I’m just a little bit late getting to the Lazarus series (this graphic novel was first published more than a decade ago). However, ’tis the season to read the books we got as Christmas presents, and I have Elizabeth to thank for introducing me to this fascinating dystopian near-future saga and the kick-ass title character who’s incapable of dying.
Okay, the enforcer Forever Carlyle (also known as “Eve” or “The Lazarus” by, well, anyone who wants to call her that because she doesn’t have a whole lot of rights) might be killable, but it would take a lot of effort. We start the volume in mid-battle as Forever shakes off the effects of blood loss and total respiratory collapse from several bullets to the chest, and proceeds to slaughter her three terrified attackers with her bare hands. The battle is actually being described by Eve in confidence to her doctor (handler? designer? It’s complicated…), who proceeds to pass along everything she says to her family. Family matters a lot in this future version of America. In fact it’s pretty much the only thing that matters.
Location changes in this series start with a population count, divided into three categories: Family (indicating if they’re in residence temporarily or permanently), Serfs (workers), and Waste (everyone else). The count of family members rarely gets into the double digits. Serfs are generally a few hundred. “Waste” numbers in the thousands. Tens of thousands, and that’s usually just an estimate, because again, the only people who really matter are the members of each of the sixteen Families who now control the entire world. It’s a logical extension of the present-day situation where fewer and fewer people are owning more and more of the wealth.
So how much infighting can happen in a ruling family that has maybe a dozen members? Quite a lot, actually.
Writer Greg Rucka shows the reader a future with advanced technology and a feudal government like something out of the medieval period. Like any good oligarchy, the commoners claw for a scrap of food or a chance to be a servant of the Families. Meanwhile the Family members themselves claw each other for a little more money or power, because even having all the wealth in the world doesn’t stop them from wanting more. Or from putting a target on anyone who’s death would make things just a little more convenient.
Forever Carlyle’s empathy for people who aren’t lucky enough to be part of the Family, especially when she has to kill them in battle or execute them in front of their children, sets her apart from the squabbling family members. Despite this, she’s loyal to an absolute fault (not something she has a lot of choice about; the maintenance on the upgrades that keep her invulnerable include carefully-tailored drugs that keep her from asking a lot of questions). Michael Lark’s artwork gives her an effortless, realistic beauty that never crosses over to the stereotypical “action babe”.
Speaking of artwork, the combination of Lark’s drawings and Santi Arcas’s muted color pallet conveys the violent, near-apocalypse setting, like a desert landscape that’s slowly drying away to nothing. There are no sound-effect noises other than the occasionally ear-splitting alarm; gunshots and explosions all happen in silent sprays of color, or a splash of blood. The action scenes are stunningly violent and easy to follow what’s happening. Lark also includes subtle details in conversations that convey more than what people are actually saying out loud. There’s a scene where Forever’s sister, Bethany, checks to make sure Forever is in good working order by pulling up a cloud of schematics and firing off impersonal questions, all while Forever stands obediently wearing nothing but a towel and a resigned expression. It does a lot to show just how much Forever’s family dehumanizes her without ever making it look exploitative.
The graphic novel ends with a tangled web of betrayals and counter-betrayals. Forever’s friendship with a rival Family’s Lazarus and an enormous revelation (with a lot of fascinating details still hidden) guarantees that the series gets even more interesting from here, and that the situation between her and her Family is only going to get worse.