Greg Rucka and Michael Lark have recruited several writers and artists for a new six-issue miniseries set in the world of their popular Lazarus comic from Image. Lazarus: X+66 will feature six different stories that look into “neglected” corners of the world they’ve been building.
“Part of the joy of writing Lazarus for me is exploring and defining different aspects of the world, and in particular the characters who inhabit it,” Rucka said in a press release. “Following the events of ‘Cull,’ and gearing up for the inevitable trauma that will be ‘Fracture,’ this was the ideal time and place to look into some of the corners of our universe that had been, for one reason or another, neglected, while at the same time buttressing and expanding on the overall ‘main story’ that Michael and I are telling. Every one of these stories is important in the larger narrative, and getting to provide a laser focus on them is simply something that we can’t do in the confines of the pages of the monthly.”
For the miniseries, Rucka will be joined by series designer/writer Eric Trautmann, writers Aaron Duran and Neal Bailey, and artists Steve Lieber, Mack Chater, Justin Greenwood, Alitha Martinez, Bilquis Evely and Tristan Jones.
“This project has been a ridiculous amount of fun,” said Trautmann in the release. “Lazarus has such a unique and interesting setting (which happens to cleave very closely to my own bleak outlook), and it has a surprising and subtle undercurrent of humor so black it has an event horizon. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to participate?”
Lieber will draw the first issue, which will focus on “the trials and tribulations of Casey Solomon as she fights to survive Dagger training.” Rucka and Lieber, of course, have worked together before on the comic-turned-movie Whiteout. Trautmann and Lieber teamed up on Shooters from Vertigo, and the three of them also worked on DC’s “Crime Bible” comics circa 2007.
“My previous collaborations with Greg and with Eric were career highlights for me, both personally and professionally,” said Lieber. “I was thrilled to work with them both together, along with the wildly talented color artist Santi Arcas.”
Michael Lark will provide covers for each issue. The first issue is due out July 19.
