Lazarus X+66

I get why “Lazarus X+66” is being released as a miniseries rather than an official volume of the main title.  Series artist Michael Lark is only providing the covers to each issue while writer Greg Rucka is just co-writing the issues collected here.  As both creators have been fully involved with the previous five volumes of “Lazarus” it’s easy to see why they wanted to brand “X+66” under its own title in order to manage expectations.  The problem is that it does the miniseries a disservice because this really does feel like a proper volume of “Lazarus” and is therefore something that fans of the series should definitely not ignore.

That’s because while each of the six issues tells a self-contained story, they advance either a character or plot arc (sometimes even both) within them.  It’s an approach that has been done before in titles like “100 Bullets” and “Scalped” (see volumes six and two, respectively). There’s even precedent for this approach when the full creative team isn’t involved in the case of the third volume of “The Wicked + The Divine” where Kieron Gillen wrote character-specific stories for five different artists, and an issue featuring re-purposed art from series artist Jamie McKelvie.  All I’m trying to say here is that there’s precedent for what “X+66” is trying to do here which it slides into quite well.

As for the stories themselves, they’re all quite good if a little predictable in parts.  That’s true of the first, co-written with Eric Trautmann, one which spotlights Casey Solomon who, after surviving her team-up with Forever in vol. 4, has been ordered to report for Dagger training.  The Daggers are the elite special forces of the Carlyle Family and what follows is taken straight from the military basic training handbook. What keeps it interesting is seeing how Solomon copes with the weight of expectations from her superiors who want her to show why she was chosen by “God” and one fellow trainee who doesn’t believe that she deserves to be there.  The mindset of her superiors, which is a surprising mix of grounded relatability and quasi-religious passion, helps spice things up too. Frequent Rucka collaborator Steve Lieber also gives this story the gritty professionalism it deserves.

The same goes for Mack Chater’s work in the second story, which focuses on the Morray Family’s Lazarus, Joaquim.  We last saw him betraying his fellow Lazarii at the end of vol. 5 when his family asserted their control over his mind.  Now the higher-ups of the Morray Family are debating whether or not this should be done full-time to force the loyalty of their Lazarus.  It’s a great examination of Joaquim’s history and the inner workings of the family he serves, courtesy of co-writer Aaron Duran. The story also delivers some great drama through its length as it keeps you guessing as to what the Morray Family’s plan for their Lazarus will be right up to the very end.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said of the story that follows as the focus shifts to Joe and Bobbie Barrett, the parents of Carlyle Family patriarch savior Michael Barrett who’s also a childhood friend of Casey.  Joe and Bobbie were once Waste under the Family caste system, but were elevated to Serf status along with Michael and Casey. Though their new status has its benefits, the married couple is starting to chafe at all the injustice they see around them.  It’s a perfectly understandable response that plays out just as you’d expect once they find out about a faction opposed to the Family system. Just once I’d like to see a story about someone or a couple who is uplifted to a position of privilege in a fascist state and actually enjoys it.  To the point that they’d be horrified at the thought of being associated with any kind of resistance to it. Co-writer Neal Bailey hasn’t given us that story, but it at least features some great loose and lively art from Justin Greenwood.

Trautmann returns as co-writer for the next story, and the two that follow, to give us one about two Lazarii who have been ordered to team up in order to secure information that might be critical to defeating the Vassalovka Family’s Lazarus.  The catch is that the Lazarii, Xolani of Nkosi and Alimah of the Meyers-Qasimi, have each been ordered by their respective Families to terminate the other upon the completion of their mission. This adds some tension to an action-heavy issue as the two effectively carve their way through everyone before them.  The action from artist Alitha Martinez isn’t always clear, but she sells the emotional connection between the two Lazarii which keeps the drama fresh as you wonder which one of them will take out the other or if they’ll find a third way.

The penultimate issue gives us a spotlight into how the press works in Carlyle Family territory as the face of the Family’s messaging, Sere Cooper, has to deal with being a part of the setbacks they suffered at the end of the previous volume.  She’s been sidelined on entertainment-related puff pieces ever since, but after an encounter with one of the Family’s security operatives sets her on the trail of the presumed-dead Jacob Carlyle, Sere sees a way back to the spotlight. While there’s not really any action to be had here, there’s a great deal of tension mined from how the information Sere uncovers has to be presented in order to qualify as “news” under the Family’s oversight.  In addition to excellent art from Bilquis Evely, the issue is the most relevant to the main story as it brings up a few plot points that will almost certainly have to factor into it at some point.

Relevance to the main story may make for a good argument that Sere’s issue is the best of the bunch, but I’d say that the creators saved it for last with their story of the Vassalovka Family’s Lazarus, the Dragon.  First introduced as an unstoppable force in the latter half of vol. 5, here we get to know the monster himself — first through the eyes of a hunter coming to kill him, and then in the Dragon’s own words. It’s creepy, compelling stuff and aided immensely in execution through the art from Tristam Jones who draws from his time on “Aliens:  Defiance” to great effect here. The result is thoroughly nightmarish, though the creators know when to ease up on the tension at unexpected moments if only to build towards a tragic end that offers an awful hint towards the Dragon’s future.

“Lazarus” may be the story of Forever Carlyle and her role in her family and the world it interacts with, but “X+66” shows that there are plenty of great stories to be told about those in the world around her.  I understand that this minseries was meant to act as a means of keeping the series in the public eye while Rucka and Lark worked to get the main title back on schedule. It was certainly a smart move on their part, but there’s always going to be that small part of the audience that will see it as an inessential read all because it doesn’t have a volume number on the spine.  That is definitely not the case here. While I understand the reasons Rucka and Lark had for not designating “X+66” the proper sixth volume of “Lazarus,” the miniseries is something that everyone reading the main title should have in their library. It really is that good.