It’s a decent issue, but not one with much content. Most of the politicking takes place off page and Rucka even turns the cliffhanger resolution into an expository recap. He does it to show Forever’s burgeoning romance with one of the other Lazari, which is good from the character development standpoint… Only it’s all Rucka really does this issue.

He ends on a setup for what’s next–and I really hope this issue’s developments for Forever (friends, family, romantic interests) aren’t just fodder for later conflicts–but nothing really happens. Lark doesn’t get much to draw; three pages of Forever and her romantic interest’s flirtations and petting seems like a combination waste of pages and of Lark’s talents. Talking heads with one or two lines a panel….

Still, Rucka has a good amount of steam on Lazarus and it gets through. Forever’s a fantastic protagonist, even in a dull entry.