Lazarus Churchyard

Rating:
Summary: Stylishly ultraviolent and wickedly funny
Review: Lazarus Churchyard, as far as I can tell, was a character who appeared in Heavy Metal and possibly even less mainstream books. He is an older brainchild of Warren Ellis from his pre-Stormwatch days.

Lazarus is technically immortal. The vast majority of his body was shorn away at the genetic base level and replaced with highly resilient intelligent plastics capable of adapting to any situation in approximately the time it takes for a thought to be fired from the brain to another part of the body. At the time in which we see him, he's been alive for approximately 400 years, in which the world has seen plagues, revolutions, ethnic cleansings, and corporate takeovers of sinister proportions (much like "The Company" so often referred to in the "Alien" series). We are presented with four misadventures in the life of our antihero as he consumes prodigious quantities of drugs and wishes for death while casually dispatching anyone who gets in his way or those which he maintains strained friendships.

The language is short, sweet, and stylish. Ellis creates a futurespeak which tastes familiar if you've read "A Clockwork Orange" but is an entirely different creature of its own. "Creation" is the preferred slang of Lazarus' time, but we are thankfully spared the task of having to decipher it ourselves.

If you're a fan of Ellis' later works, you can't help but notice shades of "Transmetropolitan" begging to be fully fleshed out.

The art is dark, depending heavily on shades of purple and red. At times seeming almost amateurish, one cannot help but be struck by the masterful sequencing and panelling choices, not to mention the skill at which "the gutter" (as Scott McCloud put it) is used.

Although out-of-print, "The Lazarus Churchyard Collection" can still be found in some out-of-the-way places (I found my copy in the bargain bin of a Newbury Comics in Boston). It may also be possible to find the original printings of these stories in back-issues of Heavy Metal.

I highly recommend this collection for the serious Ellis fanatic or those who are simply looking for a good comic read.

Rating:
Summary: Stylishly ultraviolent and wickedly funny
Review: Lazarus Churchyard, as far as I can tell, was a character who appeared in Heavy Metal and possibly even less mainstream books. He is an older brainchild of Warren Ellis from his pre-Stormwatch days.

Lazarus is technically immortal. The vast majority of his body was shorn away at the genetic base level and replaced with highly resilient intelligent plastics capable of adapting to any situation in approximately the time it takes for a thought to be fired from the brain to another part of the body. At the time in which we see him, he's been alive for approximately 400 years, in which the world has seen plagues, revolutions, ethnic cleansings, and corporate takeovers of sinister proportions (much like "The Company" so often referred to in the "Alien" series). We are presented with four misadventures in the life of our antihero as he consumes prodigious quantities of drugs and wishes for death while casually dispatching anyone who gets in his way or those which he maintains strained friendships.

The language is short, sweet, and stylish. Ellis creates a futurespeak which tastes familiar if you've read "A Clockwork Orange" but is an entirely different creature of its own. "Creation" is the preferred slang of Lazarus' time, but we are thankfully spared the task of having to decipher it ourselves.

If you're a fan of Ellis' later works, you can't help but notice shades of "Transmetropolitan" begging to be fully fleshed out.

The art is dark, depending heavily on shades of purple and red. At times seeming almost amateurish, one cannot help but be struck by the masterful sequencing and panelling choices, not to mention the skill at which "the gutter" (as Scott McCloud put it) is used.

Although out-of-print, "The Lazarus Churchyard Collection" can still be found in some out-of-the-way places (I found my copy in the bargain bin of a Newbury Comics in Boston). It may also be possible to find the original printings of these stories in back-issues of Heavy Metal.

I highly recommend this collection for the serious Ellis fanatic or those who are simply looking for a good comic read.