It’s so good. Do I always start a Lazarus response with that statement? “It’s so good.” Like every time I read the comic, I’m surprised by how good Rucka and Lark do on the comic. It’s always a surprise too. Rucka hits a new ceiling. He integrates Lark and his abilities in an entirely predictable but entirely unexpected way. It’s great stuff.

Lark’s art is real strong this issue overall. He’s got really varied storylines going on, each needing distinct, immediate visuals. Lark finds a tone for each. What’s really cool–and something Rucka did carefully–was get someone likable into every storyline. Or someone comically unlikable (the evil, incestuous sister). It brings a soap opera element into it. And then Lark and Rucka deliver an action sequence.

Lazarus, very, very discreetly, mixes genres. And Rucka does it really well. It might be why the first arc didn’t connect–it was setting up the situation to allow Rucka all the freedom. The painful exposition about the dystopian future, for example, set up the second storyline, which is where Lazarus started to get good. And now it’s one of my favorite comics.

Awesome last sequence too; just awesome.

I’m getting sick of my Lazarus posts. I hope you all aren’t. They go the same way–hated it for the first arc, then started loving Lazarus and now I await every issue with baited breath and count the hours till its release.

But I’ve got to say all that stuff again. Good thing I already did. This issue’s so good. Even with the most obvious, most manipulative cliffhanger I’ve ever seen. Because Rucka does everything else in the issue so well, even how he structures the cliffhanger–doesn’t hurt having Lark’s awesome art (assisted by Tyler Boss on inks). Lark gives Rucka so much leeway–there’s a Forever action scene. Forget everything else.

There’s Forever versus a bunch of soldiers. By Michael Lark. And it’s awesome. It’s so good. It brings back that old Lark thrill of seeing him realize something for the first time.

As usual, it’s excellent.

Where did Lazarus come from? Every time I read it, I have to remember it wasn’t always one of my favorite comics. Far from it. But now, even when Rucka can turn the series at a ninety degree angle and still come out doing not just something special but something special for artist Lark too–I just have to wonder… where did it come from? Did Rucka know he’d eventually be able to take it across genre without ever leaving the world he set up?

This issue is not a traditional Lazarus issue. It’s a war comic. It’s even a homefront comic. It’s a war comic with the soldiers, it’s a war comic with the generals. It’s still a Lazarus comic with the family politicking. It’s a lot.

The Lark art is phenomenal. The digital snowflakes do serve the story, but sadly hinder me getting to gawk at Lark’s art.

Much of the issue–maybe even most of the issue–is a sword fight. There’s no dialogue, no description; Lark moves through the fight, sometimes showing reaction shots, sometimes working on a subplot, but the point is the two women fighting. It’s brilliantly choreographed and it shows a level of concentration from Lark, who I never thought of as a movement guy.

The story is good too, with Rucka finding space for some rather good content in the speaking parts of the comic. But the fight and visual nature of it are part of the writing too. Rucka helps the fight and gets to benefit from it and Lark gets to do this lengthy sequence.

Lazarus first surprised when it managed not to be as terrible as the beginning arc suggested, then it got really good, now it’s getting ambitious with the medium. The book is ever the constant surprise.