If you’re talking about iconic video game characters, chances are Lara Croft will be part of the conversation. The protagonist of the Tomb Raider games is well known for many things, especially her skill for finding ancient artifacts and staying one step ahead of life-threatening situations. She’s also been the subject of multiple reinventions across mediums, from video games to movies to comics. Dark Horse is attempting to get back to basics with the Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts series, which returns to a version of Lara most people are familiar with.
Taking place after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld, Sacred Artifacts #1 finds Lara at a crossroads. Her home, Croft Manor, was burned to the ground; she went on a search for her mother, only to lose her; and she’s questioning her future as a Tomb Raider. A chance encounter with a mysterious masked man who claims to know her sends Lara on a new adventure, but will her own self-doubt be the one obstacle she can’t overcome?
I like the way that Casey Gilly approaches scripting Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts #1, as most of it takes place during an interview Lara is conducting about her future. It’s both a fitting way to showcase Lara’s current state of mind and to ease people who aren’t too familiar with the Tomb Raider mythos into this world of action and legends. Gilly also has a bit of fun with the cuts between past and present; a moment where Lara talks about finding her “inner peace” cuts to her scaling the side of a massive cliff. That might not be peaceful for you or me, but it’s definitely where she thrives.
Dark Horse
Gilly also doesn’t shy away from the tolls that Underworld took on Lara. A sequence shows her holed up in her hotel room, ignoring calls and emails from friends and partners, until her butler Winston comes to check on her. “It’s hard to see someone drowning inside themself, unable to get out even though they want to,” she says in one of the issue’s most moving pieces of dialogue. The fact that Gilly’s able to balance action-packed sequences with emotional truths makes Sacred Artifacts #1 stand out from other Tomb Raider comics.
Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts #1 also boasts some gorgeous artwork, courtesy of Antonio Di Caprio. Like Gilly, DiCaprio has a way of balancing between moments of adrenaline and introspection. Nowhere is this clearer than in the back and forth between Lara’s interview and her latest adventure. Throughout the interview sections, she’s reserved and polite, clad in an immaculate white pantsuit. Compare that with her tomb-raiding activities, where she sports her signature blue tank top and cargo shorts and often gets covered in dust or on the wrong end of a kick or a punch. Eren Angiolini tops this off with a shift in color, going to warmer for the interview and darker for the adventure segments.
Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts #1 returns to the prime era of Lara Croft’s adventures, featuring a story that will appeal to longtime fans and new ones alike. With Lara set to make her return to the gaming world in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
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