It’s still early days with this new Tomb Raider franchise for Gail Simone, so these opening issues still hover over the dark chasm of make-or-break territory. While I loved the opening comic for this new series, others complained that it was exposition heavy and left both Lara’s and Simone’s charisma at home. If you are in that camp of thinking, then this might be a much more satisfactory issue. We have action, character-development and some stunning artwork from Nicholas Daniel Selma.
Hopefully issue #4 could be the turning point for the Harley Quinn series. Up until now, it has been played mainly for laughs, enjoying the idea that there is such thing as a comic series made for Harley Quinn, but this issue, while it keeps the same style of comedy and fun, tackles themes and plot, making it one of the most impressive issues yet. The story revolves around Harley, trying to fit into her workplace.
Approaching Gail Simone’s Tomb Raider comic book companion to the award-winning game was a little like putting a toe into a warm bath. I was apprehensive, unsure if Lara Croft could survive the leap from a game that was still rubbing up fans the wrong way with such a thorough reboot of the character, and into the pages of a comic. However, as Lara always does, she made the jump not only safely, but with the finesse of a trained gymnast.