Lazarus: The Third Collection

Just a remark: inexistent internal packaging!! But the comic is in pefect conditionDelivery times respected in a difficult moment!

“Lazarus – Third Collection” is the hardcover edition of two previous paperback collections - Lazarus Volume 5  collecting issues #22-26. Lazarus X+66  collecting the six-issue mini-series that continues/fills in gaps from the previous volume, rounding off the first ‘season’ of the tile, the next season of which is already scheduled.This is a stunningly good future-history story from Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, leaving most of the current mainstream comics publishers’ titles in its dust.Lazarus 5 – CullThis is another outstanding episode in this science-fiction series set in a dystopian near future (X+65). This time out, we get to see several Lazari active in the field as the cold war between Families is seen to have become a very hot war. Meanwhile, Forever Carlyle recovers from the previous volume’s activities, and various sub-plots play out back at the Family HQ as she is pushed back into perfect working order; with minor characters from previous stories moving into prominence, and some serious new plot threads being introduced.Johanna Carlyle, acting Family head, begins to implement her own Family planning strategy, as she reveals to Forever just who and what she (Forever) is, and also filling us in on why Forever is so important. Whether Johanna is the ‘good guy’ or a bad guy out for her own personal ends is also a developing thread.The scripting and artwork is superb, as always, and as more windows open up on this future, we can see deeper and deeper into complexity of the world that Rucka and Lark have created. This is superior science-fiction, and a superior comic book. There is also an excellent map of this brave new world at the back of the book.Lazarus – X+66These six issues, while not being a regular serial narrative of the ongoing story, are fairly self-contained short stories or stand-alone episodes, set after the previous volume, looking at various characters in the various Families, explaining the background to certain recent events, and exploring aspects of the world while establishing storylines, themes and introducing/deepening characters for the next phase of the main narrative – year X+67.These are not filler episodes, they are integral to the main story, they just contain material that might have been sub-plots in regular issues, but most likely have been given their own issues in order to let Michael Lark get a head start on the next storyline.They are still high-quality stories, and though there are guest-artists at work, they still maintain a high quality of work, moreso than ‘filler’ stories – or even some of the regular stories – from the ‘Big Two’ companies.