Lazarus is a coming of age story for a young woman named Forever Carlyle who is questioning her identity. It is set in a bleak future a number of decades from now after the current world order has broken down, possibly due to climate change. Sixteen families each control the territory, resources, and technology in their part of the world, as per mutual agreement, though each family has their own technological strengths and may govern their territory through differing methodology. The Carlyle family rules the western half of North America in a feudal system, dividing people into three tiers: “family”, “serfs” (skilled laborers), and “waste” (everyone else). The families have formed alliances to protect themselves from other families, and each family has a chosen warrior, trained and modified as per the family’s strengths, known as a “Lazarus” who represents them in combat. Forever is the Carlyle Lazarus. She obeys the family patriarch, Malcolm Carlyle, and has four siblings: Steven, Beth, and twins Jonah and Johanna. The original source of the Carlyle’s fortune and power is from their various developments in genetic technology. Among other advancements, their modified seeds provide food for most of the world. The Carlyles have also altered their own genetics, which has allowed all of them to grow old without suffering the consequences of age, thereby engendering jealousy and fear in many of the other families.
So Lazarus has been going for years, and a few years back just stopped. I assumed it had been canceled and mourned never getting a resolution. Imagine my joy when after about 4 years, new issues came out to wrap up the story! All that to say, I am reviewing the comic as a whole here, which is 100s and 100s of pages and many volumes. I think it would be too hard to break things down without spoilers.
One, the artwork is fabulous, as is the writing. The cast of characters expands in each volume, and even the worst of villains is written with nuance. It’s a serious tale, and I sat up and told my husband I had been emotionally traumatized at least three times reading the latest installment. But it is so worth it for this rich (and grim) world and these amazing characters. There are two volumes left to round out the series and I am counting down the days until I can get my hands on them. On the one hand, I hate that it’s ending, but on the other, actually GETTING an ending after years of thinking we wouldn’t feel like an amazing treat.
