The transition from other mediums into comics can be a bumpy and perhaps no character typifies this better than Lara Croft.  Though not much of a video game player at any point in my life, for the short period that I was involved with video games I did play the first couple of Tomb Raider games from beginning to end.  There was a certain appeal to the character which never really translated well to other mediums.  Despite Angelina Jolie’s star power, she could not make much of the character on the big screen, and in comics the character has often struggled to find an identity.  Probably a big part of this is the application of the character over specific time frames.  Most people can cover an entire 3-5 issue story arc in under an hour, but in video games a single story arc takes days to complete.  The rich and complex scenarios which occur in comics are difficult to reproduce because the reader expects the same out of the character which is often difficult to duplicate, especially as there is a limited amount of material upon which to draw.

In the case of Lara Croft, while she is supposed to be an accomplished and unrivaled archaeologist, this often does not come through as she is instead portrayed as a soldier of fortune, using her military training and survival skills for a different purpose.  This is the case in Tomb Raider #9 as the character has been thrown into the radioactive hot zone that is Chernobyl and is forced to face off against what is essentially another mercenary.  The story in itself is not inherently flawed though it is somewhat unspectacular in its concept, but Lara Croft does not really come out of the story, rather the character could be any of a number of similar characters.  Even imagining her speaking in a British accent has no effect as the dialogue is fairly straightforward and usually uninspired. This is even all the more frustrating as Lara is being written by comic veteran Gail Simone as well as Rhianna Pratchett, scriptwriter for the games, as one would expect the two of them to get the character on track.

Fans of the character will therefore likely be disappointed with this particular story arc, even if there is nothing really wrong with it either.  At the heart of the character is one very deeply versed in an Indiana Jones model, and it is generally wise to let the characters continue the same dynamic which made them popular in the first place.  The series remains similar to how most of the comic portrayals of Lara Croft have been, equally both adequate and off-the-mark.

Story:  Rhianna Pratchett and Gail Simone Art: Derlis Santacruz
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Pass

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review