael’s unlikely friendship with Johanna is seen as that to Casey. Its blind loyalty fed by lies and delusion, Stockholm Syndrome in a manner of speaking. Truly diabolical, great stuff.
Bleak Things Are Abound In Lazarus: Fallen #4 & Lazarus: Fallen #5
Lazarus: Fallen #4 and #5 bring character moments to the forefront as things get really bleak for everyone. Emotions drive us, sometimes we understand them, sometimes we don’t, and that can be incredibly scary. It’s even scary for genetically modified super soldiers.