Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #4 – G. Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan/Michael W. Conrad, Josie Campbell, Writers; Cian Tormey/Raul Fernandez/Wade Von Grawbadger, Alitha Martinez/Mark Morales/John Livesay, Caitlin Yarsky, Artists; Jordie Bellaire, Alex Guimaraes, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This final issue is a jam issue, combining all the plots and creative teams from the whole run into one oversized special. The main action takes place in the G. Willow Wilson story, as the newly Shazam-empowered Diana takes the fight to Hera. With the help of the Wizard Shazam, Hera is more powerful than ever, but there’s one thing she didn’t count on—Diana has done a much better job courting support in the court of the divine than she has, including among her fellow Demigods. Her comeuppance here is highly satisfying, but it also sets up a new power dynamic among the Gods and potentially results in one of Diana’s oldest enemies getting a power boost. The main goal here seems to be resetting the table for the finale of this run, and it’s pretty effective at that. I could have done without Billy recreating one of the worst scenes from the recent Shazam movie, though.
The Cloonan/Conrad segment finishes up the battle for Themyscira, and this has probably been the least compelling of the three segments. Not through any fault of the writing, but simply because it was so apart from the action. This issue has a dramatic appearance from Hades, as well as a key role for Hippolyta that resets the status quo for the Amazons and possibly takes away one of the most limiting story devices for the characters as we start a new run. This creative team has done an excellent job of broadening the world of the Amazons.
And then we come to the best segment of the three, by Josie Campbell and Caitlin Yarsky. The three chapters of this Mary Marvel story have all felt only loosely tied to this story, but that’s fine—if we can get more of Campbell’s fantastic Mary Marvel, all the better. This issue reunites Billy and Mary to decide who should bear the power going forward, as well as to tie things up with the wizard’s half-hearted betrayal. There’s a great twist that gives Mary a new direction going forward—as well as a new independence that sort of secures her future as Waid gets ready to relaunch Billy’s title soon.
Overall, this story tried to do a lot and mostly succeeded. It’s definitely one of the best WW events in recent memory.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
