Hello Everyone!
My name is Joseph Gauthier of 10 Worlds Studio and writer/creator on LAZARUS: Immortal Coils.
When I show people the first issue of L:IM and explain the premise, the most common response is "Why hasn't anyone ever thought of this before?"
I've been fascinated with this character since I was very young. So little was ever written about him, biblically or otherwise. He is a minor character most ignore. I remember watching an Easter special of Jesus’ life and death, and there was a scene where he resurrects Lazarus and, just before calling him out, Jesus turns to the camera, lowers his head, and says "Please, let them see this and believe."
As a kid born and raised in Catholicism, that was very powerful. It introduced the idea that Jesus didn't act from a divine plan, but his humanity. He didn't want to die. He didn't want his best friend dead either. If it wasn’t part of a plan, what purpose did Lazarus’ life serve? What would happen to him?
Over the years, that imagery and those questions stayed with me. I became a comics and movie fan and often wondered what would happen to someone who died and came back by something as "absolute" as divine power. Could they die again? Is that why there's so little written about Lazarus? Because he is out there somewhere? Lost and wondering why he's still alive? What his greater purpose is? Crazy, I know, but this is how Immortal Coils came to be.
Writing LAZARUS allows me to challenge the idea of immortality in fiction. What does it mean to be immortal? Vampires, Werewolves, even the immortals in the Highlander franchise all use the term, but fall short of the definition. As defined by Webster's, an immortal is someone or something exempt from death and oblivion. No exceptions. In movies and comics, particularly in the horror genre, the hero is always searching for a way to stop or kill the villain/monster. What if it was switched, and the monsters searched for a means to kill the hero?
Taking away the immediate threat of death forces a writer to focus more on character and not the abilities they possess. Lazarus is a book EXPLODING with action. I'm an action junky. 90% of my DVD collection is action movies. From the outset, I wanted LAZARUS to have action sequences that grew progressively bigger and really milked the immortal factor for all it is worth, but the one thing that makes action truly have an impact is character. Examples: DIE HARD, THE CROW, and ALIENS. The action in LAZARUS is fueled by character and motivation. Despite his immortality, the action never loses the feeling of a life & death situation.
In six issues, IMMORTAL COILS will introduce you to Lazarus and the world he inhabits. A world that is right outside your window, the dark parts. The names have only been changed to protect the guilty and endangered. You'll discover Lazarus' origins and the events that took place between the bible stories. You'll meet the villains, demons, or as they call themselves, Aeons. You'll discover their city, Gehenna, a dimensional door in the shape of a metropolis to harvest host bodies for demons.
Heroes need a nemesis, their opposite number. Lazarus isn’t the only immortal. There is another - Ahasverus, or as he's called today, Verus (Like “Virus” – I love that). The "Wandering Jew," he too interacted with Jesus and was cursed to walk the earth until it's end. For him to rest in peace, the world must die.
Life is change. Stagnation is death. These are the opposing forces in LAZARUS. How he changes from an ordinary man to a killer, a warrior, and then a hero is a story you have to see to believe. B
Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
JPG.