Image Previews An Early Look At ‘Lazarus: Fallen’ #1 By Greg Rucka And Michael Lark

As a press release goes, this is a rather lengthy one. But here it goes: Lazarus: Fallen by writer Greg Rucka (The Old Guard), artist Michael Lark (Gotham Central), colourist Santi Arcas, and letterer Ariana Maher is returning for a final series from Image Comics.

“Fans of Andor, Silo, and Blade Runner will enjoy this futuristic, and yet prescient, tale about what those in power will do to obtain more power and to silence those in opposition…and what rebels, whether genetically engineered or not, will do to stop them. Along with early preview pages from Lazarus: Fallen #2, a look at the process and cover artwork from the series tease a little of what’s to come soon.”

Giving context to the new series, Rucka states:

“The first arc, ’Rise’ — which is taken in part from the Free slogan of ‘Rise, Resist, Be Free’ — very much hits the ground running, dealing with the immediate repercussions of the end of Lazarus: Risen. It’s been less than two days in the story since the end of Lazarus: Risen, and Lazarus: Fallen is throwing the reader right back into the action and the story. That’s deliberate. Readers are smart, and they know how to read and extrapolate from context, so new readers to the series will be able to understand what’s going on. That said, it’s going to be a far more rewarding read if you know how we got to this point.”

As for the whole series overview, here’s a summary of the story so far:

“The Lazarus series follows Forever Carlyle, an unkillable, genetically-engineered soldier, controlled by the mechanisms of her father, Malcolm Carlyle. Malcolm is the patriarch of one of the powerful Families that rose to rule the world after an economic-driven apocalypse. The Families now own everything and everyone; in this neo-feudalist order, you are either of value to the Families and made a Serf, or you are irrelevant, disposable labor, called Waste. 

But the Families are driven by greed, and in their unending pursuit of more and more, each created a Lazarus—a man or woman created and trained to be the loyal instrument of their Family’s will. Forever Carlyle is the Lazarus of the Carlyle Family, raised to absolutely believe in her duty to her family, and with an unquestioning loyalty to her father. That time is over, and now Forever—with the aid of her younger sister and next iteration of the Carlyle Lazarus, Infinity—means to destroy the world her father created.”

Rucka added:

“Our first issues are about framing this new world that Forever’s actions have created, about her and her sister finding allies, and about her father, Malcolm’s, own machinations. Like Forever, Malcolm knows the endgame is approaching. The question is whether or not it’s the endgame he’s envisioned all along. Amidst all this, there’s interpersonal drama and continued growth — both for Forever and her sister, now calling herself Infinity — as well as others. But Forever and Infinity are hunted from the word go, and there are other Families, and their Lazari, on their heels, including, especially, Sonja Bittner. After all, Forever has committed the ultimate crime: she’s betrayed the Family.”

Lazarus: Fallen #1 is out on Wednesday, June 25th, featuring a cover by Lark from Image Comics.