Originally published on Patreon
The Lazarus Planet events are spinning directly out of the events of Batman vs Robin, which were building upon the first story arc in Batman/Superman: World's Finest so it's fair to say that this is perhaps something that writer Mark Waid has been working towards for a long while.
With many of the worlds magic users and artefacts having been stripped of their power, the magics have ended up becoming part of a huge explosion involving a volcano filled with Lazarus resin. The result is a magic fuelled global event where the powered resin is causing massive storms, huge damage, and has altered the way both magic and technology are working.
Knowing that the Demon Nezha and his son, King Fire Bull, are behind it, Damian Wayne gathers together what heroes he can find at the Hall of Justice, and heads up a mission to try and put things right. With Batman heavily wounded, all eyes fall to his so to lead the heroes to victory.
One of the things that I instantly love about this book is Damian having to take on the role of leader. This isn't the first time that he's done this over the years, but it's one of the first times where he's giving orders to members of the Justice League and Justice Society, people more powerful and experienced than him, and they're listening to him with respect. There's no arguing, griping, or people refusing to listen to a child or ordering him to prove himself. Batman says to listen to him, and people do.
Because there's no drama around Damian taking on this role it feels like one that actually works really well for him. He instantly understands the strengths and weaknesses of his assembled heroes (except for Monkey Prince) and knows how best to use them. His tactical mind and his eye for strategy come through here, and it's a role that I hope we see more of in the future. Damian in charge of a team would be a nice step in his evolution.
Speaking of his team, it's a pretty weird mix of characters; but again, I kind of love it. Supergirl and Power Girl bring some much needed Kryptonian muscle to the mix, whilst Blue Devil, Shazam, and Zatana are the magic users, and Cyborg and Blue Beetle cover the tech side of things. Talia al Ghul and Batman are in the mix too, though Bruce is heavily wounded, and Black Alice and Monky Prince are held in reserve. It's a mixture of heroes that don't normally work together, and their inclusion in the book makes this feel like something a bit different because it's not the normal roster you'd expect to see as the leads in a big event.
The issue spends much of its time establishing the scale of the problem facing the Earth, and how much trouble the heroes seem to be in. Heroes are missing, magic attacks are happening all over, the dead have risen, and people's powers are going haywire. By the end of the issue it's clear that the bizarre nature of the magic event, and the alteration of peoples powers, is making this something where the normal rules and expectations don't really apply. And that's kind of exciting to see.
The books art is really nice, and the different style of the more hand drawn quality, with more lines and shading done by hand rather than just with colour, gives the book a bit of a grittier feel to it. This helps the tone a lot, and it feels like a dark, stormy, and frightening time for most of the comic. The characters all look really good, and whilst there are times Robin looks a bit older than he did in Batman vs Robin the book doesn't fall into the trap of drawing him like a muscled 20 year old (some of the art on Dark Crisis: Dark Army was terrible for this!).
The back-up story for the issue sees Monkey Prince talking to a tiny clone of Pigsy, who fills him in on the history between the Monkey King, Nezha, and Fire Bull. More in the style of the Monkey Prince comic than the rest of the issue, the tone and feel are very different to everything else; but it does add some context to stuff that we're seeing now. And for those who've been reading Monkey Prince it's a nice addition to that mythology.
This seems like a really interesting start to an event that looks to be trying to do something a bit different. With this being the culmination of things that have happened across multiple titles, with big changes for established heroes, and new characters on the way, this is a great way for DC to start 2023.
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