Joining the Family/Family Fight Night

I’ve got a ComiXology Unlimited free trial so there will be a lot of comic book reviews from me in the next few days.

Lazarus Volume 2: Lift expands the world and shows us some important moments in Forever’s training. The issues collected in this volume revolve around joining the Family, and what it means to be Waste.

We open with Forever as a child training to be a Lazarus. Her father visits and hangs the threat of being disowned over her head if she isn’t good enough. Volume 2 returns to this flashback story periodically as we watch Forever investigating a threat to the family.

In Lift, we spend more time with people who are considered Waste. We meet the Barret family, Bobbie and Joe and their two almost grown children Michael and Leigh. They are living in Carlyle territory in Montana, and appear to be sharecroppers. The Barrets and their neighbors are at a crossroads. Heavy rains and flooding wash away most of what they and their neighbors have. They can either go further into debt to the Carlyles and rebuild, or they can travel through dangerous territory to attend the Lift – an opportunity to be selected by the Carlyle Family to become a serf. The Barret’s choose to take their children to the Lift, and also take a neighbor’s granddaughter. Life as Waste is uncertain at best.

I didn’t like the Family as soon as I met them in Volume One, but I hate them now. They still remind me a lot of the Trumps, except that Rucka assumes the rich are smart.

Conclave focuses more on politics among the ruling families. One of the treats of this volume is spending time with the other Lazeri. The families have all gathered and all brought their Lazarus with them. The Lazari are an interesting group. I hope they will be explored more in the next volumes.

Conclave continues teasing the issue of Forever’s origins. Forever learns more about herself, but hasn’t reached the tipping point of rejecting the Carlyles.

at this point, it’s impossible to talk about plot without getting into spoilers. Let’s just say, there’s still nothing surprising happening, but it’s all being told well.