Mass Movement Magazine

Moriarty: The Lazarus Tree – Daniel Corey, Anthony Diecidue, Mike Vosberg, Perry Freeze, Dave Lanphear (Image Comics www.imagecomics.com)
I loved the first Moriarty Volume, ‘The Dark Chamber’, which turned the usual Holmes / Moriarty relationship on its head, creating an anti-hero from an arch villain, who devoid of his nemesis has to find some other purpose in life. ‘The Lazarus Tree’ follows Moriarty on his new path, as having seen his death in a vision of the future, he sets out to fin the one thing that can prevent it and in doing so, prove his long standing theories about the nature of the universe. Incorporating political machination, the initial twinges that eventually lead to the death of an empire, mythology, folklore science and a bloody good story to boot, ‘The Lazarus Tree’ picks up where ‘The Dark Chamber’ left off, exploring more of the characters history and how that history relates to his present, allowing Moriarty to flourish as lead character in his own right. The story rattles along at a hellishly fast pace, a tale fleshed out by the sublime artwork that for some reason reminds me of Mike MacMahon’s work on both Dredd and Slaine, which as I’m sure you’ll know, is no bad thing. No sir, that’s no bad thing at all. Just like ‘The Dark Chamber’, by the time you reach the last panel of ‘The Lazarus Tree’, you’ll be begging for more. I am. Please sire, can I have some more… Tim Mass Movement