The Eisner Award-winning creative team is returning to the dystopian world of Lazarus, and this time Forever Carlyle plans to burn everything down
Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Michael Lark, the Eisner Award-winning creative team behind New York Times bestselling sci-fi series, Lazarus, are returning to their neo-feudalist world with the final installment, Lazarus: Fallen. For the new series, Rucka and Lark are joined by Lazarus colorist Santi Arcas, letterer Ariana Maher, editor Alejandro Arbona, and graphic designers Eric Trautmann and Richard Howe on the creative team. In Lazarus: Fallen, which launches this June, warrior Forever Carlyle is finally free from the control of the power-hungry Carlyle Family that wielded her like a weapon, and this time Forever Carlyle means to burn down the world of the Families…even her own.
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.
“Michael and I started Lazarus back in 2013, and while we knew we were telling a story that was a distorted reflection of our world, I don’t think either of us imagined how less distorted that vision would become,” said Rucka. “But for all the talk about the world-building, about the vision of the future—or arguably, prescience of the present—Lazarus has remained, at its heart, about Forever’s journey. We’re finally getting to the resolution of it—the ending that we’ve been working on from the start. There’s so much I’m excited about sharing with this final run. There are things that I think will surprise some readers—some twists that they, perhaps, didn’t see coming. I know that it’s been a long wait for these final issues, and I’m grateful for the patience our audience has shown. We’ve got the most amazing fans, and that is both humbling and gratifying.”
Lark added: “I’m very happy to get Lazarus back into readers’ hands. Greg has given me so much to explore with the characters and storytelling, and I’m really excited about the work I’ve been doing on the new issues. I think it is some of the best work I’ve ever done, and I hope readers feel the same.”
“I love working with Michael,” said Rucka. “He fits my sensibilities for storytelling so effortlessly, and his character work is never anything less than superb. He always delivers on the action, but it’s in the quiet scenes, in the emotional beats, that I think he shines brightest—and it’s in those moments that the series lives and breathes. This is unquestionably the best work of Michael’s career thus far, and that is genuinely saying something.”
Lazarus: Fallen #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, June 25, featuring a cover by Lark. The series will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
For readers looking to catch up on the Lazarus series, the first issue is available to read for free on the Image Comics website here. Volumes 1-7, and the first three hardcover collections, are currently available for purchase at comic book shops, bookstores, and across many digital platforms.
Lazarus: The Fourth Collection, a hardcover volume that collects Lazarus #27 and #28, and for the first time, the complete seven-issue run of Lazarus: Risen, with extras, will be available to purchase on May 21 at comic book shops (Lunar code 0325IM428) and on June 3 at independent bookstores (ISBN: 9781534335912), Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones, and across many digital platforms.
Select praise for Lazarus:
“Rucka, who’s written street-level crime sagas (Stumptown) and high-flying superheroics (Wonder Woman), settles into a satisfying and flexible niche of believability, weaving a complex story of intrigue and action in a science fiction setting that may not be fiction for long. Artists Lark and Arcas’s muted and subtle visuals ground the story as well, while handling its swift and violent fight scenes and plotted interludes with consistent skill.”—Publishers Weekly
“If you’re looking for something with depth, with richness in storytelling, and with an identity entirely its own, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark may have built a world you’ll enjoy visiting. Even as they’re tearing your heart out in the process.”—SKTCHD
“Rucka and Lark have started us on a journey that’ll ask the hard questions about what it means to be human while forcing us to take a long, hard look at the world we live in.”—IGN
“This creative team has truly created a special book that demands attention.” —Newsarama
ABOUT GREG RUCKA
Greg Rucka is a multiple award-winning writer of novels, comics, film, and television. Several of his novels–prose and graphic–have been New York Times bestsellers. He is a five-time Eisner Award winner, twice for his collaborations with artist, and Lazarus co-creator, Michael Lark. In 2021, Rucka received the Hugo Award for his screenplay for The Old Guard, adapted from the Image comic book series of the same name, co-created with Leandro Fernandez. He is married to writer Jennifer Van Meter, co-founder and partner of their company, Nervous Habit, Inc. Together they have raised two daughters, Evelyn and Dashiell, and one Airedoodle, named Marlowe. He currently divides his time between the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, and Portland, Oregon.
ABOUT MICHAEL LARK
Michael Lark is the artist and co-creator of Lazarus, published by Image Comics. In over thirty years in the comics industry, he has drawn many of the most iconic characters in the medium, including Daredevil, Spider-Man, Captain America, Batman, Superman, and many others. He has been nominated for numerous industry awards, and, along with his frequent collaborator Greg Rucka, is the recipient of two Eisner Awards, along with several other awards for their work on the critically acclaimed DC series Gotham Central. He is the father of a wonderful daughter, and lives in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom with his multi-talented and brilliant wife Keli and their three cats.