Broken Frontier

The new book by Mark Ricketts, Lazarus Jack, is at its heart an analysis of the two-sided nature of magic. On the one hand, its central character is a stage magician, a performer and entertainer in the grand tradition of illusionists and escape artists such as Houdini or Penn and Teller. However, this same entertainer is obsessed with the darker side of magic, where reality and unreality meet.

When Ricketts spoke to Broken Frontier in a previous interview last year, he called Lazarus Jack “a Jules Verne-esque, dimensional travelin' thrill ride with lotsa black magic and bizarre mishaps.” More recently, he clarified that the book centers on “a magician/escape artist whose ambitions lead him into black magic. In the process, he loses his family when they are drawn into another dimension.”

Perhaps the book’s recent press release from its publisher Dark Horse says it best:

Ultimate Spider-man writer Brian Michael Bendis called writer Mark Ricketts "one of the singularly most talented people in comics." Now Ricketts presents a spellbinding new tale blending reality and imagination, comedy and terror.

Plagued by an incident that cost him his family, magician Jackson Pierce struggles to reclaim them by embarking on a terrifying, nonstop, dimension-hopping thrill ride. On this journey through fantastic worlds both seduced and devastated by black magic, Jackson undergoes disturbing transformations, falls prey to an insane sorcerer, defies zero gravity, and ultimately confronts the demons from his past.

Mark Ricketts is the acclaimed writer of the graphic novel Nowheresville and the winner of the 2000 Klasky Csupo screenwriting competition. He has been described as "a powerful storyteller" by Don McPherson of The Fourth Rail and praised for having "a keen eye for the dark places and a sharp ear for the beat of speech" by 100 Bullets author Brian Azzarello.

"I usually describe this book as an escape artist's adventures in Hell, but it's more than that. It's a story filled with intrigue, romance, magic, corruption, and redemption," commented writer Mark Ricketts. "It features a very dysfunctional family, three inept demons, a stuffy butler, unpredictable architecture, a zero gravity environment, a lovable beast with the key to eternal youth, and a one-eyed practical joker. There's a kitchen sink in there too, I think."

Lazarus Jack is an original graphic novel written by Mark Ricketts with art by Horacio Domingues. It arrives in stores September 29, with a retail price of $14.95.

However, Ricketts wanted potential readers to know that the magical trappings of the plot were actually secondary to the emotional and spiritual journey of the central character. The real focus of this character-driven story is Jackson Pierce himself, his loss and eventual redemption. “It's also about how the decisions you make can effect the lives of those closest to you.”

Now eagle-eyed readers might notice a rather glaring error in the above press release. September 29 has come and gone, and Lazarus Jack has yet to hit bookshelves. Did the book itself slip through a vortex into another dimension? Ricketts explained the reasons behind the book’s disappearing act are much more mundane: customs problems.

“The L.A. port where all our China books come in has clamped down on customs inspections and has created a log jam on incoming pallets of books,” he stated. “This has apparently been a problem for ALL companies printing in China and Diamond is having a helluva time trying to get the books out on time. SO Lazarus Jack has been received by Diamond warehouses, but it showed up too late for shipment and WILL be on sale next week.”

But one extra week is just a drop in the bucket for this story, which Ricketts said had been a long time coming. “About ten years ago, I was inspired by a book I read on the life of Houdini,” Ricketts revealed. “I even considered creating a comics story about his crusade to debunk the magicians, psychics, and fortune tellers of his day. Especially since he believed in his own "magic" powers. He thought that if anyone could break free of the constraints of the afterlife--he could.”

Ricketts continued his explanation of the story’s origins by saying he had melded Houdini’s life to a tale from Greek myth to create something altogether new. “I had also been interested in writing a story inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. So, to make a long story short, I smashed the two together and voila--Lazarus Jack!”

With the book finally seeing print after so much time, you would think that Ricketts would be resting on his laurels, but not so. In fact, Ricketts just recently wrapped up a four-issue run on Iron Man, the final issue of which will be out next week. But as for his future projects, like any good magician, he’s not going to reveal what’s in his bag of tricks. “Unfortunately, I can't tell you about the projects I have in the works right now,” he cryptically answered. “I really enjoyed working for Marvel and especially enjoyed working with Tom Brevoort and his crew. So, yeah, when the right project comes along--I'm there. Vague enough?”

(Ricketts gave me permission to reprint the preview pages for the book that are available at Dark Horse’s website: http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/preview.php?theid=12-821&p=1)