This is Lazarus Planet. The Prime Writer is Mark Waid. Other Writers for this book are Gene Luen Yang, Nicole Maines, C. S. Pacat, Frank Barbiere, Leah Williams, Francis Manapul, Dan Watters, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Josie Campbell, Alex Segura, Alex Paknadel, Greg Pak, Dennis Culver, Ram V, Brandon T. Snider, Chuck Brown, Delilah S. Dawson, Tim Seeley, A. L. Kaplan, and Alyssa Wong. The Prime Illustrator is Riccardo Federici. Other Illustrators are Billy Tan, Skylar Patridge, Scott Godlewski, Sami Basri, Vicente Cifuentes, Marguerite Sauvage, Francis Manapul, Max Dunbar, Jack Herbert, Caitlin Yarsky, Clayton Henry, Christopher Mitten, Minky Jung, Jesús Merino, Lalit Kumar Sharma, Laura Braga, Alitha Martinez, Mark Morales, Brandt & Stein, Baldemar Rivas, Chris Burnham, A. L. Kaplan, Haining, and Mike Perkins. The Prime Colorist is Brad Anderson. Other Colorists used are Sebastian Cheng, Nick Filardi, Alex Guimarães, Hi-Fi, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Jordie Bellaire, Marcelo Maiolo, Sunny Gho, Rain Beredo, Matt Herms, Ivan Plascencia, and Brian Reber. The Prime Letterer is Steve Wands. Other Letterers used in the book are Janice Chiang, Morgan Martinez, Andworld Design, Dave Sharpe, Becca Carey, Troy Peteri, Pat Brosseau, Clayton Cowles, Wes Abbott, Carlos M. Mangual, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and Saida Temofonte. After the events of Batman Vs. Robbin #4, a volcano full of Lazarus Resin explodes. Because of this, all of the Lazarus Resin enters the atmoshpere and covers the entire Earth. Massive storms made up of the Lazarus Resin start everywhere. Superheroes’s powers start to alter. People with no powers at all start to gain them. Everything is complete chaos. Is there anything that could be done to stop this madness?
If I am being honest, this is a very difficult book for me to review. This book is different then everything else I have reviewed because it does not have a major overarching plot that goes from issue to issue. There is an two-part story that goes through the first and last issue of the book about Robin and a bunch of other heroes fighting King Fire Bull, the villain who caused the Lazarus explosion. Every other issue in the book contains a series of short stories about characters dealing with new powers and cirumstances. These short stories are also used to tease different characters and power that will be explored in the new Dawn of DC initiative. I will say now that most of these short stories are pretty good. But I’m only going going to give my thoughts on the best stories of this event.
First up is the big story that includes the first and last issues of the book. It is Written by Mark Waid, while being Illustrated by Riccardo Federici and Mike Perkins. This story is really good. I absolutly love how this story spotlights Damien as a hero. A lot of stories fall into the trap of showing Damien as a rebellious rogue who alwasy clashes with Batman. But this story really shows Damien as trying to learn from his father. I love it. This story also shows off the magical world of DC. King Fire Bull is a magical villain who has magical minions. I love when magic is spotlighted because DC magic is really cool. The characters of Zatanna, Doctor Fate, The Spectre, and Etrigan are all such cool characters. But they don’t always get the most spotlight, So when they do, I’m happy. The art for this story is also phenomenal. It does a really great job on how the Lazarus explosion effected the Earth. The sky is green and there is a storm all the time. It is a mess but it so beautiful. So overall, this story is really good.
My favorite short story of this book is the Unstoppable Doom Patrol story named Storm Damaged. It is Written by Dennis Culver and Illustrated by Chris Burnham. I love how weird this story is. I am not entirely familiar with the Doom Patrol but now I have to read what else they do. The team consists of Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Crazy Jane. Each character has their own weird charm and I love it. The plot is insane. It’s about the Doom Patrol going into a bunker to fight clowns and giant insects made of fungus. It is such an odd plot but it works so well and is extremely funny. The art is really fun and fits the tone for Doom Patrol perfectly. I cannot wait to see what else can come from this team.
The other short story that I found to be amazing is called The Envoy. It is Written by Alyssa Wong and Illustrated by Haining. This story introduces a new character named Xanthe Zhou, AKA The Envoy. They are non-binary. They are really, really awesome. They have this amazing outfit with a huge sword as their weapon. They are primarily in the magical and mystical side of DC which you know I love. They have great chemistry with other characters such as Cassandra Cain and John Constantine. I alos love how the story doesn’t really stray away from Xanthe’s culture. Then there is the art. It is so dynamic and energetic that it could make the short story all on its own. But is is also alongisde a fantastic story. This story is teasing a mini-series named Spirit World. And you better believe that I am picking that book up when it comes out.
There are also a few great stories that I’ll references but won’t go in massive detail about. There is a good Red Hood story which teases a new superhero team named The Vigil. It looks really great and I can’t wait to see where it goes. There is also a pretty good story about the character Flatline that has amazing artwork from Laura Braga. It teases something really interesting so we’ll see where that goes. Then finally there is a really cool story on Lex Luthor’s bodyguard, Mercy, becoming a humanoid mech. All of these stories are really good and it will be interesting where they lead to in the future.
Overall, this book is good. There is nothing with it that I could truly consider bad. Some of the short stories were really well made. It really makes me excited on what Dawn of DC has to offer. But there are a few stories that were just fine and teased something that I had no interest in. But this book is still alright.